You’re far too good for me, I kept that thought boxed up, forcing myself to man up and move closer.

A sharp ache pierced my lungs, making it hard to breathe. I pressed a hand over my chest as if that would hold me together. “You know I felt the same, I just . . . went about it the wrong way.”

She gently pulled my hand away from my heart, lacing our fingers together before pressing her lips to my knuckles. “That vow doesn’t matter now, not with you here. I’d never ask that of you. I’d never ask you to wait.”

“No.” I removed my hand from hers, surrendering both palms toward the ceiling. “I won’t have you breaking your vow because of me, because you think you’ll lose me if we don’t have sex.”

My vision blurred as I stared at the most incredible woman I’d ever known.

Whether I deserved her or not didn’t matter. God had sent her to me twice.

“You don’t have to say that.” She placed her hands over mine. A shiver rolled through her and straight into me.

“But I do.” I swallowed hard. “We waited seventeen years. You don’t think I can wait for you a little longer?” Without relinquishing her hands, I went to one knee, then to the other. “I’d do anything for you, for our family. We’re in this together.”

I held her gaze, my voice steady despite the storm in my chest.

“For better or worse, if you want me, you have me.” That almost sounded like a proposal, but if it did, so be it.

She locked our fingers even tighter, then knelt before me. “I think . . .” She tipped her head, exhaling a shaky breath. “I may be falling in love with my son’s father.” She searched my face. “Is that crazy?”

The pain in my chest loosened, replaced by the simple, undeniable truth.

She was here and in front of me.

“No crazier than the fact I am, too,” I admitted. “I’ve felt like a piece of me was missing for a long time. Turns out there were two.”

38. Juliette

Chapter 38

Juliette

We shifted into a more comfortable position—well, for me, at least—with my ass on his lap and my legs wrapped around him. Maybe less comfortable for him since his erection hadn’t received the memo that he’d decided to abstain until marriage along with me.

We did agree to that, right?

While I was aware we were at his parents’ penthouse in the sky and we’d left Colin to fend for himself with his potentially overbearing and overprotective new family members, I couldn’t bring myself to get up and leave this room.

Seventeen years of waiting for this man, and now that our secrets were out of the way, my vow was the only thing separating us.