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Tears stung her eyes, and she realized that was the greatest thing anyone had ever said to her. Reaching up, she placed her hands over his. “I fell in love with you when I was too young to really know what love was,” she admitted shyly. “I thought you forgot about me. When I saw you that night at Carmine’s, I was afraid you would confirm that—that all the things we’d shared would be a distant memory.”
He shook his head. “Never. I never forgot you.” Leaning forward, he rested his forehead against hers. “How could I? You’re my other half. You complete me, Sienna. I feel like now I can finally live—finally breathe—because you’re here with me.”
Then he was kissing her in the most magical moment of her life. It was soft and sweet before turning into their typical wet and needy kisses that she craved like she craved air. His hands moved from her face, down her arms, before wrapping around her waist to hold her close. Sienna wanted nothing more than to pull him back down onto the chaise and make love.
Or maybe I’m turning into some kind of sex crazed lunatic...
That was always a possibility, but that was only because making love with Mick was so much better than she could have imagined. It was amazing the difference love made when making love. Her scientist brain wanted to examine that more, but... later.
As if reading her mind, Mick maneuvered them over to the chaise and sat down before pulling her into his lap. Then he was kissing her again, and it was perfect.
Although...
Slowly, Sienna broke the kiss and looked at the man she loved. Licking her lips, she took a moment to catch her breath. “Okay, so we know that we love each other, but... it still doesn’t erase the 2,500 miles separating us.”
“I know, I know...” Leaning back against the chaise, he frowned. “I hate the thought of doing the long-distance thing, but I think it’s something we’re going to have to deal with for a while. I can do a lot of my work from Durham, but there are times I’m going to have to either be here or New York or... wherever else in the world I have clients I need to be with.”
Wait... he wasn’t talking about her leaving her job or moving.
He was the one offering to sacrifice... everything.
“Mick, I...”
“I’ll keep this place or maybe sell it and keep the condo in the city for when I have to be in town,” he went on. “I’d like to keep the place in Manhattan because it’s spectacular and now it holds some really great memories.” Leaning in, he kissed her again. “You haven’t told me much about your place in Durham, so we can either live there or find a place of our own that we pick out together.”
“Um, yeah... my place essentially sucks compared to this,” she said with a small laugh. “I’m almost embarrassed just thinking of you seeing it.”
He cupped her face again. “It’s doesn’t matter, Sienna. All this stuff—the houses and all the things I’ve accumulated? That was me filling a void I didn’t realize I had. For years, I just kept buying things I thought would make me happy, but they didn’t. After spending these last two weeks with you, I realized I found more joy in the simple day-to-day stuff—having someone to talk to and laugh with—and going to all of those silly tourist attractions and just hanging out like a regular couple...”
“Regular couples do not stay in $10,000 a night hotel rooms,” she reminded him.
Rolling his eyes, he laughed. “You know what I’m saying! You showed me that I don’t need all of this shit. Sure, it’s nice, and it impresses the hell out of people, but it’s not what makes me happy. You. You make me happy, and I want to feel like this for the rest of my life. With you.”
“Mick, I...”
“Michael,” he said.
“Um, what?”
“Michael,” he repeated. “Let everyone else in this business call me Mick. But you, my sweet Sienna, I love how you’re the only one to call me Michael.”
A slow smile tugged at her lips. “I kind of love that, too.”
“Say you’ll be mine, Sienna,” he urged. “Say that we can finally have the lives we’ve been missing and that we can grow old together and fill every damn day with great conversations, tons of laughter, and make love any time we want.”
She rubbed herself against him. “I really like the sound of all of that. It’s everything I’ve ever wanted.”
“Is that a yes?”
Nodding, she smiled so hard her face hurt. “That is most definitely a yes!”
Then they were kissing again.
Several minutes later, when they were both breathless, Sienna realized there was one last thing they needed to clarify. “Um... I hate that I have to head home tomorrow, but I am needed back at the lab. I’ll be off again from Thanksgiving through the New Year. Do you think we can handle being apart for the next two weeks?”
“As long as I know it’s the last time we’ll be apart, I think we’ll be fine.”
And it only seemed right that they sealed it with a kiss.
