Page 146 of Wild

“That so?” He raises a brow.

“I already knew you lied when you left, but then Ireallyknew you lied, and I also could see how much you love me.”

“And how much is that, Mia?”

“A lot,” I whisper, leaning even closer to him.

“I’m so sorry.” He brushes my hair away from my eyes. “You have no idea how much I wish I hadn’t left.”

“But you did,” I remind him.

“But I did,” he agrees.

“Can you forgive me?” he asks, looking pained.

“Are you ever going to do something stupid like that ever again?”

“No,” he answers emphatically.

“Then I forgive you.”

He grabs my cheeks and kisses me. It’s a kiss I feel all the way to my toes. It’s the kind of kiss where all the oxygen seems sucked from the room—it’s the kind, where in movies fireworks would begin to go off. His lips move against mine and mine seem to know exactly what to do.

I was made for kissing him, for loving him, for … justhim.

He pulls away and looks down at me. “I’m never leaving you ever again, Mia Hayes.”

I place a hand over his. “Even if my dad doesn’t approve?”

He grins. “I talked to your dad before coming here.”

“You did?” I ask, shocked.

He nods. “I told him everything, about how much I love you, how much you mean to me. I told him I plan on marrying you one day and even if he hates me, I’m never leaving you. Not again.”

“And?”

“He understands, I think … I think he might even like me now,” he chuckles. “I mean, I got our contract back and I didn’t even ask for it so that’s got to be good, right? The guys will be flying back as soon as they can.”

“You mean…?”

“We’re going to be here for a while, baby—and when the time comes to head back to L.A. we’ll figure things out. You okay with that?” He rubs his thumb against my cheek. I’m not sure he even knows he’s doing it.

“More than okay,” I breathe. “I’m so happy for you guys. I couldn’t believe he broke off your contract.”

“I can, but I’m glad it’s all worked out now. I think we understand each other.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yep—he loves you and wants you to be happy. I love you and want you to be happy, so really, we want the same things.”

I smile up at him. “I don’t want to talk about my dad right now.”

He grins back. “And what do you want to do?”

I don’t answer him with words. Instead, I kiss him. Which leads to him turning me around and slipping his fingers under the sides of the open back dress. He then kisses the back of my neck, and my head rolls back against his shoulder.

“I hope to God you weren’t wearing this dress for another man.”

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