Chapter 16 #2
I don’t hesitate. “When you’re ready. If you’re ready. There’s no timeline I care about more than you.”
Her eyes search mine again, and this time, something shifts. Not the fear, it’s still there, but it’s no longer the loudest thing in the room. “Okay,” she whispers.
I smile, just a little. “Okay?”
She nods, a small, fragile thing, but real. “Okay.”
I lean in, brushing my lips against hers, not rushed, not demanding, just a promise. When I pull back, I tuck a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “Now,” I murmur, “about that hot bath and food… I need to take care of my girl.”
A faint laugh escapes her, softer this time, lighter. “You’re really not going to let that go, are you?”
“Not a chance.” I shift slightly, tightening my hold around her. “Taking care of you? That’s non-negotiable.”
She leans into me then, fully this time, her head settling against my shoulder as if it belongs there.
And for the first time since I walked in, she exhales without breaking.
“How are you feeling?” I ask Baylor a few hours later. She’s had a hot bath, we had a great dinner, and now, we’re lounging on the couch. She’s lying on my chest while I rub her back. “Do you need the heating pad?”
“Spoiled, and no, don’t you dare move. This is perfect.”
“You’re perfect,” I reply softly, kissing the top of her head.
“Careful, cowboy,” she teases. “You’re going to have my expectations for future nights in built sky high. I don’t need you to spoil me, Macklin. I just need you to be present.”
“You’ve unmasked my plan.” I chuckle. “Hey, I know we talked about a lot of things earlier, but I need to ask. I want to know that we’re on the same page.”
“Ask me what?” She lifts her head slightly to peer up at me.
“Are you still trying not to need me? I know you were upset earlier, and now that some time has passed, I just want to know if I’m still giving you space?”
She stands, and I sit up, worried I pushed too far, but she guides me back against the couch when I try to stand and straddles my hips. “We always seem to end up in this position,” she teases. Her eyes heat, and I know she’s thinking about that night on my mechanical bull. She’s not the only one.
“I like you here,” I tell her, gripping her hips.
“Good, because I do need you, Macklin. I need the feeling of your arms wrapped around me, surrounding me with your warmth. I need your hand in mine—” Her voice softens, like she’s admitting something fragile, something she’s afraid to say out loud.
My grip loosens just enough to slide my hands along her sides, steadying her instead of holding her in place.
“I need the way you look at me,” she continues, her blue eyes locked on mine, searching, a little uncertain. “Like I’m not just… passing through your life.”
Certainty settles between us, quiet and unshakable. The world outside feels distant, like it’s been turned down to a low hum. There’s nothing but the two of us.
“You’re not,” I say, my voice strong. I brush my thumb against her side, tracing slow, absent circles. “You are my life.”
She exhales, tension slipping from her shoulders as she leans into me, closer than before, like she’s finally allowing herself to believe it.
“When I came back to town, I never could have imagined that, in a few months’ time, this is where I would be.
You told me that you were going to make me fall in love with you, and I didn’t believe you. ”
Can she hear how fast my heart is racing? “And now?” I rasp, my voice is rough, edged with something dangerously close to hope.
Her gaze searches mine like she’s making sure I’m paying attention, and I’m hanging on every word.
“Now…” Her fingers curl slightly against my shirt, like she’s anchoring herself. “Now I don’t know how I ever thought I could live without you.”
Her words land slowly, but when they hit, they hit deep.
Is she saying what I think she is?
I want to ask her, but my tongue feels too thick to form words.
Everything I’ve hoped for all these years is so close I can taste it.
Is it finally our time? She was upset earlier, and I need her to spell this out for me.
The last thing I want to do is assume and push her away, because all I want to do is pull her closer.
“I tried to keep my distance,” she admits, softer now. “Tried to tell myself this wasn’t real or that it wouldn’t last.” She shakes her head faintly. “But you didn’t let me go. Even when I pushed, even when I doubted, you stayed.”
She slides her palms up, resting them over my chest, right where my heart is still racing. “And now,” she whispers, “I’m the one who doesn’t want to let go.”
