Close To Danger (Westen #4)(97)
“Don’t even remind me how close you came to dying,” he said.
“But I didn’t.” Chloe came around to stand between his spread knees, her hands cupping his face until their gazes met. “Don’t you see? We’re much better together than apart.”
“What if someone comes after me and you get caught in the middle again?”
“Wouldn’t it be better for that to happen out here in the small town where you and I’ll be alerted to strangers? What if someone comes after me in the city full of hundreds of thousands of people?”
A shudder ran through him. He wrapped his arms around her middle and hugged her tight, his face pressed against her breasts. She held him to her, the only sound the crackling of the wood in the fireplace.
Finally, he loosened his hold on her, but only slightly so he could search her beautiful face as he asked, “You want to give up your life in the big city and your job at a prestigious law firm to live out here in a cabin with me and one slightly housebroken wolf-dog?”
“I’d already made up my mind when I went back to the office that first day. Napier’s quick departure showed me that if I stayed, I’d be doing nothing but sucking up to corporate executives for the rest of my life. I also realized, I didn’t want that life anymore. The most peace I’ve had since before my parents died was here with you. And besides, I want what my sister has.”
“What’s that?” he asked, no longer fearing his past might hurt them.
“Living with the man I love,” she said, staring into his eyes as her words settled in his heart.
“I love you, too,” he said, pulling her close until their lips met. It started out as a slow kiss, one promising their love for each other. It quickly flamed to life, and he stood, scooping her into his arms and carrying her to the bedroom.
*
Later that evening, Chloe snuggled up against Wes’s side. The fire once more mesmerizing them as they sipped their wine and W?den lay on the floor, gnawing on the giant chew bone she’d brought for him.
“You sure you won’t mind giving up your law practice?” Wes asked.
“Who says I’m giving it up?” Chloe said, taking a sip of the mulled wine. “I can be a lawyer anywhere in the state of Ohio. Westen is growing and there will be people, rich or poor, who could use a good lawyer. Like that little girl Bobby was telling me about. The one her mother abandoned in the blizzard.”
“Lexie?”
“Yes. Since she was abandoned, the State will have to do a custody hearing, whether the Sheriff’s Department finds her mother or not. Lexie will need a court appointed advocate. I could do that.”
“Yes, you could. In fact, you’d be great at it,” he said, leaning over to kiss the top of her head.
“I was a little nervous coming here,” she said after a few moments.
Wes played with the short dark hair that teased the back of her collar. “Because you were afraid I’d send you away?” he guessed.
“Yes, but the nervousness didn’t last long.”
“Why?”
“It’s the same reason I knew what was in that letter.”
Wes cocked a brow at her.
She grinned. “I heard you tell me you loved me that last night we were together. So, when the letter came, I had to ask myself, what kind of man confesses his love, then the very next day leaves without a real goodbye?”
He opened his mouth to explain, but she put her finger on his lips.
“The kind of man who loves a woman so much he’s willing to put her happiness and safety above his.” She twisted so they were face-to-face. “The kind of man I love.”
Wes set his glass down on the end table then took hers and set it there, too. He pulled her onto his lap, running his fingers through her short, sexy hair. “I will always put your happiness first, Chloe.”
She smiled down at him. “And I will always put yours first, too.”
He grinned. “So, it’s a competition?”
She grinned back. “Isn’t that what love is about? Competing to make the other person feel your love?”
“I like the way you think, counselor,” he said against her lips, then proceeded to show her just how much.