“That means you, too, McCrae.”
He wasn’t sure that he’d heard her right.
“That… what?” He felt a little scratch in his throat. “I… I didn’t mean it to sound so… harsh.”
Her smile broadened. “I think we’ve both been a little… rocked today. I wouldn’t blame you if you sounded a little off.”
He smiled at her. “I think that’s supposed to be my line.”
“Look at me,” she sighed, “being emotionally an adult, huh?”
He heard the tightness in her voice.
She was handling it well, but neither of them knew how to deal with what had happened at the garden center.
“Well, you’re better than me with that,” he blew out a breath, holding her hand a little tighter. “While I was holding you today, after they took Tony down…” He felt bile on his tongue. Just the thought of that man sent rage rushing through his veins. “I realized that there was something I should have told you earlier, but I just haven’t found the right time.
“At least that’s what I told myself.”
He saw her eyes narrow and saw her exhaustion setting in.
Part of him thought he probably should wait until the morning when the sun was up.
Then he realized that was just the coward’s way out.
And after he’d come so damn close to losing Noelle today, he couldn’t be a coward.
Not about this.
Who knew if there would be a ‘tomorrow.’
Duval lifted their joined hands and kissed the tips of her fingers before he looked up into her eyes.
She was looking back at him with a kind of dreamy confusion in her gaze.
“I need you to know that I love you, Noelle. I love you. I love Cee. You’re my family, too.” He shook his head. “I don’t want you to think that there’s going to be a time where I can make it without you.”
She looked like she might be about to melt or shatter, he didn’t know which one it was.
It wasn’t a look he’d ever seen before, but one he wanted to see again and again.
“I want to be with you, ‘Elle. Day and night if you’ll let me.”
She tugged on their joined hands, and he moved over to sit beside her on the bed, shoulder pressed to shoulder.
He went, willingly.
What else could he do?
Smiling, he leaned in and pressed a kiss against her lips.
She hummed and he leaned in to deepen the kiss.
Noelle cuddled closer and he shifted to wrap an arm around her. He pulled her closer, trying to show her just how much he loved her.
He started to part her lips with the friction of his mouth against hers but stopped short.
He felt a little hand hit his cheek and then rub against the scruff on his jaw.