His one good hand left mine and moved to cup the back of my head. “You shouldn’t have to lie to me just so I won’t drive like a dickhead.”

I sniffed in an extremely unladylike fashion. “It wouldn’t have been a lie, Carson,” I mumbled against his neck.

His whole body seemed to stiffen against me. “What? It… huh?”

I smiled, finally pulling back and looked down at him. “You ran out of that room before I could compose myself. I was still in shock from hearing you say it to me. Your confession was so unexpected it just stumped me, and I couldn’t quite process it. And before I had the chance to accept what you said and say it back, you jumped to your own conclusions and ran from the room,” I explained, watching his eyes widen and his lips part.

I gulped and tried to quash the ridiculous happiness trying to take over my body. Carson looked like he was barely breathing as his eyes scanned my face. Hope danced in his eyes as his hand tightened in my hair. “Emma, what?” he whispered. “You… you…”

I smiled, reaching out to touch the confused frown lines on his forehead. “Why don’t you say it again? Now that you can’t run from the room, maybe I’ll get the chance to say my piece, too,” I suggested, grinning. I pressed myself closer to him, leaving barely an inch between our mouths. The heat from his body seeped into mine, making my skin tingle all over.

Without missing a beat, he said the words I had longed to hear come out of his mouth for the last three years. “I love you, Emma.”

My eyes fluttered closed, and I immediately pressed my mouth to his, kissing him as if it was the last thing I would ever get to do. Everything finally clicked back into place. The hurt and sadness I’d been feeling for the last few weeks just disappeared with that one kiss. When Carson’s lips were against mine, it felt right and whole and perfect – just like it always had done. He moaned in the back of his throat and kissed me back immediately. His arm wrapped around me tightly, as if he was afraid to let go.

Not really wanting to, but knowing I had to, I broke the kiss. I needed to say it back this time; he needed to know he was my whole world and everything good in it. But clearly he wasn’t ready for the kiss to end yet because he guided my mouth back to his again. I smiled against his soft lips and broke the kiss for a second time, pressing my forehead to his. As I spoke the words, I looked deeply into his blue eyes that had me hooked from the first time I looked into them.

“I love you, too.”

He closed his eyes and his whole body relaxed as he seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. A beautiful smile stretched across his face that I couldn’t help but mirror. “That sounded even better than I imagined it would,” he said, laughing quietly. His hand guided my face to his, and he leant up, brushing his nose across mine in a little Eskimo kiss. That one small, familiar gesture warmed my heart and seemed to set my body on fire as my hormones started to rage. “Move back. I have something I need to do,” he muttered, tilting his head and kissing my lips gently for a second.

“What?” I asked, confused as I moved and stood up, looking down at him in question. But he didn’t answer, just pulled back the sheets on the bed, and used his elbow to push himself up to sitting. I gasped, putting my hand on his good shoulder, trying to thwart his attempt to get up. “Carson, what are you doing? You need to stay still,” I protested, shaking my head in disbelief. “I’ll do whatever it is. What do you need? A drink, the bathroom, what?” I asked desperately.

He grinned, his eyes twinkling with mischief as he moved his legs, swinging them off the side of the bed. “I just need to do something and then I’ll get back in bed. I promise.”

I groaned in frustration, taking his arm and helping him stand when he wobbled. “Carson, you’re going to hurt yourself! You should be resting!” I scolded.

Without answering, he reached out and used the bed to brace himself as he bent his leg and got down on one knee, wincing and groaning in pain as he did it.

“Carson, what are you doing?” I cried in exasperation, scowling at him. He was going to hurt himself, or cause more damage to his body. The doctors had said he was to rest for a couple of days; he shouldn’t be out of bed at all.

Finally, he looked up at me. The smile that stretched across his face was beautiful and made the hair on the nape of my neck prickle. “I’m doing what I should have done weeks ago. I’m proposing,” he answered.

My mouth popped open in shock at his words. Proposing. He was on his knees in front of me. He loved me. He wanted to marry me for real, and not because he didn’t want Sasha to grow up in a one-parent household.

“But you already proposed,” I whimpered, watching him through teary eyes.

He shook his head and frowned, seeming annoyed.

“No, I didn’t. I didn’t ask the question. I didn’t ask you to be my wife. I told you instead.”

My teeth sank into my bottom lip as happiness washed over me. When he shifted on his knee and sucked in a breath through his teeth, I could see how much pain he was in, but he made no moves to get up as he reached for my left hand.

I whimpered, looking down at the love of my life. His eyes met mine as he spoke. “Emma, I’m sorry I didn’t do this properly before, really I am, and I hope you can forgive me for being such a wanker for the last few weeks. I’ll make it up to you, I swear.” He gulped, and I could see the sincerity on his face as his thumb brushed over the back of my hand. “I want to take care of you. I want to be there for you, always. I love you so much. Will you marry me? Not because you have to, but because you want to? Will you be my wife and let me love you forever?” he pleaded.