Page 25 of Crazy Obsession
I barely have time to brace before little arms fling around my legs, squeezing tight.
“Careful,” I laugh, ruffling the messy curls of my daughter.“You’ll knock me over, Mia.”
She tilts her head up, her grin wide and wickedly familiar.It is the exact mirror of Adam’s grin.“Daddy says you’re tougher than that.”
I shake my head, my heart swelling, because she’s right.Adam Blake has spent the last four years testing every wall I ever built and teaching me I’m stronger than I ever believed.
And Mia is the proof.Proof that sometimes the reckless choice is the only right one.
The bed-and-breakfast is busier than ever, every room full thanks to summer weddings and tourist season.But it feels easier now, lighter, because I’m not carrying it all on my own.
Adam helps when he’s not at Blake’s.Sometimes that means hauling suitcases up the stairs, and sometimes it means chasing Mia around the yard so I can bake muffins without little hands stealing berries out of the bowl.
But he’s still the same old Adam he always was.Still infuriating.Still cocky.Still a Blake.But now he’s just a little bit responsible too.And he’s also mine.
Every day, he proves what he promised me that night on the couch—forever means forever.And this is what our forever looks like.
“Lennie!”
I turn toward the doorway and find him standing there, leaning casually against the frame, Mia perched on his hip.His dark hair is a little longer these days, his jawline sharper, but his eyes are the same, stormy, steady, and locked on me like I’m the only thing in the room.
“Woman,” he drawls.“Your daughter stole half the cookies from the kitchen.Thought you should know before she blames me.”
Mia giggles, hiding her face in his neck.
I arch a brow.“And did you help her?”
His grin is pure sin.“Maybe.”
I roll my eyes, but the smile tugging at my lips won’t quit.This is us.Chaotic.Loud.Imperfect.And I wouldn’t trade it for anything.
****
Later, after Mia’sasleep and the inn is quiet, Adam and I sit on the porch swing, the summer air thick with the scent of honeysuckle.His arm is draped around my shoulders, and my head resting against his chest, our fingers laced together.
It’s peaceful.The kind of peace I never thought I’d get.
“You know,” he says, his voice low and thoughtful, “I used to think I’d never be this guy.The one with the house and the family and the porch swing.”
“And now?”I ask with a raised brow.
He presses a kiss to my temple.“Now I can’t imagine being anyone else.”
My throat tightens, my heart full of love and happiness.Because this isn’t just love, it’s everything.
“Forever means forever,” I whisper.
He tilts my chin, kissing me slow, steady, sure.“Damn right it does.”
The crickets chirp and the stars burn bright over Severn.And in Adam’s arms, I finally believe in happily ever after.Because it isn’t perfect.It isn’t safe.But it’s ours.
And that’s all that ever mattered.
The End
