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He rubbed his brow and laughed again. “I don’t know what to say.”
“Are you mad?”
“I’m feeling a lot of things right now, but anger isn’t anywhere on my radar.” He looked up at her. “No one’s ever done something like that for me.”
She flushed. “You’re not a lumberjack, Giovanni, and I don’t want you to be. I want you to be funny and happy, and I want you to love what you do.”
“You’re not breaking up with me?”
“God, no.” She lowered back to her chair and took his hand. “I don’t want to break up. I want to be with you. I’m not going to obsess over all the things that might go wrong, and I’m going to do my best to trust that you’ll talk to me when you’re upset.”
“What about you?”
“I’m talking now, aren’t I?”
Yes, she was. And he loved everything she was saying.
“I’m in love with you, Giovanni. It’s the scariest feeling I’ve ever known, but I know I’d rather be with you than without you. I don’t like being apart and I don’t care where I live, but I want to go wherever you are.”
His mind was blown. “I’m not going anywhere.”
She smiled and lifted his hand to her lips, biting his knuckle softly. “Yes, you are. One of those agents is going to sign you and you’re going to be busy traveling all over the country. And one day, you’ll have your own special on Netflix. I believe in you, and I want to be there when it happens.”
It was his turn to be overwhelmed. “Is it hot in here?” He stood and opened the kitchen window, letting in a gust of wind.
His chest constricted and the back of his throat hurt like he might cry. He couldn’t cry. Not in front of her. But damn, she…
His heart filled with so much emotion he could hardly breathe. It actually hurt. Then, because God was set on making an ass out of him, their song came on. The familiar strings and flutes filled the kitchen just as they had played that night at the bar.
Her hand pressed to his back and he tensed, blinking hard against the onset of tears.
She pressed her cheek to his back and whispered, “Honey, they’re playing our song.”
He turned and blinked like a total sap. “I think I liked it better when you were mean.”
She laughed and hugged him. “I’m still mean.”
“I know. But, Er, I fucking love you when you’re nice.” His arms wrapped around her, lifting her off her feet and hugging her body to his. “I’m never letting you go.”
She laughed. “Promise?”
His lips pressed to her throat and he nodded, sniffing back his tears. “Promise.”
“Good. Because I’ve decided that if I’m gonna love someone, I’m gonna love them all the way.”
He looked into her eyes. “That’s how I love you, Erin. All the way.”
She kissed him, nuzzling her nose along his. “Like the stars love the sky?”
“More. Because I never want to spend a day without you.”
His mouth pressed to her and her arms wreathed his neck as he carried her to bed. They didn’t think about the lights being on and she didn’t flinch when he looked into her eyes. She let him hold her and touch her and kiss her, never pulling a single bit of herself away.
Her openness left him exposed. As they filled the hollows of each other’s soul, he didn’t know what the future had in store for them, but he finally felt like he had a place to call home—in her arms, in her heart. That was where he wanted to stay.
EPILOGUE
“Please put your hands together for Giovanni Mosconi!”
