Dear God, she had better be safe. I would burn this whole city to the ground if something happened to her.
My hands were shaking as I pulled my phone out of my pocket, leaning on the doorframe as I got my keys ready. I unlocked the door with the quietest click I could manage, then put each key between my fingers for a vicious punch if there was some evil asshole who had infiltrated my home.
I took a breath, then turned the knob.
At first, there was nothing odd. And then I realized the flicker of light was coming from the TV. And then a familiar, small voice spoke, echoing off the walls.“They’re heeeere!”
My heart leapt into my throat, and I felt a rush of adrenaline as I moved as quickly as I could without my hip giving out on me. I turned the corner, then came to a skidding halt with my fist in the air like it was a lethal weapon.
My living room had been upended. But I hadn’t been robbed. No. All my furniture had been rearranged, and in the space where the couch had been, there was now the most intricate and probably expensive blanket fort I had ever seen. It was like the kind out of thosechildhood magazines my mother always kept on her coffee table.
And then a shadowy figure appeared on their hands and knees. I didn’t need to even really look to know who it was. My heart was skittering around my chest, and my body refused to cooperate. I was pinned to the floor.
“Hey.”
Could I speak? What even were words?
“Look, before you start yelling at me, this was Tucker and Jonah’s idea. They said a big grand gesture was the way to go, and I wasn’t sure because you deserve better than some showy fucking nonsense that?—”
Somewhere between “deserve” and “showy,” my body began moving. When he got to “nonsense,” I shut him the fuck up with a punch to the mouth.
With my mouth.
Tenderly.
He grunted, then slung both arms around my waist and lifted, taking all the pressure off my hip. Carol-Ann hung there a little limply as he held me even higher, kissing me like he was afraid that if he stopped, this would all go away.
I dug my fingers into the front of his shirt and clawed the fabric into both my hands. “What the fuck?”
He laughed as he eased me back down. I realized the TV was playingPoltergeist, and as I glanced over, little Carol Anne had her hand pressed to the screen. It was oddly apropos. It had nothing to do with this, of course.
It wasn’t a love story, but the way Killian was still holding me felt like one.
“You blocked me,” I finally said when I regained some of my senses.
He grimaced as he walked me to the chair that was holding up some of the sheets and sat me down. Reaching for the remote, he paused the movie, and then his hands went right for the waistband of my work pants.
“I did. Tucker made me very, very aware that making decisions for other people about what I think is best is a dick move.”
I smacked him on the shoulder gently. “Itisa dick move.”
“You can make me pay for it later. Right now, I’m going to undress you, feed you, and tell you something really important.”
“Mm, I don’t like that order. My anxiety is out of control right now. Can you rearrange?”
He looked up from where he was scooting my slacks over my ass, then paused. He went fully down to his knees, spreading mine with his shoulders, and he held my gaze. “I’m in love with you.”
“Oh, holy fuck. What the hell, Killian?”
Heartbreak bloomed all over his face. “Did I…oh man, did I get all this wrong?”
“No, but you can’t just say it like that. With your words.”
“Um…”
“Never mind. You get it,” I said, waving him off.
He froze, then burst into laughter and surged up, grabbing me by the chin and kissing the absolute shitout of me. “I’m gonna have to say it with my words. I know I fucked it all up, as usual, so I’m going to try harder this time. I’m in love with you.”
