Page 179 of A Very Merry Enemy
Lucas cups my face in his hands. “I won’t be another person who controls you or holds you back or makes you choose between your dreams and your home. You deserve Nashville. You deserve everything. But I want to be selfish because I’m so fucking in love with you that it hurts.”
“I’m in love with you, too.” My voice comes out shaky. I kiss him, pouring everything I have into it. “I’m not going anywhere. I already turned down the offer.”
Lucas goes completely still. “When? You promised you’d think about it. You said?—”
“The morning after the contest. I kept that promise, but I didn’t need ten days to know you’re everything I want in my life. You’re it for me, Lucas. I can’t imagine a future without you. That decision was one of theeasiestones I’ve ever made.”
The words hang in the freezing air between us. Our breath fogs in the space separating us. Lucas stares at me like I just spoke a different language.
“You…” The sentence dies before he can finish it.
“I choose you, Lucas Jolly. Because I’m already living my dream. Right now. At this moment.” I take his face in my hands to make sure his gaze stays on me. “I want to wake up next to you every morning. I want to build a life that’s ours. You’re what I choose. And I always will, every single time.”
Lucas kisses me so passionately that he steals my breath away. “You’re staying,” Lucas says between kisses and tears, like he needs me to confirm it. “But what about the job opportunity? What about?—”
“I already get to create badass recipes that sell out like crazy. Emma’s already agreed to expand the bakery. I wanted people to eat my pastries and love every single one of them. I already have that. And I have you. I can have my cake and eat it, too.”
Lucas pulls me against him so tightly, I can barely breathe. His face is buried in my neck, and I can feel him shaking.
“I love you so much,” he murmurs against my skin.
“You’re my home,” I whisper.
The Ferris wheel lurches back to life and we descend. Lucas pulls back to look at me, and he’s happier than I’ve seen him in days.
“Move in with me,” he mutters against my ear after leaning in close again.
“What?”
“If you want to fall asleep with me every night and wake up to me every morning, you have to move in with me,” he says.
My breath catches. “Really? You don’t think we’re rush?—”
“I built that house for us, Peaches,” Lucas says, confirming what I’ve always thought. It was too close to the dream house we planned. “You’re basically living with me now. Make it official.”
“Okay.”
“The door code is zero-seven-zero-four,” he says.
Everything inside me melts. “You chosethatdate?”
“Unforgettable,” Lucas says. “That day confirmed for me that you were the love of my entire life. It felt right.”
Speaking is impossible. I’m nodding and crying and kissing him. It’s all I can manage.
“Is that a yes?” Lucas asks against my mouth.
“Yes. Gosh, yes. Yes to everything.”
The gondola reaches the ground, and the operator opens the gate for us. We stumble out andhe grabs my hand.
“Want to gohome?” he asks, like it’s already ours.
“That sounds nice,” I say, not knowing what I did to deserve him.
As Lucas wraps his arms around me, my heart flutters. Excitement radiates off us both.
“Promise there are no regrets?” he asks.
