“Not enough. Not ever enough to be dismissed.” She takes my hand and leads me to her bedroom. “We should be in bed.”

“Why?”

She starts on her shirt, pulling it over her head and dropping it to the floor. She nods in encouragement. Not that I need it to get naked with her, but what the hell, I’ll go along with her plan.

“We’re not rushing into this just because we’re addressing real feelings.”

“I don’t have some elaborate plan to lure you into my bed, Harbor. I just want to be with you. Now take off your clothes and take me to bed.”

I reach over my shoulder and tug my shirt off from over my head, dropping it to the floor like she did. When she starts on her jeans, I start on mine. “You don’t have to ask me twice.”

She grins and then laughs, bringing my own laughter to the surface. Her light is giving me the reprieve I didn’t know I needed until we arrived here.

Like every other time we’ve spent together, this is right. This is us. The levity feels good, even if it comes in the darker hours of our lives.

I take a deep breath when only our underwear is left hiding our secrets. But soon, even that barrier is removed. First her bra and then her panties. Both left in a pile at the foot of her bed. She stands there, baring herself to me. It doesn’t feel erotic, though she’s incredibly sexy.

There’s more weight to this moment we’re sharing. I remove my boxer briefs and stand across from her. She doesn’t rush to me to hide herself, and I don’t close the gap to cover us in an embrace.

As the laughter fades, we just are right then, just us, and the light from the small lamp on the nightstand. Lark moves to the side of the bed and then climbs in. I climb in on the other side and move to the middle to be close to her again.

She rolls to her side and snuggles against me. Her breath drifts across my chest, warming me, and her heart beats against my ribs.

I wrap my arm around her, not knowing what I did to deserve this woman in my life, but I vow to always protect her. I’ve never felt this strongly for someone. I won’t lose her, and if that means putting my heart on the line, I’ll do it. “I love you.”

Those three words come so easily that I realize that a timeframe can’t dictate what the heart already knows.

“I love you, too,” she whispers.

Kissing the top of her head, I’m aware that it’s too soon to share those words. But if we’re doing what comes naturally, I couldn’t hold them in any longer.

She mindlessly doodles with her nails lightly across my skin. Tilting her head, she kisses the underside of my chin, and then asks, “Do you want to start at the beginning?”