Page 156 of The Bad Wedding Date

“But I’m impatient. I want to do everything I’ve spent months daydreaming about.”

“What things?”

“Simple things. Dates. Kisses in the park. Walking hand in hand through Hyde Park. Late breakfasts, early dinners, longing stares and endless butterflies in my tummy while you tell me everything I don’t already know about you.”

“You already know everything.”

She shook her head against me. “Not everything.”

Unable to take my eyes off her, I huffed out a small laugh and moved to curl on my side beside her, making sure my arm still rested over her in some way and our limbs remained tangled until our eyes were level, and I could lose myself in the blue of hers.

“I want to be spontaneous with you,” she whispered. “Book flights on a whim, walk into book stores and lose hours in there. Maybe even take a trip to a tattoo artist together.”

I raised a brow. “You want a tattoo now?”

Her cheeks flushed red. “Now I have something worth marking on my skin, I think I might.”

Fuck, I loved her. My heart throbbed and my veins pulsed with a need to devour her.

“I repeat: we’ve got all the time in the world,” I said. “Whatever you want to do, we’ll do it.”

Her hand rose to rest against my cheek, her fingertips gently stroking the edges of my hair. “Good,” she breathed through a small smile. “But promise me that you’ll do something for yourself, too.”

“What?”

“You said before that nothing in life was worth fighting for now that wasn’t me.” Her eyes searched mine. “You were wrong. What you do is important. I don’t want you to stop fighting those fights. Women like me, like your mum… we need you.”

“Charlotte, I—”

“Shh,” she cut me off, pressing a single finger to my parted lips and holding my gaze. “Just think about it.”

The thought of putting her in any more danger in the future almost made me deny her of my promise. I couldn’t have her happiness or safety jeopardised because of who she’d chosen to love. If I carried on, I’d surely make more enemies along the way. Before she’d come into my life, it had been easier. I’d had less to lose. Now, she’d changed everything. I hadn’t been lying when I said nothing would be more important to me now that she’d agreed to give me another chance, but I also couldn’t deny the instinct inside me to go out there and do what I do. Fight the good fight. Be something behind the scenes in a world where people settled for being nothing but rich and famous.

“I can see it in the way you’re looking at me,” she said. “You want to do what’s right by me, but you also know the streets of London need men like you out there.” Sliding her hand back up to my cheek, it pushed through my hair and to the back of my neck, where she pulled me closer until our lips were nothing more than an inch apart.

“You don’t have to choose,” she whispered.

“If I did, I’d choose you.”

Her smile grew, and her eyes misted over. “I know,baby.” She grinned. “That’s why I love you.”

I let the words drown me until I remembered to hitch in a breath.

Leaning closer, she whispered, “It’s also why I’d like you to make love to me now.”

That twinkle in her eye and the seduction of her sleepy voice were my undoing. I couldn’t hold back a moment longer. I closed my eyes and brought her mouth to mine, hungry yet determined to take each kiss slow, and never to rush a moment with her again. If I could spend a lifetime tasting her, I would. Gladly.

When she begged me to roll on top of her, spread her thighs, and settle between them, I did as she asked because it had suddenly become impossible for me to deny this woman. The woman I thought I could get an understanding of from nothing more than a few notes in a file had taken pride in proving to me that she had always been so much more than any research could ever offer.

Nobody else existed like her. I’d caught myself the most beautiful, vibrant, selfless, loving, honourable, and inspiring woman any man could wish to find.

As I held her head between my hands, unable to look away from her eyes as I thrust in and out of her torturously slow, inhaling her every breath, feeling her every clench, and drowning in her wet heat, I couldn’t help the words that fell free.

“I promise to make you proud of the man I’ll become,” I panted, watching as her lips parted and sweat beaded on her forehead. “I promise to be the best mistake you’ve ever made.”

Her hands trailed down my back, her nails digging into my damp skin. “You already are.”

“I promise to fuck you every night, just like this.”

---