Epilogue
Stephen choked when he came out of the bathroom, pausing mid-stride. Cautiously, she kept her distance, hovering near their bedroom door. She swore he stopped breathing and maybe she did too. He looked beautiful in his tuxedo, so incredibly sexy it almost hurt to look at him. Hard to believe he was all hers.
“Strip, Kat, or I’ll do it for you.”
Kat looked down at her dress, hiding her smile. It was New Year’s Eve. They were celebrating the night in Manhattan, at the same club Stephen had tracked her down all those months ago. They’d both finished their first semesters, Kat at Columbia and Stephen at NYU. Life was…amazing, filled with so much happiness, more than she’d ever imagined possible.
“You are not wearing that dress out in public.”
“But…I like it.” Deliberately, she glanced down before meeting his eyes again. “And so do you.”
“I can see right through it,” he growled.
“Can you?” she asked innocently.
“Kat.”
A warning. Low and sexy, sending desire straight through her. Something they still hadn’t been able to quench in all these months. And it wasn’t for lack of trying.
“Come here,” he demanded.
“No.” She took a step back, loving the spark that ignited in his eyes as she planned her next move. The sunroom, she thought. Her favorite room in the house.
“Excuse me?” Stephen lifted one brow, looking so damn sexy with his wicked smile. “I must have heard wrong. Because I could have sworn you just told me no.”
It was one of the few rooms that wasn’t lined with boxes. They were still moving in, both using their break in between semesters to turn the house they’d just purchased into a home. They’d both sold their houses upstate and now lived in Pleasantville, about an hour north of the city. Stephen had liked the name of the town and Kat couldn’t have agreed more.
“Last warning, Kat. I told you to come here.” Stephen made a show of pulling down his shirt cuffs. In reality, he was getting ready to pounce.
“No,” she repeated, backing up another step.
“Playing games, sweetheart? You’ll only land yourself in trouble.”
He moved slightly, just an inch or two. And she ran. She’d purposely left off her shoes. And her stockings, giving herself an advantage. She ran down the stairs, in through the living room, unable to contain her laugh any longer. But damn, Stephen was fast, catching her before she made it to the sunroom, stripping the dress off her body before he proceeded to ravish her.
More than an hour passed before they came up for air. Stephen picked her up, cradling her in his arms as he moved them from the kitchen counter into the sunroom, the gas fireplace providing plenty of warmth.
“It’s been a while since you’ve acted like a caveman,” Kat laughed as she straddled his lap. She was naked now, while Stephen was mostly dressed.
“Ah, so you do miss it.”
“No,” she fibbed. “Just a little worried you were going soft in your old age.”
“That’s two, sweetheart.”
Payback, she thought. She leaned in, kissing him softly. They’d had some ups and downs in the beginning, knew they’d have more. But she was okay with that, because through it all, every hurdle they overcame only made them stronger. She loved this life with him, loved having the same schedule, so much time off to just be with each other. They were still planning on staying with her grandmother during the week if they didn’t feel like commuting, but this house, this big beautiful house would always be their home. She could feel it, had felt it as soon as they pulled into the driveway with the realtor.
Stephen shifted, his expression turning serious, maybe from reading hers. “There are no words to describe how much I love you, Kat. How thankful I am for this wonderful life we share.” He shifted slightly, pulled out a small box.
Kat sucked in a breath and held it.
“I was going to wait until later, just before midnight, but this is so much better. In our home, where our lives and our love will grow. Where we’ll raise a family someday. You are the very best thing that has ever happened to me. My life, my entire world. Please say you’ll marry me.”
Kat refused to cry as she looked at Stephen and held out her hand. “Yes,” she breathed when she was sure her voice wouldn’t break.
He slipped the ring on her finger, a beautiful round diamond with smaller diamonds on each side of the curved band, sparkling in the firelight. Fitting, she thought, since Stephen brought fire to veins. Life to her soul she’d never known existed before him. And even through everything that happened between them, that fire never went away. Stephen kissed her again, soft and reverent, as her heart melted. “I love you, Stephen, incredibly so.”
The End