Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 66205 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 331(@200wpm)___ 265(@250wpm)___ 221(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 66205 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 331(@200wpm)___ 265(@250wpm)___ 221(@300wpm)
“What do you think?” you ask hesitantly.
I don’t know why you’re so uncertain, though. We’re clearly more alike than we thought. For chrissakes, we’re sitting here in the allegedly most romantic city in the world, and we’re discussing what we can do back home in our mountains.
I clear my throat. “You’re asking me what I think about a project that would help teenagers and young adults not only escape a bad life but teach them to be independent? Teach them how to prepare for a better future?”
That gorgeous grin on your face now, knucklehead. It lights up my universe.
“I mean, I know this is one of those things that takes years,” you say quickly. “There’s a lot to research about funding, rights, obligations, dumb government involvement—”
I gotta kiss you for that. Hard, deep. With your face in my hands, I pour all my pride into that kiss, because you called them dumb government. Fuck, how I love you.
Plus, I make you smile.
“I wanna talk to Adeline when we get home,” you murmur. “If anyone knows how to get cracking on a project like this, it’s her.”
You know who’s gonna wanna be involved? Ryan. When they move up to Camassia permanently, we can count on him wanting to be part of this.
I smirk a little. We’re both a lost cause, aren’t we?
“We still have four days of romance in Paris to suffer through.”
“Suffer,” you laugh. “Well, I guess that’s true. We’re going shopping tomorrow.”
I make a face. “We could also stay right here and eat our body weight in croissants and fuck each other’s brains out to this view.”
You’re tempted. Admit it.
You reposition yourself to straddle me, and you set aside my notebook on the table. In the meantime, I make sure the duvet closes behind you.
“You know what? I don’t wanna think about tomorrow.” You lean in and kiss me softly. “This is gonna sound cheesy as fuck, but you’re my Paris. You’re my dream destination.”
Yeah, that’s gotta be the cheesiest shit I ever heard.
“I knew you were cheesy when I proposed.” I lean back and bring you with me. “You can pull it off, though. You say something like that, and I just wanna kiss you stupid.”
You hum and kiss me teasingly, only to stop abruptly and inch back again. “What if I change my mind?”
I feel my forehead crease. “About what?”
You’re stuck in your head tonight, that’s for sure.
“About the safehouse thing,” you say. “I know I wanna do something like that. I feel it. But—”
“Okay, that’s enough.” I cover your mouth with my hand and decide to give you a piece of my mind. “Sweetheart, you’re on the right side of twenty-five, so to speak. You’re supposed to change your mind a lot. But we’ll figure it out, I promise you.”
You’re the absolute clown who licks my palm.
“Now you’re mine,” you say.
I laugh and shake my head. You fucking nut.
Your uncertainty shows again. “How can you be sure we’ll figure it out?”
You know how. If you were genuinely worried, you wouldn’t be goofing off.
“Because no matter how many times we tweak the details, we come back to what’s most important.” I gather your hands in mine and kiss your knuckles. “Our family. You and me, our kids, and our home. The rest…? I’ll be there right next to you, Gray. I’m prepared for anything.”
That finally does it. The last of the tension leaves you, and you lock your arms around my neck.
I squeeze you just as hard, kiss your shoulder, and rub my hands up and down your back.
I trace the soft protrusions of the scars that will always set you apart from others. Trust me, knucklehead. I get you. I understand exactly what it’s like to never quite feel at home in the normal world, for lack of a better term.
Not that it will stop us from chasing normalcy every now and then. I chose Paris for that very reason, so we could do something so stereotypically honeymoon-like to get a break from the history that’s marked us.
“I’m prepared for anything too,” you murmur.
“I know.” I swallow hard, feeling the gravity of the moment, and hold you impossibly tighter.