I cover her hand with mine, holding it there, steadying both of us, willing her to feel the love I have for her. “Then don’t,” I say, just as quietly.
A breathtaking smile lights up her face. “That’s what you do with someone you love, right? You hold on tight and never let go.”
My heart stalls.
For a second, everything inside me goes completely still, like the world has paused just to hear what I’m about to say next. Silence lingers between us, fragile and enormous all at once.
Love.
She said it so easily. So honestly.
I feel her confession crash through me like something that’s been building for far too long to stay contained.
My fingers tighten slightly over hers, not enough to hurt.
Just enough to make sure she feels me, feels that I’m still here.
I need her to know that I’m not pulling away from what she just put into the open.
“I—” The word catches in my throat, thicker than I expect. I swallow, trying again, my voice lower now, rough with everything I’ve been holding back. “You don’t even know how long I’ve been trying not to say that first.”
Something that looks a lot like relief washes over her face.
I let out a breath that feels like it’s been sitting in my chest for years.
I can finally breathe. “I love you,” I say, the words settling into place like they were always meant to be there.
“I think I did long before I even understood what I was feeling. And it scared the hell out of me, because once I let myself admit it, there was no going back.”
Her eyes glisten, and she leans closer, closing whatever space is left between us.
“But I don’t want to go back, Baylor,” I continue, my forehead brushing lightly against hers. “Not to before you. Not to anything that didn’t have you in it.”
Her breath hitches, warm against my lips. “Macklin,” she murmurs.
“So, yeah,” I say, my tone soft, but steadier than ever. “That’s exactly what you do with someone you love.” My arms wrap around her, holding her tightly. “You hold on,” I whisper, “and don’t let go.”
“I like that,” she whispers back.
When we eventually break apart, I smooth her hair back out of her eyes. “I need to break it down one more time, baby. We’re together. There is no me without you. There is no you without me, and when you’re ready, I’ll give you all the babies you want.”
Another heart-stopping smile. “How many?”
“You want three, right?”
“At least.” She smiles.
“Then we’ll start there.”
“I love you, cowboy.”
“Fuck, baby, I love you, too.” Finally, I kiss her, showing her with every stroke of my tongue how much she means to me. I pull away when I remember that I have to give her the Valentine’s Day gift I agonized over.
“Why’d you stop?” She juts out her bottom lip in a pout.
Leaning in, I nip at her lip, and she moans. “I want to give you your Valentine’s Day present.”
“That’s tomorrow.”
“Close enough.” I tap at her hip. “Let me up. I’ll be right back.
” She does as I ask, and I jog down the hall to my bedroom, grab the small gift bag, and race back out to the living room.
“Okay, you have two gifts, but this is the only one you’re getting tonight,” I tell her.
“I’ll hold the other for our dinner tomorrow. ”
I hand her the small bag and sit back down on the couch. She smiles before reaching into the tiny gift bag and shuffling around. She pulls out the keychain—a belt buckle with M&B on it—and with it is a key.
“This is so cute,” she says, inspecting the keychain. “What’s the key for?”
“To my house.”
Her eyes widen. “You’re giving me a key to your house?”
“I am.” I smile at her.
“But you had this before our talk tonight?”
“I did.”
“What?” she asks in disbelief.
“I wanted you to have full access to me at all times. My plan was to tell you that you hold the key to my heart, because I was afraid if I told you that I was in love with you that you would run, but tonight, well, you changed my plans.” I grin.
“I don’t know what to say.”
“You don’t have to say anything. After everything we’ve shared tonight, I can tell you everything I was thinking.
” I take a deep breath and keep going. “I was thinking that I want you here, Baylor. I want this house to be our home, or if you hate it, we’ll move.
But I meant what I said when I told you I wanted to build a life with you.
So, you have a key to this house, you have my heart, and one day, when you’re ready, I want you to live here, too.
Regardless of when that happens, to me, this is our home, not mine. ”
Fresh tears appear, but they’re accompanied by a wide smile. “I love you, Macklin McBride.”
“I love you, too, future Mrs. McBride.” She gasps, and I laugh, pulling her back into my lap and kissing her like it’s the last time I might ever have the chance.