Page 141 of Fierce-Gabe

“One condition,” he said.

“What’s that?” she asked when they got to his room.

“You move in here so if you ever feel the need to run from me again, it’s only across the hall.”

“Deal,” she said, her arms going around his neck. “But I’m not running anywhere. Not unless there is a ball of mold chasing me and in that case, you’ll protect me.”

He lifted her up and laid her on the bed. “Always.”

EPILOGUE

Six Weeks Later

“This is the last of it,”Elise said. “My furniture is where it belongs and my townhouse is going to have renters in it soon.”

She couldn’t believe she’d actually moved in as fast as she had.

Sure, just over a month ago, Gabe had commented with the makeup sex he wanted her to move in. She’d said yes.

She’d gone to work after and started to think it over and realized it felt right. So very right she didn’t even think of it more.

Her father and brother had laughed and said they’d help her move.

Funny how everyone just accepted it was a done deal. It was kind of nice to not be questioned.

She’d packed up a bunch of clothes and brought them over, but work was nuts and they hadn’t had time to get movers scheduled and things done in Gabe’s house before she came in.

He’d been all for her making changes.

She needed to clean more than anything. Figure out what space would be hers for an office, which ended up being an extra bedroom. The room above the garage had all her living room furniture in it now and it was going to be a nice movie and barroom.

All her kitchen items were in Gabe’s kitchen and his were in the trash. Nothing matched or was good anyway. It’s not like he cooked.

Those things took time and today was the day she could feel like it was finalized.

“No second thoughts?” Gabe asked her.

“None,” she said.

“Good,” he said. “Then have a seat.”

He gave her a nudge on her couch and left her there while he walked out of the room. When he came back a minute later he had his guitar in his hand.

“What are you doing?”

“Turning back time and putting a bow on it.”

“Huh?” she asked.

She wasn’t sure what he was doing or saying until she heard the chords of “Remember When”by Alan Jackson. The song that started it all when she was eighteen and he was nineteen.

What no one knew but them.

His voice rang out, the sound richer and deeper and she felt the same pounding in her heart.

When the last words were sung, the tears were rolling down her cheeks. “It just means so much more to me now than it did back then.”

“It does,” he said. “Which is why it not only needs to be our wedding song but our theme song for the next fifty years.”

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