Love. Set. Match.

  Her heart fluttered. “Love definitely works for me. I’m pretty crazy in love with you too. So crazy that I think I could get on board with most of that list, especially the last two.”

  His eyes darkened, desire sparking in their depths. “Oh yeah?”

  “Definitely.” She pushed their plates back and boosted herself onto the counter, moving to sit in front of him, arms around his neck. “In fact, I have a proposition for you.”

  She leaned in for a nibbling kiss, teasing, tasting, but not sinking in. Not yet.

  “What might that be?” he asked, his big hands sliding around to cup her ass, his fingers dancing along the hem of her dress.

  She hesitated for only a moment before diving in, keeping her tone light, as if she were simply spitballing ideas. “Well, with this job, have you found a place to live yet?”

  A slow smile stretched across his face. “Now that you mention it, I haven’t really had a chance to house hunt yet. I’ve mostly stayed with my parents when I haven’t been flying back up here to finish things.”

  “You know, it’ll be really challenging to accomplish the whole falling asleep together and waking up together thing if you’re living with your parents or in some apartment.” She stroked his hair, loving how the light from the pendant over the bar caught the old gold tones, making them glow. “What would you say to moving in with me?”

  His hands slid up her thighs, pushing her dress up, sending sparks of desire zinging across her skin. He leaned in to trail kisses along the column of her neck. “I would say that sounds like an amazing proposition that I plan to take you up on as soon as we get back to Miami. But for now, I want to get started on the loving you part of this whole thing.”

  His fingers dipped into her panties, teasing her wet folds. She let him play with her for a few minutes, drinking in the fact that he was here, with her. This wasn’t a dream. It was for real, and Rob intended for it to be their reality from now on.

  When she reached to pull the hem of the loose dress over her head, he stopped her. “Not here. If you take that off now, I’m not going to be able to stop myself, and I want you in my bed.”

  Together they moved through the apartment toward the sliding barn door that led into the bedroom. The second they crossed the threshold, they began tugging at each other’s clothes, sending piece after piece flying until they were both naked save for her lacy panties and his black boxer briefs. She would have pulled those off him too, but the sight of the angry red wound on his side stopped her.

  “Rob.” She almost reached out to touch it, but she stopped herself. “Are you sure we should be doing this?”

  He leaned in, taking her mouth in a deep kiss that sent most of her rational thought running in five different directions. For added effect, he cupped her breasts, his thumb rolling around her nipple in the way he knew drove her crazy. “I probably shouldn’t join in the fun tonight, but that doesn’t mean I can’t watch you have fun.”

  To prove his point, he spent the next hours driving her up and over the edge of pleasure, urging her on until her muscles turned to Jell-o and her cries of ecstasy grew hoarse. Then when she couldn’t take any more, he settled her under the blankets and pulled her close into his uninjured side.

  “I love you, Rob Ashton,” she said, leaning up to give him a kiss.

  He smiled into the kiss, his arm tightening around her a little. “I love you too, Em. I lost so much time with you, but I don’t intend to miss another minute. You’re it for me.”

  She returned his smile, loving the feel of his hot, sculpted body beside hers. Yeah, she could definitely get used to this, to the certainty that he’d be there when she woke up tomorrow and every morning for as long as she wanted as her partner, her friend, and her lover.

  “You’re it for me too. Winning you might be the best thing that ever happened to me.”

  A word about the author…

  From the time she figured out how to turn the Disney Read-Along cassette tape over in the dark, Taylor’s been addicted to reading—both authorized and unauthorized. By the time she was thirteen, she’d started writing Newsies fan fiction and reading romance novels late into the night. A champion multitasker, she’s been known to read, write, and watch TV all at the same time, especially if there’s an HEA ending involved. In addition to being a frequent stress baker, she’s spent the majority of her free time becoming fluent in most dialects of nerdiness, starting with musicals, and is mildly obsessed with all things British (especially the Royal Family and tennis champ Andy Murray). Growing up with a village of strong women as an example, she doesn’t miss an opportunity to weave community engagement and feminism into each of her books in one way or another—her heroines are always sassy and smart, and her heroes wouldn’t have them any other way.

  She’s represented by Julie Gwinn of The Seymour Agency.

  ~*~

  Find Taylor online at:

  http://taylormlunsford.com

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  this publication of The Wild Rose Press, Inc.

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