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“Are you sure?” she asked, squeezing his hand Hope leaked into her voice “I’ht mess it up”

The look he gave her , you’re already so much better at it than you realize And I’ve never beenin my life I love you”

She leaned forward, clai his lips with her own He wrapped his arers wove through his blond hair, heat blazing in her cheeks She wanted to inhale him, to remember forever the way he tasted of mint and chocolate Electricity

raced across her skin as he trailed kisses down her jawline to the base of her neck Finally, he placed one, last kiss on her lips She groaned in frustration when he pulled aanting more of him

“Don’t let o to Paris,” he said breathlessly His eyes searched her face “But if you want to stay in California and help me run my restaurant, then the offer is yours Either way you’ll have my heart, and we’ll make this work”

Before the words were even out of his mouth, she knehat she wanted to do She’d known it all along

“I’ up her lips It was as if the clouds had rolled back and the sky had cleared This hat she’d wanted all along, but she’d been too blinded by her own insecurities to notice “But I’ to finish school first And then, we’ll see if you can afford me for that little restaurant of yours”

He threw his head back and laughed When he was done, he took her hand in his and gently kissed each one of her fingertips with a sensual slowness, until a fire burned once again in her gut

“What I said before, I rong” He gave her a s with heat

She tilted her head in confusion “You’ll have to be more specific”

Pushing hiround, he helped her up and pulled her close “Yesterday wasn’t the happiest I’ve ever been Right now is I can’t i better than this”

Rachel laid her head on his chest, savoring the warh her So this hat it felt like to be fully loved by aHe was right

She couldn’t i better than this

Chapter Seventeen

“Don’t forget the hot cocoa, woman,” Ned called after his wife as she shuffled into the kitchen She waved a disrowing soft