“We were just wrapped up and not thinking,” I offered.
“We were, but it shouldn’t have happened that way and it should have been me who fixed things before last night happened with my Dad. Do you think you could give me a chance to do things the right way?”
I narrowed my eyes at him, not quite following what he meant. “Ryan, I want you to be able to work at St. Michael’s. That was the point of last night.”
“No, it wasn’t. Last night I knew one thing after I spoke to my father and it was that I wanted to be with you. Nothing else mattered.”
My lips parted and I blinked several times hoping like hell I hadn’t fallen asleep on the sofa and dreamt this whole thing up.
“What?”
“Nothing else mattered Paige, but I didn’t want you feeling bad about anything. At first I planned to reason with my father but then I realized it wouldn’t work for me or him, so I decided to leave St. Michael’s. I’m transferring my residency to Lennox Hill. Problem solved in terms of my career.”
“What?” My hands flew up to my cheeks. “What are you saying?”
“I’m saying we won’t be working at the same hospital anymore, so looks like our off the record time just got better.” He smirked.
I sighed, releasing the breath I’d been holding on to. “Ryan this is crazy, you can’t just leave. There’s—”
He stole my words away with a kiss. A kiss that stopped my heart and soothed my soul.
“I choose you Paige,” he told me with that bright smile of his that captured my heart. “That’s what I did. That was the answer. I choose the woman who means everything to me, and all I want right now is to know if she’ll give me a chance.”
I returned the smile, feeling my heart swell within me with so much joy.
“I do Ryan. I absolutely do.”
He pressed his forehead to mine and held me closer. “Thank you, Paige. I love you.”
“I love you too.”
My heart swelled, my soul danced, and everything felt exactly the way it should.
He was everything to me too.
He always was.
Right from when we said hello.
Epilogue
Paige
Six months later …
“Ryan that’s not fair. You can’t just not tell me.” I sounded like I was complaining but truth be told I was loving this.
Loving him and the games he played to drive me crazy.
God, did this man ever drive me crazy with his surprises. His latest, however, was by far his best.
Two days ago, he’d booked our honeymoon, came back, and told me he booked it, and oh I shouldn’t worry because it was at a place I’d love. He just wouldn’t be telling me where we were going until the day we’d be leaving.
That meant I’d have to wait another four months to find out. The evening after our wedding day.
He walked over to me and planted a kiss on my forehead.
“Baby, trust me it’ll be worth the wait.” He chuckled, sitting next to me on the sofa. He reached for my feet and set them on his lap.
“That’s not fair.” I pouted. “You know the surprise but I don’t.”
“That’s the whole point of a surprise Paige.”
“But wouldn’t it be better if we both knew something so important? Me more than you so I could know what to pack.”
“Nope, it’s our honeymoon. We won’t need clothes.” He laughed.
“Ohhh no clothes.” I could definitely relish in a vacation like that. Him naked the whole time and me indulging in him forever. I wouldn’t need anything else.
“No clothes,” he echoed. “You and me in this mystery location with no clothes.”
“But will the weather be hot or cold?”
“It’s always hot when we’re together, doesn’t matter what the weather’s like,” he laughed.
“You are so mean. You won’t even give me a clue.”
He reached over to the coffee table, picked up one of my travel mags, and handed it to me. “It’s somewhere in there.”
I frowned. “Ryan, there are over a hundred destinations in this book.”
“Well now you know we could be going to one of them. Paige, I really want this to be a surprise. You won’t get me to confess so stop trying to get it out of me. Just know it’ll be totally worth it and we’ll be gone for at least three weeks.”
It sounded exciting. “Three weeks?” I widened my eyes.
It would be the perfect way to end my second year of residency. That was when we planned the wedding.
“Three weeks of alone time, although…” His voice trailed off and he got that look of mischief in his eyes that I loved.
“Although what?”
“I think we should start practicing from now.”
He leaned in and swooped me up in his arms. I laughed and kissed him. “Ryan we have to be at your parents’ place in an hour.”
“We’ll be late. They’ll have to understand.”
He kissed my next words away and proceeded up the stairs with me.
This was what my life was like with him and I loved it. Everything worked out for us better than we expected.
Things just took off and moved fast. That night he proposed to me, sealed it all. It was the icing on the cake. Then I’d moved in with him two months ago and that was when life really became interesting.
We lived together and it was like we always had. It felt like I’d just resumed something I’d always done.
Life couldn’t have been more perfect in every sense. At home and at work.
For him, his move to Lennox Hill couldn’t have come at a better time, and it seemed to be just the thing he needed in his career.
It was strange not seeing him at St. Michael’s but nothing much really changed. I might not see him as much during the days but when we got home we became the happy couple. A man and a woman in love who were either planning their wedding and the rest of our lives, or getting lost to the mad call of passion.
Like we were about to now.
I loved it all, just as much as I loved him.
Dr Dawson Page 16