Page 91 of A Labor of Hate
She gasped softly.
“We’ve since concluded our investigation,” Colt added, apparently going with my hair-brained idea for now, “so we’re moving out.”
Colleen nodded slowly, her mouth opening and closing with silent words.Finally, she exchanged wary looks between me and Colt.“And what did you decide?”
I clasped my hands together, pretending to consider the answer.“Well, your illegal landscaping activities in the backyard didn’t escape our notice.”
She paled again.
“But,” I continued, “in light of your friendliness and the delicious pound cake and dinner you shared with us, we’ve chosen to waive all charges.”
She grinned in relief.“Oh, good.”She paused, brows furrowing once more in thought.“Wait, so if you were undercover, were you two ever” —she waved a finger between us suggestively— “together?”
“Not initially,” I hedged, intertwining his fingers with mine.“But now ...”
Colleen clapped, bobbing up and down in her seat.“It’s love!I knew it!”
“Yeah,” I admitted sheepishly, face aflame.
Colt perked up, squeezing my hand tighter and searching my face with those beautiful brown eyes of his.“Really?”
I’d never actuallytoldhim I was in love with him before now.You know,the big L-word.It was still a new realization for me, honestly, and the last thing I wanted was to scare him off when I’d just barely gotten him.Most guys would run for the hills.I mean, we hadn’t even been officially dating for a whole month yet.That wasn’t much.Even counting the two months we knew each other before the assignment, it might not have been long enough by most peoples’ standards.
And yet, I knew.Colt was it for me.He really was the milkshake to my French fries and getting to know him every way I could just solidified that for me.
I wasn’t blinded by my rose-colored glasses, though.I didn’t think I could change him, and I didn’t want to anyway.His strengths were my weaknesses, and vice versa.He brought out the best in me just as I hoped I did the same for him.
If loving him meant I’d lose myself if I lost him, then it would be worth the risk.But I didn’t think I would.My existence and happiness didn’t depend on him, but they were severely elevated while with him.Losing him would be like losing a part of me, but I wouldn't be entirely gone.Because, strange as it sounds, I felt like there’s more of me now than there was before, and I think that came from loving him.
Which wasinsane, right?And precisely why I hadn’t told him any of this.
Until now.
“Yeah,” I answered, swallowing hard.“I… I love you.”And, in case there was any doubt left in his mind, I invoked our code word and whispered, “Like daffodils.”
A wide grin lit up his handsome face, accelerating my already frantic heartbeat.His voice was gentle and low.A treat for me alone.“I love you, too, Lex.Like daffodils.”
I’ll admit it.I squealed with happiness and launched myself into his arms.I snuggled against Colt’s chest, warmth radiating from my core like a sunbeam.How could I have wasted so much of my time hating the best thing to ever happen to me?Whatever the future held for us, I wanted it with him.Starched shirts, apple juice, and all.
Three thirty-two on the afternoon of June eighteenth.That was the exact moment I knew I loved Colt Dixon with every fiber of my being, and he loved me in return.
Not everyone is fortunate enough to have a soulmate, and even fewer have the origins of their love story memorized so thoroughly.But for me, it’s impossible to forget.After all, June eighteenth would consistently become the best day of my life.
EPILOGUE
SIX MONTHS LATER
“CAN I JUST say”—Dekker shifted the cupcake holder in one arm and tightened her scarf around her neck with the other— “I think it’s totally lame that they combined your engagement party with the squad Christmas party?”
The light from the bowling alley spilled through the glass doors, illuminating the snowflakes falling on her wild brown curls.
I laughed, holding the door open for her against the bone-chilling wind.“We don’t have much in the way of a budget, you know.Most of my friends are on the squad, or else they probably wouldn’t have combined it.And if you think it’s so lame, you can just go back home to Pennsylvania—oh, wait.”
She sent me a flat look before breezing past me.“Har, har.Haven’t heardthatbefore.”
Only every other day since I’d come back home from the undercover assignment to find her waiting outside my building for me.Apparently, when I’d been radio silent while undercover, she’d decided to sell her bakery and move to Detroit.Just like that.I still didn’t know what possessed her to do something so rash, but she’d been pretty tight-lipped about it, only saying that she’d been too lonely and wanted to be closer to family.
I wasn’t going to complain.Now my best friend was my roommate until she’d move out before Colt and I got married in June.Gill-bert almost didn’t know what to do with all the attention between Dekker and Colt fawning over him.Spoiled little fish.
