Page 81 of His Little Secret in Discretion
“Brielle’s matchmaking is basically giving me the green light to show the world what belongs to me.”
“Still don’t know how Killian doesn’t remember me… am I that forgettable?” I jokingly said with a sad smile.
He hummed, a wet and warm kiss finding my neck as I leaned back for him.
“Nothing about you is forgettable, my little sugar baby Sunshine.”
He looked back up at me, my hands finding the sides of his face as I bit my lip. “If we’re gonna take our relationship public… we should at least have labels that are moderately appropriate when the time comes,” I murmured
“If I said your label would be my wife, would that work?”
“Marriage takes time, Mr. Porter.”
“Killian did it in less than six months.” He shrugged.
I rolled my eyes as I gave him a flat look. “You are not Killian.”
“Thank Christ for that,” he muttered, kissing the inside of my wrist before flashing that grin that always made me want to hit him and kiss him in the same breath. “But the principle stands, Sunshine. When I want something, I don’t waste time.”
My chest ached, warmth creeping in where fear used to live. “And what exactly is it you want?”
He looked at me for a long moment, really looked at me as he memorized every flaw, every worry in my eyebrows, every fractured piece of me that I desperately wanted him to fix. His hands caressing my waist, holding me still, grounding me in front of him.
“If I said…” His voice dropped, rough and careful all at once. “…I love you, Maia Dalton. And I want to spend the rest of my life with you… Would that work instead? Would that be a good answer for what I want?”
The air caught in my lungs. My lips parted, but nothing came out as tears sprang to my eyes.
For once, Blaine Porter… the king of smug one-liners and shameless arrogance, wasn’t smirking. He wasn’t teasing. He wasn’t joking. He was confessing what he wanted.
And I believed him with all of my heart.
“Yes…” I whispered. “Yes, that would work perfectly.”
“Doesn’t work as well if you don’t love me back, Sunshine.” He pouted.
I ignored him, shaking my head as my trembling hands slid into his hair, needing to anchor myself to something solid before my lips slammed against his, pulling him closer like the air I needed to breathe.
“I love you, Blaine.” I spoke against his lips, and his met mine again before he husked his next words, like he’d been waiting months to say it.
“I love you, Maia.”
If Blaine Porter meant every word he just said… then maybe, for the first time in my life, I wasn’t just surviving.
I wasn’t just living to get by.
I was his.
Epilogue
Many Months Later
Blaine
The reception was in full swing, chandeliers glowing, champagne glasses clinking, the kind of spectacle only Killian and Brielle could pull off. I stood at Killian’s side, best man duties officially behind me, though my eyes had been glued to the real center of my universe all damn night.
Maia.
Maid of honor, gown hugging her curves like it had been tailored just to test my self-control, smile sweet and polite for the crowd. For everyone else, she was Brielle’s best friend. For me… she was mine.
