Page 97 of Grumpy Billionaire Seeking Wife

"There's nothing to be sorry about. You know the way I feel about you." She grins as she sashays over to me. "You know that I love being with you. You know that I'm glad that you are the one I lost my virginity to, and I am glad that you are the one..."

"Hey," I say. "You don't have to."

"I don't have to what?" she says.

"You don't have to give me a bunch of platitudes. It's okay. We had a good time, and I've enjoyed having you here."

"I've enjoyed being here. So what's my gift? Where is it?"

"Hold on." I go into the closet and open a drawer and stare at all the presents I've gotten for her. My plan was to only give her the Tiffany's box, but I realize that I have nothing to lose. I'vegotten her all these gifts for a reason, and I want to give them to her. I want her to know that even though her dad wasn't in her life, it doesn't mean that there aren't people in her life who have been looking out for her, so I take a deep breath. "I want you to have a seat."

"Okay. Why?"

"Because there are a couple of things that I have for you."

"Okay."

"So, you may not know this, but you've always been really important to me. I mean, you've been Erika's best friend, but I've noticed that on your birthdays and Christmases, you were really sad when your dad wasn't there and wasn't able to give you presents, and I know your mom couldn't always do for you, and well, I just got you a couple of things."

"What do you mean, you got me a couple of things?"

"I got you presents to make up for the presents that your dad wasn't around to give you, and I may or may not have wrapped them." I grab the blue Tiffany's box and hand it to her.

"Oh my gosh, what's this?" She opens it eagerly and pulls out the bracelet. "Oh my gosh, you got me a bracelet? Wes, you didn't have to. This is too much."

"I remember when you were sixteen and you watchedBreakfast at Tiffany's, and then you and Erika went down to the Tiffany store, and you went on and on and on about how much you wanted a Tiffany bracelet. I remember you said that you hoped that when you fell in love, it would be a Christmas present or a birthday gift that someone would give you."

"You remember that?"

I nod. I pull out another box. "This one's a Barbie because I remember when you were ten, you wanted your mom to get you a special Barbie, but she wasn't able to, so you played with Erika's." And then I hand her a bunch of letters. "These are letters I wrote to you on your birthday: 17, 18, 19, 20, and 21."

"What?"

"Don't open them now," I say quickly. "I just wanted to create somewhat of a time capsule for you. And then this," I say, "is a forever rose because you said to Erika that no one had ever given you roses, and I wanted to give you roses, but of course, I couldn't give you a real bouquet of roses because you'd wonder what was up. And this is a down pillow—a really expensive down pillow from Australia, because I remember one year you said you weren't sleeping well, and you and Erika researched down pillows. And then this is a personalized photo album of all the times that we spent together."

She opens it and stares at photos of her and Erika, of her and Miles, me and her, my parents, her mom. "I need to get a photo of you and Bruno to add to it, though."

"This is so thoughtful."

"I have more gifts to give you," I say, grinning at her. "I just wanted you to feel special. I wanted you to know that just because your dad didn't care or wasn't around didn't mean that other people didn't care."

"Wes, I didn't know. Why did you do this? I'm just..."

"You still don't understand, Sabrina?" I get down on my knees in front of her and grab her hands.

"I don't know what you're saying."

"I love you."

"What?" She laughs nervously.

"I love you."

"Are there cameras around?" She looks around the room, and I sigh.

“I love you for real, for real, and I have for a long time. You are the most beautiful, wonderful, most intelligent, caring, funny, compassionate woman I’ve ever met, and last year, when you offered yourself up to me, you don't know how hard it was for me to say no, but you weren't ready. I knew you were stillin school. I wanted to see if you wanted to sow your wild oats because I knew that once I had you, once we were together, it was a forever thing, and I wanted to give you that opportunity to continue to grow, to make sure that I was what you wanted, who you needed. And I don't know if I am, and that's okay, but I can't let you leave here…I can't let you leave my place without telling you that I love you for real, for real. Not because of the ad, not because of the newspaper, not because of the billion women who are calling me," I say, laughing. "Because it's got nothing to do with that. It's got to do with how you make me feel, how you've always made me feel. How you listen, how you care. And it's okay if you don't love me because loving you is?—"

"I love you, you stupid idiot!" She jumps up and wraps her arms around me. "I've loved you for so long! Are you kidding me? You love me, love me?"

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