Only then was he able to indulge in the first truly deep breath he’d taken all day. He gathered her into his arms and held on tight, thanking God and his father and anyone else who might’ve played even a small part in making sure this went his way—that it went their way.

“I love you, too,” she said, breaking the silence. “And what you said…”

He tucked her hair behind her ear. “What did I say?”

“About me working and how you’ll never be untrue… You can’t possibly know what that means to me.”

“I do know. I know you, and I know what matters to you, and I want to be what you want and need.”

“You are. You already are.”

He kissed her then the way he’d been dying to during the lonely nights when she’d been so close to him but so far away.

Her arms came around him as she returned the kiss, matching his desperation. They ended up on the sofa, him on top of her as the agony faded away, leaving only a lifetime of joy to look forward to. “Here we are again on the sofa where you first kissed me.”

“You’re never going to forget that, are you?”

Smiling, he said, “Nope.” He stared at her gorgeous face because he could. “I’ll always be thankful that you lost your mind and kissed me. It saved us a ton of time that we might’ve wasted pretending this wasn’t happening.”

“The first day we met, I thought, wow… He’s going to be my boss?”

“Really?”

She nodded. “I had to remind myself to keep it professional. Until I forgot.”

“Thank God for that.” He kissed her again. “Alex said we’ve been eye-fucking each other since the day we met.”

She dissolved into helpless laughter. “Your brother certainly has a way with words.”

“That he does, but he’s not wrong about how long I’ve wanted you, even if I tried to pretend otherwise because you worked for us.” He tugged at her bodice. “How do we get this sexy dress off you?”

“Right over the top.”

He pulled back to find the hem and pushed it up and over her head, leaving her in only a black strapless bra and skimpy panties. “Are you really going to marry me?”

“I really am.”

“You said you’d never get married again.”

“You’ve changed my mind about a lot of things.” She got to work undoing the studs on his tuxedo shirt. “I’ve thought about this sexy body nonstop.”

“Not being able to touch you was the purest form of torture I’ve ever experienced.”

“Touch me now, Paul. Touch me every day for the rest of our lives.”

“There’s nothing I’d rather do.”

Epilogue

Epilogue