Page 102 of Beautiful Harmony

“Hey, Lucas,” Rayna said. She glanced at Emma before looking at her watch. “Oh, look at the time. I gotta go.”

She slipped past Lucas, letting the door swing close behind her. Lucas smiled at Emma. “Hey, Emma.”

“Hi,” she said. “What, um, what are you doing here?”

“Oh, you know. Came to tell you that I love you, and I want to date you for realsies.”

She laughed despite her surprise. “Realsies?”

“Realsies, realsies,” Lucas said.

He pulled her into his arms, and she said, “I’m sweaty and probably smell a little.”

He buried his face in her throat and inhaled deeply. “You smell fucking amazing.”

“Thank you.” Her voice sounded a little shaky, even to her.

Lucas pressed his forehead against hers. “I love you, Emma.”

“I love you too,” she whispered.

He kissed her again. “Knew it.”

“Shut up,” she said.

He laughed. “Listen, I want you to know the only reason I even said I wanted a friends with benefits thing is because I don’t have a great track record at relationships. I was worried I would hurt you, and I couldn’t stand the thought of hurting you. But I know that I won’t do that to you, Emma. I couldn’t because you are the most important person in my life. I love you so much, and I’ll spend the rest of my life trying to make you happy.”

He swiped at the tears sliding down her cheeks. “I don’t think I’ll be perfect at this relationship thing, but I will always try, and I will never give up on us, okay?”

“Okay,” she said, her voice breaking a little. “I’ve never been in a relationship, so I might suck at it too.”

He laughed and caught another tear with his thumb. “I doubt that.”

She kissed him, pouring her heart and every ounce of her love into it. He kissed her back, their tongues touching delicately before she pulled back.

“Take me home right now, Lucas.”

He grinned and squeezed her ass. “Sure, but first, I talked to Stark today.”

“Okay,” she said.

“I talked to him about working from New Cassel,” he said. “I asked him if I could work three days a week in our New Cassel office and two days here in Harmony Falls. He agreed.”

Her mouth dropped open. “Lucas, are you saying you’d move to New Cassel with me?”

“Yes,” he said.

“But you just moved from there,” she said.

He shrugged. “I don’t want to do long distance. Do you?”

“No, but… your job is here, your best friend is here, and your parents are only forty minutes away. Plus, you said you prefer to live in a small town.”

“I know,” he said. “But I love you, Emma, and I want to be with you no matter where you are.”

“I don’t want to sell the store,” she said.

“Then why are you?”

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