She led him up the stairs to the warmth of her apartment. She was so happy to have Dallas home that she couldn’t take her eyes off him. All of the positive emotions she associated with love jockeyed into position inside her heart. Happiness. Warmth. A sense of belonging.
Puzzled hazel eyes smiled back at her over the way she was staring at him. “Do I have something stuck between my teeth?”
She reached up without thinking and held his cheeks with her hands. She brushed his mouth with her thumbs. She might as well get it all out. She’d been holding it in for a week and there was no time like the present.
“I love you,” she blurted out, then in the same breath she added, “I had dinner with Tim last Sunday night,” because she’d been hanging on to that, too.
The two takeout bags hit the counter. “I don’t care.”
A split second later, she was in Dallas’s arms. She got the kiss she’d been waiting so impatiently for. When their lips parted, she couldn’t remember what they’d been talking about.
She tugged a lock of his hair, getting her thoughts back in order. “You don’t care that I love you?”
“I definitely care about that.” He kissed the tip of her nose. “I’d planned to say it to you first, though. Thanks for stealing my thunder.”
“I’ll make it up to you,” she said, relieved he didn’t seem at all interested in the rest of her announcement. “You can say it to me all night. I promise not to say it to you again.”
“It’s okay. You can tell me you love me as much as you like. Besides, I loved you first. I fell in love with you the minute I walked through the door at the Campbellses and saw this beautiful girl talking to Blaise. I spent the days leading up to the wedding trying to figure out how to get you to pay more attention to me.” He held her tighter. “But do I dare ask what brought this on?”
“Something Marsh said.” Sadness muted her joy. “He told me I’d been gifted with plenty of feelings to go around. It took me a while, but I finally figured out I also get to choose how I want them distributed, and it seems they’re heavily skewed in your favor. I don’t know when I fell in love with you,” she confessed. “I wish I did. The potential was definitely there at the wedding, though. I think that’s why you scared me so much. I was a mess and you seemed so sure of yourself.”
“I was sure of what I wanted, not of myself,” he corrected her. “Big difference there. I also know you had dinner with Tim, by the way. Maybe I do care about that, after all.” He threaded his fingers under the braid at the nape of her neck, tilting her face upward. “You can make that up to me, too.”
“You had no reason to worry. He and I were long overdue for a real conversation. One that didn’t involve me imagining how good it would feel to break his nose, I mean. The opportunity came up and I took advantage of it.”
“Talking is generally the better option,” Dallas agreed. “Although, granted, breaking his nose has crossed my mind more than once, too. But having dinner with him isn’t the part you have to make up to me. You told him he only has to stay away from you for six months. That doesn’t give me nearly enough time to step up my game. First, I have to convince you to move in with me. Then, I have to ease you into the subject of marriage. I’d like to avoid stirring up local interest in that. They’re already way too invested in the Endeavour as it is, and if our first baby arrives before nine months are up, people will talk. If we want eight or ten kids though, we need to get started.”
She loved the silliness of him. And yet he always managed to focus on what really mattered without the disagreement escalating to shouting and tears. A man who could patch up a bullet wound on his best friend knew how to stay calm. “You talked to Tim. That’s how you knew I had dinner with him.”
“He was at Lou’s when I stopped in for takeout. I decided to check out the opposition. FYI, I really did want to break his nose.”
She nestled deeper into Dallas’s arms. “He’s not your competition.”
“Hell, no. That was obvious two minutes into the conversation. I doubt if it will take him six months to figure it out, either. I give him two at the most. Even that’s being generous.” He kissed the top of her head. “I love you, Hannah. I’ve missed you so much these past two weeks. I couldn’t get you out of my head.”
“I asked for one night to sort myself out. The two weeks are on you.”
She pressed her cheek against the side of his throat and breathed in Tom Ford. A memory stirred. He’d asked her to dance at Alayna and Patterson’s party. Her first impression of him was that he was so sexy and smart. She’d thought he’d help her prove she knew how to be bold and have fun. She’d been right on both counts. But he’d also shown her how to take advantage of opportunities, and to go after what she wanted, without losing sight of what was important.
His hand began a slow slide under the hem of her shirt. “You’re wrong, you know,” she said, before things could progress any further.
The hand paused in the sensitive area between her hip and her breast. “For argument’s sake, about what?”
“Eight or ten kids. We should aim for a dozen.”
“That sounds like it’s going to require a lot of cuddling on my part. Not that I’m complaining. But we should probably negotiate this. You’re going to have to up your game, too,” he said. “How do you plan to do that?”
She smiled into those intense, hazel eyes and let all the love she felt for him slide into hers. “You’ve forgotten how good I am at games. Let me remind you,” she said. Taking his hand, she led him toward the bedroom.
“Follow me, Dr. Tucker. Practice makes perfect.”