Page 174 of Wicked Grumpy Heart Doc

“And you’re not now?”

“The only thing I’m scared of now is losing you.”

He bent down and picked up the items from her purse still scattered on the ground, then dropped them into her bag and grabbed her hand.

“Come on, baby.”

She scurried alongside him. “Where are we going?”

“My place. We have some things to discuss.”

Chapter Sixty-One

Aiden

It had taken him less than sixty seconds after Dakota walked out of his office before he leapt from his seat and went after her. Except she was nowhere to be found in the halls, so he dropped into her dad’s room under the guise of checking on Tim before he headed out for the evening.

She wasn’t there either.

Fortunately, he hadn’t left before her sister announced to the room, “Dakota’s headed home. She’ll text in the morning about breakfast.”

Aiden exited quickly and made a beeline toward the parking garage, intending to drive to her house and make things right. Fortunately, the Universe intervened, and he noticed her SUV as he walked to his car, and she had been standing at the driver’s door, only to slide to the ground a second later.

Now, she was in the Audi’s passenger seat as he drove to his house.

With her head leaning against the head rest, she looked over at him.

“I thought you had a date tonight.”

He took his eyes off the road to glance briefly at her.

“I did. I canceled it.”

“I’m sorry,” she whispered.

A chuckle escaped him. “No, you’re not.” He reached for her hand and squeezed it. “And neither am I.”

They pulled into his garage, and he shut the car off, then undid his seatbelt at the same did time she unbuckled hers. Only he didn’t reach for the door handle, he reached across the console for her, and pulled her in for another kiss.

It seemed like every time his lips touched hers, his body relaxed even more.

He dropped his forehead to hers and whispered, “Tell me again that you love me.”

“I love you so much, Aiden Matthews. I’m sorry it took me this long to tell you.”

“I can’t do this again if you’re not all in this time.”

She stroked his cheek with the back of her fingertips. “I’m all in, baby.”

He liked her answer, but still felt it necessary to warn, “I’m talking, make room in my closet for you kind of all in.”

A smile spread across her face. “How about if I make room in my closet instead?”

At that point, he didn’t care, as long as they were together. But he had his daughters to consider and couldn’t agree to leaving his house without talking with them.

“Maybe we both just make room until we figure things out. The only thing I know for certain is I want to wake up every morning with you in my bed.”

“I like that idea.”

---