She shivered against him and pivoted so she faced him, her hands going to the buttons on his shirt, slipping them free one at a time as he held his breath. Once they were all undone, she spread his shirt and trailed her fingertips down his chest, teasing him not only with her touch but also with the look on her face that said she wanted him as much as he wanted her.

“You are kinda big,” she said before leaning down and brushing a kiss to the spot above his heart, “but I did practically carry you up my stairs that first day.”

He started to laugh, but her busy hands went from his chest to the hem of her sweater, and he lost the ability to think when she lifted it over her head and tossed it to the ground. Part of him was yelling at him to stop her so they could have this conversation with their clothes on, but the rest of him pummeled that part to pieces. As long as he had eyes, he was going to want to watch Chelle Finch undress. The woman was fucking gorgeous, and he loved every part of her, from the silver streaks in her hair to the soft roundness of her belly to the thick thighs she’d used to help him get to her apartment that first day.

He’d spent his life helping other people, and she’d rescued him in every way possible from the moment they met.

“You were right about the layout,” she said with a wry shake of her head. “Just like you were with the kitchen color.”

“But not the book.” Overstepping wasn’t even a good enough word for what he’d done. He’d fucked up and had almost ruined everything. “That was wrong, and I’ll happily spend the rest of my life making up for it. I should never have done that.”

“No, you shouldn’t have.” She kissed him, a soft and sweet brush of her lips that still left him breathing hard. “But I’m going to say yes to the deal, and I’m going to dedicate the book to you. For the man with a huge heart and double dimples who changed my world and showed me that happily-ever-afters are possible in real life, too.”

“Not to mansplain your feelings to you, but that sounds a lot like love,” he said as he pulled her closer so she fit against his hardness, her velvety heat pressing against him.

God, this woman was going to kill him with pleasure, and he couldn’t wait to spend the rest of his life with her, seeing if this was the time when being with her was so good it killed him.

“Well, actually, in this case you’re right.” She kissed him, her supple lips teasing and tempting him like only she could before she sat back. “I love you, Nash.”

“I love you, Chelle.”