On my way to the clinic.
Shane stared at the door. He’d planned to ask her to come. Planned to beg if necessary. But the words he’d mentally scripted had vanished when she’d simply said she was on her way.
He could not mess this up. Life waited for no one. He was not in the financial position he’d expected to be in when he found a partner. Hell, he might never be in that ideal state.
But he loved Nicole. Life wasn’t waiting for him to figure it all out.
The door to the clinic opened and Nicole stepped in. She started towards him then paused. Like her momentum had evaporated into uncertainty.
The last thing he wanted for her was uncertainty. There was no time for waiting. No thinking.
Opening his arms, he started, “I love you. I don’t know when it happened but I love you and I am terrified that I won’t be enough. You are brilliant, gorgeous, funny and deserve the world.” The words rushed from him as his heart led the conversation.
She deserved the world but he hoped she chose him.
Now Nicole was moving. “You are more than enough, Shane. You are everything. And I love you, too.”
Her lips brushed his. They were in the clinic. A patient could have walked in at any moment but he needed her in his arms. He felt Nicole let out a breath as he pulled her close.
The world righted, and Shane's heart finally felt like it could beat without breaking. “Nicole.” He ran a hand down her back. “I’m sorry.” He pressed his lips to her hair, his brain trying to convince his heart that she was truly here. “I let the idea that my parents rushed into everything blind me. Or that was my excuse, but I was looking for a reason you might run. Might decide you deserved—”
Her finger lay across his lips. “I know. I know. I’m sorry too. I didn’t notice any of the red flags in Caleb. Didn’t look for them in the quick courtship. I was so starved for love and acceptance that I eloped with a stranger.” She sucked in a breath “I didn’t trust myself not to fall into another trap. I let myself doubt everything and I ran. I love you.” She laid her head against his chest. “I love you.”
Her repeated words echoed in his soul. Shane squeezed her. “I will never tire of hearing that. I love you too.”
“Never is a long time.”
He grinned as her giggle reached his ear. “I’m counting on it.”
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