Following Her (Unexpected Heroes #2.5)(33)

“No, what you said was amazing, and it stunned me because in that moment I realized I loved you, too. I can’t go a single hour without thinking of you, or a single day without going through withdrawals from not holding you. I’m independent. I don’t like to be tied down. I like to move around, be where the action is, which I get to do when I’m assigned cases. I didn’t want this, any of this, but then I met you, and ever since I can’t seem to think straight and it scares the hell out of me,” he said, his words almost angry.

“I . . . I don’t understand,” Ella stammered. He’d just said he loved her, hadn’t he? But he didn’t sound like a man telling a woman he loved her. “You love me?”

“See, I’m screwing this all up. I’ve said the words out loud a thousand times over the last week, driven past your house, picked up the phone, started to dial, and then hung it back up. I’m not good enough for you. I’m not a great guy. I don’t know how to do this, but I don’t know how to live without you.”

He gripped her fingers and looked into her eyes and all of Ella’s fear disappeared. He was just as frightened as she was and so lost and confused that it grounded her, made her heart swell with even more love for this man she hadn’t wanted to know, and whom she now didn’t want to live without.

“Love is kind of a scary thing,” she whispered.

“I know I’m all wrong for you, and I know you’d be a fool to give me a chance, but Ella, I can promise you, if you do give me a chance, that no one will love you more than I do. No one will treat you better. I tried to stay away, thought it would be better for you, but I’m selfish, because I can’t do it. I can’t go one more day without telling you how I feel, without begging you to accept me, faults and all.”

“Oh, you foolish, foolish man. It’s me who can’t live without you, and it’s me who’s erratic, and complicated, and stubborn, and irrational, and not good enough for you. But maybe, just maybe, we can both love each other so much that our faults won’t matter. I love you, Axel Carlson, and this week has been the worst of my life, because after having you as a part of my life, I don’t know how to live it anymore without you.”

He was silent as she caressed the side of his face and poured her heart out to him. Then it was her turn to be speechless as with trembling fingers he reached into his coat and pulled out a small black box.

“I know this has been a whirlwind romance, and I know we both fought it until the end, but Ella Brooks, if you accept my love, accept that I’ll treat you like a princess for the rest of your life, nothing would make me happier than for you to become my wife.”

“Yes, Axel. I want nothing more than to be yours forever.”

He slipped the ring on her finger and then pulled her to the floor, wrapping her in his arms as she clung tightly to him, his lips finally seeking hers and sealing their promises to each other.

She didn’t know how long they stayed in each other’s arms before she noticed the cheering and clapping. They both turned to find the doorway filled with her nosy family members.

“Congratulations, darling! Now we really have something to be thankful for,” her aunt Maggie said with a big grin.

And then the celebrating began, and it surely wouldn’t end for quite some time.





EPILOGUE





“Isn’t it customary for the best man to ask the maid of honor for a dance?”

Maycie turned to find the very sexy friend of Axel’s, Maverick Black, whom she’d been eyeing ever since the wedding rehearsals had begun. “You aren’t the best man, and Ella had two maids of honor,” she pointed out.

“Technicalities. Dance with me,” Maverick said as he took her hand, taking the choice away from her.

“I don’t find men who refuse to take no for an answer attractive,” she pointed out, though she did find herself on the dance floor.

“I didn’t hear the word no,” he said as he twirled her around.

“Well, it was implied,” she said.

“You’re free to pull away at any moment,” he said, his sharp blue eyes nearly piercing her.

“I don’t want to cause a scene at my best friend’s wedding.” That was a good enough excuse for her to stay in this intriguing man’s arms.

“I want to take you somewhere quiet and see how long it would take to have those lips moaning instead of complaining,” he said, his look intense.

“That was bold.” What was strange for her were the sensations zipping through her.

“I’m a man who knows what I want, and I’m not afraid to ask for it,” he said. She hadn’t even realized he’d backed her into the corner of the dance floor, in a nice, private little alcove.


“Well, you can’t have me,” she said, but the huskiness to her tone contradicted her words.

“The night’s still young,” he said, right before he captured her mouth, rendering her speechless for probably the first time in her life.