“Clay.”I took the box but didn’t open it, staring at the navy-blue velvet.“You don’t have to?—”
“Let me get this out so I don’t lose my nerve.”His laughter was shaky, which went straight to my heart—the fact that he was so nervous, wanting so much to get it right.“You deserve this.You deserve so much better than I’ve given you.You deserve a man to get down on one knee in front of you and beg you to be his wife.To give his life meaning that didn’t exist before he met you.That was what you’ve done for me, and it’s something I knew before you left.”
He released a shaky sigh edged with laughter.“Believe me.This past week only reinforced that.I can’t remember anything meaning anything before you came along.Only what I thought mattered, and I realize now it was a fraction of a real, full life.I can’t go back to living the way I did.Not when I know how much better you make everything just by being you.”
Did he mean it?God, I hoped he did.Every part of me wanted this to be true, my heart most of all.It currently beat hard, fast, picking up speed once Clay reached out to open the box I still held in my palm.
“I want us for real,” he whispered.“Forever.Our family.Something we build together.Please let me be the husband you deserve.I know I can do it.I only need a chance.”
“So you want our baby?”I had to know.I had to be sure what he felt.
A wide, beaming smile lit up his face.“I want this baby.I want more babies.I can’t promise I’ll know what the hell I’m doing, but I’m going to do my best.”
“I won’t know what I’m doing either,” I pointed out with a soft laugh.“We can figure it out together.”What was I supposed to say when everything he described was exactly what I wanted?Tears of joy filled my eyes and spilled over before I could find my voice.“Yes, yes.I want to start again.I want us to be real.”
The cool band slid over my finger.Finally, I looked down at it, gasping at the generous, sparkling diamond.I barely twitched my finger, and the prisms caught the light, making the stones sparkle hypnotically.“My God,” I whispered.“It’s beautiful.”
“You’re beautiful.”His hand cupped my cheek, and I leaned into his caress.For the first time in as long as I could remember, I felt whole.Finally, I had everything I wanted and what I never knew I needed until now.
His kiss was sweet.Lingering.Full of promises for the future.“I love you,” I whispered, touching my forehead to his and closing my eyes.
“I love you.”There was so much wonder in his voice as if he was still getting used to the idea.
We had all the time in the world for it.
We did not, however, have time to waste before the press conference.“We need to move,” he announced once his gaze landed on the bedside clock.“We only have twenty minutes.You ready to step into the role you were born to fill?”
I was ready for anything, so long as I had him beside me.When he extended a hand, I took it and followed him out of bed.“I can hardly wait,” I decided, kissing him again before beginning the rest of my life.
Our life.
Together.
EPILOGUE
DANTE
“Congratulations, Mr.West.You own a new club in Las Vegas.”Blake Reed, my business manager, shook my hand once I signed the last of the paperwork.“It’s about time.How long did it take me to talk to you into this?”
“I love it when you can’t leave well enough alone.”I gave him a sour look, heading to the bar on the other side of my office on the second floor of my club.The action was unfolding downstairs, with monitors revealing images of happy, horny customers who paid handsomely for admission to one of the most exclusive establishments in LA.Within months, we would be ready to expand the first time to Las Vegas.My hometown.
I most certainly needed a drink.
“What finally convinced you?”he asked.The distant, distracted quality of his voice made me glance over my shoulder.What I found wasn't surprising.He was watching the feed from the main floor, observing the revelry taking place as people dressed in all levels of club and kink gear mingled, drank, and danced.
“I ran out of reasons not to do it.”That was pure bullshit, not that he would know any better.Blake and I had worked together for years, and there wasn’t a day I had come close to regretting our relationship.That didn’t make us good friends.There were aspects of my life that nobody knew about.Parts of myself I kept private.
Like the fact that I’d promised myself I wouldn’t go back there.Spending the weekend was one thing.Scoping out the competition, seeing what the club owners in Sin City considered elite, exclusive.Coming up with ways to outdo them.
But expanding there?Blake considered it a no-brainer, and maybe it was.I mulled it over as I took the first sip of my scotch.
“I’m damn glad,” he announced.“Talk about untapped potential.Now that the Jansen clubs are closing, there’s a vacuum.”Dick Jansen had run three of the most popular and profitable adult clubs in Nevada, but he was an old man and no longer had an appetite for business.Rather than sell out to someone like me, he had chosen to close down, to take his money and live the rest of his days on a beach somewhere.
Once rumors of his retirement had started circulating, there was no feasible way to turn Blake down when he suggested expansion yet again.I couldn’t come up with anything that wouldn’t get me laughed out of the room.
To me, though, it was no laughing matter.
“Honestly, I don’t know how you stay up here all night with so much going on down there.”He couldn’t stop looking at the monitors, and I couldn’t blame him.He worked in an office, took meetings, and handled our legal team.What was every day for me was still exotic for him.
