Love Restored (Gallagher Brothers #1)(61)

“Say it again.”

He frowned. “All of that. Because I don’t know if I can get it all down the right way a second time.”

She shook her head. “No, not all of it. Just the part where you tell me you love me.”

He grinned then and rubbed his thumbs along her cheekbones. “I love you, Blake Brennen.”

“I love you, too, Graham. I’ve loved you a lot longer than just today, too.”

He was pretty sure his heart was going to burst from his chest at those words, but he didn’t crush his mouth to hers, not yet. He was almost forty years old, and had never felt anything like this.

“I know I shouldn’t have pushed you away,” she continued. “I knew I was making a mistake as soon as I watched you walk out the door. Only I didn’t know how to tell you that I was an idiot and I wanted you in my life. I suck at making good choices, and I thought that being with you was the wrong one. But hell, I made things worse because I kept second-guessing myself. You’re it for me, Graham. Don’t walk away again, even when I ask. Just be there with me, even when I’m a little crazy, and I’ll be right by your side when you do the same.”

He snorted. “Calling me crazy?”

“Yeah, but that’s why we fit.” She closed her eyes and let out a breath. “Damn it, you totally stole my thunder, you know.”

He tilted his head. “Huh?”

She rolled her eyes. “I was actually going to come to you today since Rowan is at school finally, and I had a free afternoon. Then Maya made this appointment, and I couldn’t get out of it. Turns out it was you!” She shook her head, laughing. “I can’t believe it was you.”

“I would have been here sooner, but you were booked yesterday and had taken some time off to be with Rowan. She doing okay, babe?”

Blake nodded. “Yeah, she’s so freaking strong. Though she’s been sleeping in my bed, I think she’ll be okay in her own in a bit.” She bit her lip. “She’s been asking for you.”

“I know.”

Her head shot up. “What?”

Graham shrugged. “Jake told me she wanted me to read to her. Killed me that I couldn’t do it.”

She let out a shaky breath. “Killed me, too. And that’s how I knew I’d really stepped in it.”

Graham kissed her softly, his world finally settling after being off-kilter for far too long. “Marry me, Blake. Let me make you mine in truth. And Rowan, too. Be my family.” He paused. “I’m not replacing the family I lost. I want you to know that. But I want to make a new family with you. Can you do that? Can we do that?”

Blake threw her arms around his neck. “Yes! Yes, I’ll marry you, and oh my God, Rowan is going to be so happy. I mean, I’d have asked her first before I answered, but she’s been all about you since you left so I don’t think it’s going to be a problem.” She kissed his face, and he laughed with her, holding her close. “Graham, Blake, and Rowan Gallagher. I like the sound of that.”

Graham’s heart swelled to twice its size. “I f*cking love the sound of that.”

Blake slid back down his body and landed on her feet. “Did you really come here to get a piercing, by the way? Or was it just to get me alone? Because I’ll totally pierce your nipples right now. They’d be so hot pierced.”

Graham chuckled. “Yeah, actually, I think that sounds perfect.” He pulled a box out of his pocket. “Fitting since I have a ring for you here. You can give me a ring or two for my nipples. Or maybe a barbell, but that kind of ruins the symbolism.”

Blake froze. “You…you have a ring.”

Graham rolled his eyes and went to one knee. “Of course, I have a ring. You already said yes so you can’t take that back.”

“He’s so romantic,” Maya said dryly from behind them.

“Fuck off, Maya,” he growled.

“You ever realize how many people you tell to f*ck off in that growly tone?” Derek asked innocently.

Graham ignored the fight behind him and stared into the eyes of the one woman for him. “What do you say, babe, will you wear my ring?”

Blake bit into her lip. “Hell, yeah. And I can’t wait for you to wear mine.”

He slid the solitaire on her finger and crushed his mouth to hers. He had his woman, his life, his everything.

Graham never thought he’d end up in a new life with a new family. He honestly thought he’d die the same way he’d been living—alone yet content. Working with his hands and half his heart. Then Blake had sauntered into his life and onto his jobsite. He should have known from the second time he’d seen her with his brother’s dick in one hand and a needle in the other that he’d fall in love with her, but sometimes, it took a little more than that for him to get it.

She had restored the faith he had in life and the idea of a future. He’d built the foundations long ago, though he had been afraid they’d cracked when he’d lost his purpose. But she’d restored who he was and would help him build a new life.

“I love you,” he whispered.

She ran a hand through his beard. “I love you, too. Now get on the table and take your shirt off. This will only hurt a bit.”

He laughed but did as she asked. “You’re the only woman I trust with a needle and barbell in her hand anywhere near me. Just saying.”