A Scarred Soul: A Small Town Love Story (Safe Haven Book 2) (33 page)

The food was delicious, but when Vince tried to serve her more, she turned him down. “You know me, Vince. I could eat more, but I’m going to do damage to this dress if I take another mouthful.”

“We can take a break before dessert.” He started to clear the dishes, and Lulah helped, following him to the kitchen with the last plates from the meal. Her shoes were becoming troublesome after two glasses of champagne.

She placed the dishes on the counter before bending down to ease off the shoes, but Vince stopped her with a hand on her shoulder.

“Let me do that for you.” Crouched on one knee, he lifted her right foot and released the small clasp to slip off her shoe. When she went to place her foot on the floor, he kept hold of her, sending her that wicked, want-you-now grin. He held up one shoe. “These are so hot, imp, I think you should wear them every night.” After removing the other shoe, he lightly trailed his fingers up her calf, behind her knee, stopping mid-thigh. She shivered as his fingers lit up her nerves, sending a tingle racing up her thighs.

“Lulah?”

She looked down at him. His suit pants would be ruined with dog hair if he stayed on the floor too long.

“While I’m down here, there’s something I’d like to do.”

She laughed. “Typical man.” She brushed her hand over the top of his head.

“Actually, I’m serious, and I want to do this right. Now seems a good time, because I can’t wait any longer.”

His face was somber. “I think my filthy mind has the wrong idea about what you want to do.” What on earth was he thinking?

The saucy smile returned. “Oh, there’s that, too, but I want to say something first.”

“You always want to say something first.”

He reached up and put a finger to her lips. “Shh.” He reached for her hand, and he studied it, a focus that suggested he was still putting together exactly what he wanted to say. Was this it? Over? Was he finally ready to move on?

V
ince thought
the depth of his feelings would make this easy. He’d gone over it countless times since he’d left the retreat, but now the words deserted him, and with the way his throat closed over, his ability to speak probably disappeared with the words. He had to say something, because he was stuck here, on the floor, with Lulah looking more bewildered by the second.

His speech wasn’t hampered by any sort of reluctance or fear of what Lulah’s response might be. It was hampered by the emotion that overwhelmed him, by the changes occurring during the past few weeks to remove the fear from his soul so that courage and love could flow free.

“Lulah, I’ve told you before that I love you. Usually during fraught moments with my emotions running crazy, my fear battling love, and you there as my anchor. You’ve always been there for me to hold onto when I needed something to grasp, to keep me from drowning. I never wanted you to feel obligated, but as I’ve healed so much over the past month, I’ve come to understand that you make me whole. Not in a dependent sort of way, but in that manner where you’ve shown me how to stand on my own and grow as a person.

“You might not realize this, Lulah, but the more I loved you, the more love I received from you. By loving me, you made me seek the help I needed, so that today I feel like a whole and worthy person. I want to be that person for you, too. Not in a selfish way, but in a way that I can make you happy, be the person you can turn to, as I’ll turn to you, too, when something troubles us. To see you happy, Lulah, is the most precious gift to me.”

He opened his palm, exposing her hand that he held. Her fingers were lightly curled, and he stroked the back of them with his thumb, taking a moment to try and compose himself, because while he might be fit, he wasn’t sure his heart could continue at the rate it raced. He coaxed her hand open with the draw of his fingers, taking hold of one of hers.

God, she was beautiful. What sort of fool was he for imagining he deserved what he was about to ask? But they were defeatist ideas, and in his heart he knew that it was Lulah’s heart that was so beautiful, Lulah’s heart that he wanted.

“Marry me, Lulah. Let me be strong for you the way you are for me.”

Her eyes glistened, and he wasn’t sure if that was a good sign. She seemed speechless, and he smiled because it was pretty hard to render Lulah mute for long.

“Vince…”

“I want you to know that you can rely on me. My name won’t be on that list of people who have let you down, because it would break my heart to do that. We can live here, Lulah. I’ll fix up the barn as a workshop. We can add a bedroom or two to the cabin for—”

“Vince, we can’t.”

Oh, God. Tears, denial. Probably sensible, to be honest. They needed to talk about it more. He shouldn’t have sprung it on her like this. Still, this was a starting point, and he wouldn’t give up. “I don’t need an answer right away.”

“No, Vince.” She pulled her hand from his grasp. “Stand up, please.”

He would have stayed there for hours if she’d demanded it, but it was a relief to be off his knee. He stole another look, and now she smiled.

“I mean yes, but no. No, we can’t continue to live in the cabin, because it’s sold, but yes, Vince, I would love to marry you, spend my life with you, just not here in this cabin.”

Jesus, he thought his heart would burst. He wrapped her in his arms and fell into the most wondrous kiss they’d ever shared. And now it was easier to break that kiss, because it was no longer stolen in a small moment, but the first of many. He laughed. His speech came out all wrong, and he’d forgotten one vital piece of information.

“Sorry, imp, I messed this all up.” He reached into his pocket. “I performed the down-on-my-knees bit okay, I even asked Ray, which was why I missed lunch this afternoon. Well, that, and…here, hold out your hand again.”

