Chapter 14
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Chloe
I’m exhausted when I finally pack up my bags in the room I didn’t have nearly enough time to enjoy. Somehow, after Ryder left my room last night, I’d cried myself to sleep right there on the floor. It must have been a combination of physical and emotional exhaustion.
When I woke up, it was almost two in the morning.
I’d missed my deadline.
And the article wasn’t anywhere close to being done.
When I saw the text message from Lisa, I knew there was no point in attempting to finish it.
I expected better from you, Chloe. We need dependable writers on staff. I had to fill your space. That was your last assignment.
I spent the rest of the night writing my novel, only crawling into bed shortly before dawn for a few hours of much-needed sleep before checking out.
“Chloe.” Briggs greets me the moment I walk down the stairs. He takes my bag from me and leads me to the front desk, where Jaxon is waiting. “I hope you were able to enjoy some of what the lodge has to offer.”
“It’s really beautiful here,” I answer honestly and do my best to smile at both of them. “I wish I could stay longer.”
“Would you like to extend your stay?” Jaxon taps a few keys on the computer behind the desk. “Your room is actually—”
“I can’t.”
Truthfully, now that I didn’t have a job, there was no way I could afford any more nights at the lodge. Plus, I now had the unpleasant task of finding a new source of income. Besides, staying so close to Ryder when I know he doesn’t feel the same way about me would be torture.
No, thank you.
“I wish I could,” I add. “But I really need to get back.”
The fact that I’ve lost my job reminds me of the reason for it.
I hate to tell the guys that there won’t be an article, but there’s no point putting it off, especially when Briggs says, “I hope the snowstorm didn’t sway your opinion too much for the article.”
“About the article…”
“Oh no,” Jaxon says. “I know that look. Is everything okay? It wasn’t the hunting cabin, was it? I mean, I know it’s not the most luxurious of accommodations, but—”
“No.” I stop him. “The cabin was great. So great.” No doubt my face is pink as I think about just how great my stay at the cabin was.
“And Ryder was—”
“Oh, he was great, too.” I can feel how hot my face is flushing now.
I need to get out of here before I burst into tears.
“The article was canceled. I’m really sorry, guys.
I missed the deadline and then when I got an extension, I fell asleep last night and…
” I know I’m rambling, but it’s all I can do to keep from crying.
And I cannot let myself cry here in front of these men.
“I really am so sorry,” I continue. “It was going to be a glowing review because how could it not be?” I wave my arms around.
“It’s so gorgeous here. I’ll see what I can do about getting them to run it at a later date, but I can’t promise anything.
” I blow out a long breath and shake my head.
“I don’t know if my editor will even answer my calls and I guess she’s not really my editor because she fired me and now I need to go home and get a job and figure out what I’m going to—”
“Don’t go.”
The deep, familiar voice washes over me.
Ryder
“Don’t go,” I say again as I take a step closer to my girl.
It was torture listening to her break down over the article and losing her job, but only because I hate hearing the pain and hurt in her voice. Not because I’m upset she lost her job. They didn’t deserve her anyway.
“Ryder, I—”
“Wait.” I hold my hand up. “Before you finish that thought, I need to tell you that I’ve been doing some research of my own.”
Her eyes widen as she gets my meaning. “Research, like…”
“Like you’re not the only one who needed to learn a few things.
” I shoot a glance at my brothers, who’ve stepped away but are still well within earshot.
I wink at her and let my lips curl up into a grin at the memory of all our research sessions before I continue.
“I spent my night reading,” I tell her. “I realized last night that besides parts of your story, I’d never read a romance novel before. ”
Chloe’s eyes grow wider. She stares at me, a mixture of confusion and disbelief on her face. “But why would that matter?”
I take another step toward her and reach for her hand. “Because you matter, Chloe.”
“But…that’s crazy.”
“Maybe it is.” No maybe about it. I read so much, my eyes crossed and the words got blurry. And I’d do it again. “But I learned a few things.”
“You did?” It was Briggs who spoke.
I shot him a look over my shoulder and refocused on the only person who mattered. Chloe.
“The first thing I learned was that you’re incredibly talented, Chloe. All those other books I read through…they were good. Entertaining even. But yours…it’s so much better than anything I read last night. And your sex scenes…”
I didn’t need to finish the sentence, because we both knew how erotic those scenes were both in reality and in her book. “You’re talented, Chloe. You shouldn’t be wasting your talent on writing articles for online magazines. You should be sharing it with the world.”
Her smile was tentative, and I hated that she questioned her talent at all.
“I wish I could, Ryder.” She tried to pull away, but I held her tight. “But it’s not that simple for me. I need a place to live and for that, I need a job. I can’t just—”
“There’s something else I learned by reading all those books last night.” I interrupt her. “Every romance novel has a grand gesture. And this is mine.”
She tilts her head and stares at me, unblinking.
“Chloe, I don’t know how I got so lucky to be here when you walked into the lodge the other day.
But the moment I laid eyes on you, I knew you were something special.
I just didn’t know how special until I saw you half frozen in the snow and my heart hurt with the thought that I might lose you.
” I close the distance between us and cup her cheek in my hand.
“Even before that first night together, I knew you were mine, kitten. And from the moment I had you, I’ve been trying to think of a way to tell you how I feel about you without scaring you away. ”
She sucks in a breath and a tear slips down her cheek, but I have to keep talking. I need to finish telling her exactly how I feel.
“The truth is, Chloe, I love you. I’m deeply, madly in love with you and the idea that you might walk out of here today and out of my life is completely unbearable. I know this is a lot all at once and you’re probably—”
“I love you, too.” She chokes out the words on a sob. “At first, I thought maybe the way I was feeling was just fantasy. A real-life romance novel. But now I know it’s so much more. It’s real and leaving here today was going to break me in half.”
“Stay.”
One word, but it holds so much meaning. It hangs between us for a moment.
I pull her into my arms so her tiny body is pressed up against mine.
“Stay,” I say again so only she can hear.
“Let me draw you baths every night, and take care of you, Chloe. Marry me and have my babies. Write your books and share your talent with the whole world.”
“Your babies?”
I slip a hand to her belly. “All of my babies. I want to put so many babies in you. As many as you want.”
“I want them all.”
“You do?”
She sucks her bottom lip between her teeth and nods. “More than anything.”
“And you want to stay?”
“I can’t think of anywhere else I’d rather be than right here with you.”
I kiss her then because there’s no way I can’t. No one else exists but the two of us as we lose ourselves in the kiss. It’s only when I hear a wolf whistle that I turn to see Jaxon and Briggs clapping, with shit-eating grins on their faces.
“I guess you were right,” I tell them. “It happened to me, too.”
“What happened to you, Ryder?”
“The unimaginable.” Once more, I turn back to my wife-to-be and look at her beautiful face. “I fell in love. In an instant.”