Page 110 of The Doctor's Irreplaceable Love

She went over to it and selected a bottle, smiling when she saw the label—his favorite Shiraz.

He shrugged.“If you remember, when she first arrived, I did promise Harper I’d get her a case of the stuff since she liked it.”

Shelley nodded happily.“I bet she loves you even more now.”

She bit down on her bottom lip.That.Every time one of them used the wordlovelately, it made her breath hitch in her chest.She knew she felt that way about him.And she was almost convinced he felt the same way about her.

She just didn’t know if it was the right time to exchange the words.

When he tucked his fingers under her chin and made her look up at him, she could see the answer to that question in his eyes even before he spoke.

“You know, I like Harper—and what I like most about her is that she’s such a good friend to you.I’m glad that she seems to like me too.But…”

He rested his forehead against hers and looked deep into her eyes.

“I was trying to come up with something clever there—trying to make a play on words since you said that Harper will love me more now.But this is too important for that.”

He tightened his arms around her.

“What I want to say—what I’m trying to say and making a complete mess of—is that I love you, Shelley.”

Her heart felt as though it melted in her chest.She reached up and pressed a kiss to his lips.

“You took the words right out of my mouth.I was just debating with myself whether it was too soon to tell you.”

He cocked an eyebrow, and she smiled—then took a breath before finally saying,

“To tell you that I love you too, Trip.”

She reached up and stroked her fingers over the back of his head, loving the way he seemed to shiver at her touch.He dropped his head and claimed her mouth in a kiss that left no doubt—he loved her.She tightened her arms around him as she kissed him back, hoping she could show him, as well as tell him, how true her words were.

When they finally came up for air, she could read it all in his smile—the warmth, the mischief, the love.He seemed more relaxed—lighter somehow.

“I feel like I should have planned this better—or at all.I feel like I should be cracking open a bottle of champagne.”

She laughed and inclined her head toward the wine rack.“I’m sure Harper won’t mind us opening the Shiraz.Where is she, by the way?”

“She’s taken herself off to Bozeman for the evening—and said she’s staying there tonight.She made out that she was only going because there’s some big-name guest conductor at the symphony that she’d be crazy to miss.”

Trip shook his head with a smile.“She even apologized that she wouldn’t be here to celebrate move-in night with us.”

Shelley laughed.“That’s typical Harper!”

“She loves the symphony that much?”

“Notthatmuch, no—what I mean is, she comes up with excuses that make her sound self-serving so people won’t realize she’s really looking out for them.”

“Ah, right.Well, she didn’t pull it off this time.Ithoughtshe wanted to go, but Iknewshe was trying to give us the evening together.”

He reached for a bottle of Shiraz with a small smile.“What do you think—should we christen your new place?”

She nodded slowly, and once again, while she grappled with whether she should tell him what she was thinking, he beat her to it—and answered the question for her.

He ran his hands down her arms and took hold of her hands.“Or would you rather come home with me?”

He squeezed her hands as he added, “And make it your home.”

She flung herself at him, wrapping her arms around him and pressing her face to his neck.

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