He took hold of her finger and slipped the ring on. “I sat at the jewelers for an hour and waited for this to arrive.”

“Vince, it’s stunning.”

“Oh, you like it?”

“I adore it. It’s that sketch you did one day.”

“I’ve done a lot of them, been doing them for two months, and it took a while for me to find someone who could make it.” The ring was plain gold but the solitaire diamond was held in the clasp of two hands, one slightly larger than the other. One clearly Vince’s hand, the other, Lulah’s. “Oh, and there’s one more thing. Wait there.”

How had he forgotten this vital part of the evening? Perhaps because he’d already spent weeks imagining not only this moment but their entire life spent loving each other in this cabin.

At times, the fantasy grew to a couple of children and Gable spending a lot of time with them. Lulah as a mother would be awesome. In his bag, he found the papers from the lawyer. When he handed them to Lulah, she obviously noticed the legal envelope.

“What’s this, Vince, a prenup already?”

He grinned at her. “Read it.” She was going to marry him, wasn’t she? Is that what she’d said? He waited, his heart settling to a steady thump as he watched her try to make sense of the papers. The small crease on her brow showed she wasn’t quite getting it.

Her face screwed up. “What does this mean?”

“I bought the cabin.”

H
e bought the cabin
. Why had he done that when he knew how strongly she felt about owning her own home. It was her goal, her prize, yet he’d taken it from her.

“Why did you do that? I don’t understand.” She stepped back from him, clutching the papers.

“I wanted to surprise you. It’s my wedding gift to you. The cabin is in a trust, and you’re the sole beneficiary. It’s yours, Lulah, and if it makes you feel better, you can buy it off the trust. I wanted to secure it for you in a way that you would never lose it. No matter what happens to us, this cabin will always be yours.”

She threw her arms around him, burrowing her head into his chest. He’d made her cry again. She pushed off him, swiping at her tears.

“I want you to know this, Vince. I don’t intend anything happening to us but good things. I expect us to be sitting out there on the porch, rocking our way into old age together. Always together. Thank you for considering my insecurity about my home. That means more to me than you can imagine. Now, about the extra bedrooms you were planning, are you expecting guests, or children?”

“Oh, children, definitely.”

“Good, because I’ve already met one stunning child of yours and I think the world needs a few more.”

“Hey, imp…have I told you you’re unbelievably stunning yourself?

Lulah made a jump for him, wrapping her arms around his neck, her hands slipping up to capture the back of his head, her legs clasping him around his hips. “In that case, Vince Marr, our children will be scorching.”

He grinned. “Let’s move this to the bedroom, imp. You’re dessert.”

He placed her on the floor beside the bed, moved behind her and unfastened the tie on her dress. “You look so beautiful in this dress, Lulah, but nothing beats you naked.”

She shrugged out of the dress and let it fall to the floor. “Same goes for you and the suit, hot guy,” she said, racing him to his belt buckle. In a rush they undressed each other, laughing as their hands tangled together.

When they stood naked, facing each other, Vince placed his hands on her shoulders, his gaze sweeping over her as if he was seeing her for the first time. He ran his palms lightly down her arms, making her shiver, then lifted her up and placed her carefully on the bed as if she might shatter.

He was hard and she was ready for him. “Come to me, Vince,” she said, holding out her hand to him. As he lay over her she parted her thighs, his hardness nestling between her legs.

“I feel like the luckiest woman alive.”

“And I feel like the luckiest person on earth,” he said, stroking her cheek with the back of his knuckles.

Lulah wriggled. “I want you in me, Vince. Then we can continue this conversation about how lucky we are.”

“Are you ready for me, Lulah?” he asked, sliding a hand between them and parting her lips. “All wet.”

Lulah whimpered.

“All needy,” he said, covering her mouth with his.

When their lips met, so softly, Lulah lunged for him, making him pull away.

“No hurry, we’ve got the rest of our lives.”

The idea stunned her, as if that was the moment she understood what it meant to be marrying the man she loved. The rest of their lives. She slowed then, accepting his gentle kisses and languid sweep of his tongue in her mouth. Soon, though, the urgency built, and the stroking of his finger that matched his tongue had her begging again to be filled.

“Tell me what you want?” His voice was harsh, loaded with desire and control.

“You, Vince, all of you.”

She felt the head of his cock nudge at her entrance, then slowly, inexorably, fill her. She squeezed him, feeling every inch of him, making him groan.

“You’re more than ready for me, imp.”

He withdrew and thrust back into her in a steady rhythm, that took them on a slow, determined climb to their release. They came together, and she caught his call for her as he climaxed, covering his mouth tiny kisses.

“I think I’ve been ready since the day I was born,” she whispered.

E
rin Sloane was born
in New Zealand,and spends as much time as possible at a remote beach on the beautiful Coromandel Peninsula. It’s a peaceful place to write, the surf is excellent, and the wifi is rubbish. She has a rescue dog, Skipper, and a talent for growing beans.

Please don’t be shy. I love to chat with readers.

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