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“You can’t mean that.”
She shakes her head in my hands.
“Can’t I? Jobs are replaceable. What you’ve created between me and my son isn’t. I wasn’t going to last much longer, Liv. I was going to wind up just like my fucking father, and Elijah would have suffered for it. You kept me from sinking into the muck. You helped me find my happiness again. Made me remember how much I love my son. No one else could have done that.”
“That’s not true. I’m just a nanny. Any good person could have helped you.”
“It wasn’t just that you helped. You gave me a reason to be excited again. You made me feel alive even as the divorce tried to kill me. I was done for if it weren’t for the way you made me feel. I don’t…”
My voice cracks, and I have to swallow hard as the emotions threaten to cut off my words.
“I know I have never been as happy as I am when I’m with you. And it’s not just the way we come together, the way your perfect little body was made for me. It’s the time the three of us spent together—the aquarium and ball game. The bedtime stories. The late-night chats on the couch about life. About nothing and everything.”
Blinking through the tears that cloud my vision, I pull Liv closer to me.
“There is nothing between heaven and hell that will keep me from doing everything in my power to keep you here, Liv. I love you. I love you more than anyone who’s come before, and my only regret is that I didn’t meet you sooner.”
Chapter 33
Olivia
I’m pretty sure my heart stopped.
But I can still feel Noah’s hands on my cheeks as he holds me close. I can still see his eyes, those dazzling green eyes, as he stares at me expectantly.
I’m supposed to be saying something right now, but my brain is misfiring and I can’t think clearly.
He loves me? He loves me.
I never truly considered how Noah felt about me beyond enjoying the help with Elijah—and the sex. But as I look into his eyes, as I feel the tension radiating off him, I know he’s not lying or trying to mislead me.
Noah Steele, my dad’s best friend and my boss, loves me.
I’ve known for a while that my feelings went beyond a simple fling, but hearing the words come from his lips makes my heart soar in a way that is paramount to everything around me.
“Liv?”
I shake my head, quickly realizing I still haven’t said anything.
“Sorry.” A slow smile spreads across my face. “I love you, too, Noah. I think I have from the start.”
His lips crash into mine as the only response, and the warm feeling of our skin meeting and tongues twirling sends me into a hypnotizing realm of intoxication.
After a moment, he pulls back, his forehead still resting on mine.
“So you’ll stay?”
Noah still doesn’t know everything that’s going on, but I can’t deny him the truth now, not after that confession and panty-melting kiss.
“I want to.”
“Good.”
I hold up my hand before he can interrupt me again.
“But there are some other things you should know.”
“Like what?”
