“Meet me at the W Hotel, and please, make it fast,” she cries out, and my heart almost jumps out of my chest. Even though her words have made me as happy as I’ve ever been, her tone of voice has left me worried.

Something’s going down right now, and Emily needs me. I guess it’s back to the sportscar again. “Can you close up for the night?” I tell Susan as I duck under the counter, and she gives me a little salute.

“Count on me, Your Highness. I’ll keep the Kingdom safe and our enemies at bay,” she chuckles, and I just give her a thankful nod before I rush past the door. Thankfully, I’ve parked my car right in front of the bar, and so all I have to do is sit behind the wheel and turn the damn thing on.

“W Hotel,” I whisper under my breath, swerving the car into the road. There are a few honks protesting my driving skills, but I just ignore them; drivers in San Francisco are trigger-happy when it comes to honking and, besides, I’m a man on a mission right now.

Speeding up through the streets like Ayrton Senna reborn, I get to the W Hotel in under five minutes… And that despite the traffic. Sure, I ran a couple of red lights on my way here, but it’s not like I had any other option.

Jumping out my car, I look around, trying to find Emily. When I finally spot her, she’s standing in front of the large doors of the hotel, a man in a suit talking with her hurriedly. When she finally notices me, her whole face lights up.

Alright, this is it, the moment of truth.

Closing the distance between me and her, I don’t even bother with the guy that’s talking to her. I just grab her by the hips, pull her into me, and crush my mouth against hers. My lips linger on hers for a long time and, if it wasn’t for the need to breathe, I’d never allow this kiss to end.

“I love you, Emily…” I tell her, slowly pushing the words out of my mouth. They feel heavy and thick over my tongue but, at the same time, it’s liberating to say it out loud. I’m in love with Emily — let the whole world know it.

“You… You what?” she asks me, her jaw hanging open slightly. Her eyes widen with surprise and, for an horrifying half-a-second, I almost think she’s about to turn on her heels and start running down the street.

That’s not what she does.

“I love you too,” she cries out, taking one step forward and wrapping her small arms around my chest. “Why didn’t you say it before, you asshole?” she continues, her head pressed against my chest.

“Because I was an idiot,” I whisper, one hand on her waist and the other on the nape of her neck. “I’ve never felt like this before, and I guess I was afraid of what might happen…”

“Yes, you’re an idiot,” she chuckles, hugging me tightly.

“Guys… this is great,” I hear a man say, “but I’m still here.” I turn to the side to face him, and I realize that this must be Freeway. The man from her phone with the text message I read. He’s tall, almost as tall as me, and he has the looks of a model. There’s something deeply artificial about him though and, even though I should feel weird about him being here right now, I actually don’t care. Emily just said she loves me! How could I care about anything else but that?

“I guess I’m out, huh?” Freeway continues, his eyes wandering to Emily, a tone of disappointment in his words.

“You’re out,” both Emily and I say at the same time; even though it’s awful to do it in front of him, we can’t help but chuckle as we stare into each other’s eyes.

“I was worried about you,” I whisper, tucking a lock of her hair over one ear. “You sounded terrified.”

“Just a little bit freaked out… But I’ll explain it later.” Whatever it was that I noticed in her when we talked on the phone, it’s long gone by now. Right now, all I can read in her face is happiness. “Just tell me you have on boxer briefs?” Emily asks.

“Of course,” I say, a bit puzzled.

“Later then,” I say, my eyes still on hers. “Shall we go back to my place?” I ask her, anxious to be alone with her with four walls around.

“Too far,” she replies with a teasing chuckle, and then she reaches for me and places one hand on my chest. Grabbing me by the shirt, she pulls me into her and, going on tiptoes, she takes her lips to my right ear. “I was thinking of somewhere much closer…”

“How closer?”

She doesn’t even bother answering me. She just points with her thumb at the building behind us and, as I realize that she’s pointing straight at the hotel, I feel a wave of lustful excitement taking over me. My heart starts pumping boiling blood through my veins, and my cock starts twitching inside my boxer briefs, hardening and straining against the fabric.

“You have a room?”

“I do,” she nods, “and it’s waiting for us.”

Yeah, we need to get there fast.

“Let’s go then,” I tell her, grabbing her by the hand and leading her inside the hotel. The moment we’re alone in the elevator, heading up, I turn on my heels to face her. Caressing her cheek with the back of my hand, I lean in and brush my lips against hers.

“I love you,” I repeat once again, my words wrapping themselves around us like an armor, protecting us from the outside world. Right now, it feels as if we’re in a universe of our own, one where the troubles of mundane life are simply forbidden.

“I love you too,” she whispers, and that’s when I realize that my instincts were right all along: Emily’s the woman of my dreams. And I love her with all my heart.

Who knew? I wasn’t such a lost case after all.