She was still giggling when he steered her through the lobby and up the stairs. His mother had assigned them the hotel’s top-floor honeymoon suite, and their bags had been delivered earlier. It’d been years since Adam had been up here, and he couldn’t remember what the room looked like. However, with his mother managing the hotel, he knew the room would be first class.

Adam used the key card she had given him to open the door. “Wait a second,” he said to Abby when she would’ve gone in ahead of him. He could tell he surprised her when he swept her off her feet to carry her across the threshold, making her giggle some more.

He loved that champagne made her giggle, and he loved the lighthearted sound of her laughter, especially in light of the trauma of her diagnosis. He’d worried for a while that she might never laugh again, but his resilient Abby had bounced back after a few rough days, determined to battle her illness and fight for the life they both desperately wanted.

Adam swung her around in a big circle before setting her down in the middle of the sitting area, in front of another fireplace that had been lit for them. When he was certain she was steady on her feet, he went to open the glass doors to let the heat and scent of the fire into the candlelit room.

Someone had gone to a lot of trouble to ensure a romantic setting for the newlyweds. Adam fervently hoped it was Daisy and not his mother. It was Daisy. That was his story, and he was sticking to it. Then he looked down at Abby, saw tears in her eyes and was instantly on alert. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing is wrong. Everything is absolutely perfect. This is beautiful.” Her gaze took in the fire, the candles, the four-poster bed with the crisp white linens that had been turned down for them, the red rose petals scattered over the bed and the champagne chilling in a bucket next to the bed.

“So are you,” he said, running his fingers through her dark silky hair. He’d been so glad she left it down the way he liked it best. It might be safe to say he was obsessed with her hair, constantly touching it, burying his face in it, breathing in the scent he’d know anywhere as hers. “How do you like being married so far?”

“Best thing ever, but only because I married you.”

“That’s a good answer.”

“What about you?”

“I’m actually relieved.”

Her brows knitted adorably. “How come?”

“I was afraid you might run away from me before we could make it official.”

“I thought about it.”

“I know you did. Why do you think I’ve spent every waking minute with you for the last two weeks?”

“It wasn’t because of the holidays?”