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She scooted to the edge of the table and rested her forearms on my knees. “You’ve never made me feel like my last name was a negative. From the beginning, you’ve treated me like a regular person.”
“I beg to differ. You have never been regular to me.”
Her mouth hitched at the corners, and hope soared. “This is what I mean. When I’m with you, you make it all fade. I can just be Daisy. No matter what we’re doing, I feel good, sometimes great, other times wonderful. After a lifetime of just ‘okay,’ you are a breath of fresh air. You’re sunshine in beautiful human form.”
I heard what she was saying, but it was nearly impossible for me to take it in. “You’re over Andy?”
Her fingertips dug into my thighs. “Miles…that relationship was important. I once thought I’d spend my life with him. But I came to a realization months ago: he did me a favor by not wanting to marry me. If we hadn’t broken up, I would have settled for him, believing that was as good as it got, and I never would have known you. I never would have experienced what it was like not to have to apologize for who I am or where I come from to the person I’m with, fake or otherwise.”
I shook my head. “I haven’t been pretending with you for a long time, Daisy.”
Her breath hitched, and she slowly raised her hand to my cheek. “I didn’t think you wanted this.”
Turning my head into her hand, I kissed her palm. “I wasn’t ready when we met.”
“Neither was I,” she admitted.
“I’ve got a year of sobriety. I feel steady, and I think I could be really good to you.” I slammed my eyes closed for a second. Now wasn’t the time to lose my confidence or sow any doubt. “No. I know I can be really good to you.”
Tears welled in her eyes as she nodded. “You’ve been nothing but good, great, and wonderful to me.”
“It’s impossible not to be.” I kissed her palm again. “We can go slow. You’ve been the only thing I’ve been able to think about for a long time, which has put me several steps ahead of you. I can be patient and wait for you to catch up. I don’t need you to love me today, so long as I know there’s a possibility you might in the future.”
“Oh, Miles,” she whispered. “How could I not be in love with you? Like you said, it’s impossible not to be. I want to be your real girlfriend.”
Taking her other hand, I dragged her into my lap and cradled her beautiful fucking face in my palms.
“The second you handed me the bill for the cupcakes I stole, there wasn’t a chance on this green earth I wouldn’t fall stupidly in love with you, Daisy Ethel Dunham.” I placed her palm on my chest, over my pounding heart. “Do you feel that? You did that. You can call yourself my girlfriend, but I’m calling you the commander of my heart. You own me, through and through.”
She dove headfirst into my neck, her arms closing around me. We’d hugged, held hands, kissed, had done things that would’ve made me blush if I’d paused to think too hard. But this…this was the first time I’d had her in my arms with nothing but honesty between us.
“Tell me you love me, Daisy,” I murmured into her hair. “I need to hear it so it feels real.”
Her soft lips pressed against my throat twice before she raised her head. Her cheeks were flushed, eyes wet, lips swollen. Beautiful girl. My girl.
“I love you, Miles Aldrich.” Clear as day, she said the words I never thought I’d hear from her. “I’m going to be good for you.”
I dug my fingers into the sides of her hair, holding her head a hairsbreadth from mine. “Not a chance on this green earth, Cupcake. I’m stupidly in love with you, and I’m going to keep you.”
High and soft, she uttered one word that was absolutely everything.
“Okay.”
My mouth met hers in a slow, thorough binding. Sealed together, our breath and tongues mingled. Daisy might not have known it, but this kiss was a contract. She’d have to sue me to get out of it. I wasn’t worried about that. What good was my money if I couldn’t use it to tie her up in court for the rest of her life?
I wasn’t going to fuck this up, though. She’d have no reason to check the fine print of what she’d agreed to when her lips moved over mine.
She shifted in my lap to straddle me and plastered herself to my chest. Her elbows were on my shoulders, fingers in my hair, mouth melded to mine.
We kissed until crickets ruled the night. Kissed away our lingering doubts, until there was no question this was real. Our cores were pressed together, hot and aroused, but kissing was the point. We made out like time was endless, and I loved every second of it.
“I love you,” she breathed against my lips.
“I love you,” I returned.
“I’ll love you more if you touch me.”
I slipped my hands beneath the hem of her dress and palmed her ass. “Like this?”
