by Brea Viragh
“I whispered?”
“You told me we were in it for the long haul. I need to know if you still feel that way.”
Lorelei bit her lip. “You hurt me, Sawyer.”
He nodded. “Yes, I know. I’m bound to fuck up many, many, many more times. I know at some point I’ll hurt you again. Probably. And I’m sorry, but I need you to give me a chance to make it right. I figure I’m pretty well suited to family life.”
“You’re full of shit,” she said, struggling to keep her voice flat and even, as Sawyer leaned forward to trace the pads of his fingertips over her lips. Felt and memorized the curve of them. She didn’t want him to know the true nature of her heart. How afraid she was of losing him entirely, and how much she needed him.
“I just want to see you smile,” Sawyer answered simply. “Every day. I want your smile to be the first thing I see when I wake up, and the last thing I see before we go to sleep. I’ll do whatever it takes.”
There was no roguish grin. No clever or scheming or devious look. Nothing but honesty when she looked up at him. When his brown eyes met hers. Heat rose from her midsection and settled below her collar bone.
Her voice was soft. “Well, I’ve always considered my smile to be my best feature.”
She saw a flash of something on his face that she’d never seen before. It happened when their eyes caught across the inches of space now separating them. A ghost of an expression. Love. Sawyer wasn’t the type of softie to blurt out his feelings, and when Lorelei saw the look on his face, she melted.
“I can’t agree with you on that,” he argued. “Your smile is only one of several absolutely phenomenal features, some I’m still trying to figure out. You’re also warm and affectionate, you have a great head of hair, killer legs, and breasts I could squeeze for days on end—”
“Sawyer!”
“I told you on our honeymoon that I would give you anything in this world you want. I’m honoring my promise. What do you want?”
“Anything?”
“Anything you want, Lorelei. If you’ll give me a chance.”
She kept her voice deceptively mild. “There might be something you can do for me. A certain proposition.”
“I’m listening.”
When she felt herself tremble, Lorelei threw her arms around his neck and held on tight. “Take us to Ocracoke. I want to sit on the beach and watch Allison play in the ocean. I want to dig my toes in the sand and look over at you. At my husband. I want to tell you that whatever promises you make to me, I make you the same. And I want you to kiss me.”
She leaned back far enough to see Sawyer’s eyes darken. His hands rose to cup her face and he looked at her. Looked straight into her eyes so that Lorelei could finally see everything she’d been waiting for.
“I will kiss you however many times you want. For as long as you’ll have me,” he murmured, bending to take her mouth in a gentle, coaxing meeting of their lips. “I love you, Lorelei. Please say it’s a yes.”
“It’s a yes.” Her smile was watery, eyes blurry. Sawyer would probably tease her later for being a mush. She wasn’t inclined at the moment to censor her reaction.
“Well, take the damn ring, then. Because you’re the only person in this world I want to wear it. The only woman who can make an honest man out of me.” He broke contact long enough to retrieve the box he’d dropped at her hug, then held out the offering. “Last chance to back out.”
“I can’t take it unless you give me the damn thing,” she retorted.
Sawyer shook his head ruefully, removing the diamond ring from its nest of ocean-blue satin. “Haven’t even booked the chapel and she’s already making demands.”
Lorelei waited until he’d slipped the slender band around her finger before launching herself into his arms. “Oh, I do love you. Even when you annoy the piss out of me.”
“Hey,” he whispered in her ear. “You remember the time we snuck out to neck in the back seat of my car? It was early afternoon, and you told me it was irresponsible to cut out in the middle of the day. I somehow convinced you.”
She nodded against his neck. “That was a great afternoon.”
Her laugh soared to new heights when Sawyer hauled her over his shoulder, hurrying down the porch steps toward the waiting vehicle. Her mother’s spontaneous applause echoed from the house.
THE END
AFTERWORD
Thank you very much for reading and I hope you enjoyed! Stay tuned to learn about upcoming releases, available titles, teasers, and more. Be sure to check out the other steamy romances set in the Heartwood universe on my Website or Amazon.
Also by Brea Viragh
Contemporary Romance
The Promise Me series
Hold Me
Touch Me
Kiss Me
Love Me
Heartwood Novels
Sugar and Gold
Your Hand in Mine (coming 2018)
Paranormal Romance
The Cavaldi Birthright series
Fate Walks (Book One – coming March)
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Brea Viragh is a writer based in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia with degrees from Berea College and Nova Southeastern University. When she isn’t writing, her hobbies include binge-watching HGTV, scouring thrift shops for goodies, and maintaining her alpha status among her boyfriend, puppy, and three cats. A recipient of a 5-Star Writer Award from NY Literary, her work includes the Promise Me series, available online, as well as short stories published in New Realm, eFiction, and Conceit magazines.