Authors: Jill Shalvis
"So you just quit your job? But I was quitting mine! I went down to Los Angeles to find you and—"
"And I was here." Zach started to laugh, shook his head, then lowered his forehead to hers. "That's why Alexi and Tara got such a kick out of this. And I was clueless."
"You wouldn't have been if you'd told me!"
"Or if
you'd
told
me."
His eyes were alive with hope and joy. "You came after me. Do you have any idea how that makes me feel?"
"Jobless?" she asked, still stunned that he'd given up everything for her.
Everything.
The depth of his love amazed and humbled her. Thrilled her.
"I'm still going to be a cop," he said. "Just here."
"In Avila. You'd … do that?" she whispered. "Really? You would? But…
"
"I would and did. Don't you get it yet, Hannah? I want to be with you." Nervousness leaped into his gaze when he said that, making her realize she hadn't been honest enough back with him.
"Do you know why I went to L.A.?" she asked him. "Why I walked away from the lodge and Alexi and Tara?"
"No, but you're going to tell me, because you're not leaving this bed until you do." His body pressed into hers.
"Mmm. I love the feel of you wrapped around me," she whispered, arching into him a little.
His eyes, already hot, went hotter, and he thrust a thigh between her legs, spreading them, making room for himself. "Do you?" He dipped down to scrape his teeth over the spot beneath her ear, making her shiver with delight. "I love the feel of you wrapped around me, too."
All she could do was hum her agreement because he'd shifted that hard thigh and was rubbing it against her legs, pressing down until she spread even farther for him.
At the very intimate contact, they both sighed.
"You were going to tell me something important," he reminded her thickly, once again rocking against the very core of her, which sent shock waves of desire through her body.
"I—" She broke off with a startled gasp when he slid the straps of her sundress down, exposing her breasts to his gaze. She felt her nipples harden into two tight, aching tips.
"You what?" he urged, palming the weight of them in his palms, using his thumbs to rasp back and forth over her nipples so that she could hardly breathe. "Hannah?"
"I—" He swept the skirt of her sundress up to her waist, whisked off her panties and settled back against her, so that they were skin to skin.
"Wait," she gasped. "I wanted to tell you when I could actually see straight … I wanted you to know how much more than just lust this was … I wanted—"
"You're right." Utterly unselfconsciously, given that he was totally naked and clearly aroused, he rose off of her and kneeled on the bed.
"No distractions," he promised, lifting his hands, a small smile playing on his lips, but his eyes were completely serious. "So tell me why you came to L.A., why you would have given up everything you cared about."
Not as completely at ease with her own nudity as he was, Hannah sat, and demurely tugged down the hem of her skirt, which made Zach's lips quirk, but he said nothing, not even when she crossed her arms over her chest, bit her lip and finally looked him in the eyes.
"I would have given up ten times as much," she said. "Actually, I would have given up my entire life to be with you."
"Why, Hannah?"
"Because I love you. I love you with all my heart." She smiled through misty eyes. "I think I always have, and I know I always will." Her whole world seemed perfect. Almost. "I just don't want you to give up anything for me, I mean it." She squeezed him close. "Nothing. If you still want Los Angeles, then—"
"No." He smiled into her hair. "But I don't want you to give up anything for me, either. Except for maybe some time. You work too hard."
"I think I have a good reason to have regular days off now."
"Let me give you a better one." He cupped her face to stare into her eyes. "Marry me."
She went still. "I don't think I'm pregnant. The timing was wrong."
A flicker of disappointment crossed his face but then he smiled. "One thing at a time then. Be with me forever, Hannah."
Her smile widened. "I like forever."
"Good."
"I want your children." Her heart threatened to burst with happiness. "I want a little girl and a little boy."
He stared at her from suspiciously damp eyes. "Is that a yes, then?"
"It's more than a yes." She smiled through her own tears. "It's a promise."
From the other side of the door, Alexi and Tara grinned their delight and hugged for joy.
* * * * *