Page 108 of The Triple Threat
“Second off, I don’t want to date you, Ellie. I—”
“I knew it.” She tried to get up, but with a hand on her shoulder and the other at the back of her head, I guided her mouth back to mine.
“I don’t want to date you because that won’t ever be enough for me,” I said, once I’d thoroughly kissed her.
“It won’t?” she asked, her voice quiet and hesitant.
“Nope. I want you to be my girlfriend. My girl. My woman, my only woman.”
“You do?”
“Yes, baby, I do.” I blew out a breath, knowing that what I said to her next could scare her away. I had to though, because any other words wouldn’t be enough and would be a huge damn lie.
“You are all I think about, every single minute of every single day. I see you, Ellie. I see the woman you’ve become, the woman that I would be proud to call my partner. You’re so damn beautiful and sexy, but you’re strong and brave—well apart from when it comes to cows.” I paused for thought. “Oh, and yeah, maybe you can’t sing a note, but I can put up with that.”
She threw her head back and laughed and it just made what I was about to say to be more of a truth than any words I’d ever said before.
“You have a big heart, and an honesty I’d never tire of. In fact, I can’t imagine having to spend a day without you.” I took a deep breath. “I want you in my life, Ellie. I want to share my life with you, and I swear down, I’ll do everything I can to make sure I never hurt you. I’ll do everything I can to always make you happy because the truth is, baby, it sneaked up on me, but I’ve fallen real hard for you. So hard, I can’t stand the idea of you not being mine.”
Ellie gasped and flattened a palm against her chest. She didn’t speak for what felt like hours but just stared at me, her eyes sparkling.
“Ellie, baby, please say something.”
My heart was racing, and adrenaline was pumping hard through my veins. I watched and waited. Finally, she took a deep breath.
“How the hell is your proposal going to beat that, Hunter Meredith Delaney?”
Before I spoke, she threw herself onto me and tugging at my hair, she poured every single ounce of her energy into kissing me. Hands, teeth, tongues and heavy breathing were all parts of the jigsaw that made up the perfect kiss. A kiss that sealed the deal. In fact, it was a triple threat of a kiss. It was long, it was hot, and it was fucking delicious.
“Does that mean you finally agree with me about us being together?” I asked when she pulled away to catch her breath.
Nipping at my bottom lip, she nodded. “Oh yeah,” she said breathily. “Wholeheartedly. I wanted you to ask me at the mall, but you didn’t.”
My mouth dropped open and I stared at her for a few. “You damn well drive me crazy, you know that?”
She grinned and nodded. “I know, but it’s a good crazy right?”
“Yeah,” I replied, gently brushing her bangs from her forehead. “It’s a good crazy.”
Sagging against me, she then gave a satisfied mewling sound. “Okay, what next?”
“Now we just have to give the family their second shock of the night.”
Ellie pulled away and looked at me with a frown. “We could stay a secret,” she offered.
I shook my head. “Nope. You’re mine. I want to make sure everybody knows it.”
Two hours later, once dinner was over, I made true my promise and showed the whole damn town who Ellie Maples belonged to.
As Luke Combs’ ‘Beautiful Crazy’ played, I danced with my girl and kissed her with everything I had. The best part about it – we were the only ones on the dancefloor and Dylan watched on as Ellie loved every damn minute of the love and attention that I gave to her.
The breeze blew the drapes at the open window, and as I cranked up the volume on Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello’s ‘Senorita’ I giggled to myself.
“Baby, what the hell are you up to?”
Hunter was on his bed, his back against the headboard with his eyes tightly closed. At least that’s what I’d asked him to do for his surprise.
“One minute,” I replied and checked myself once more in the full-length mirror on his wall.
