What the... “What?”

He closed his eyes briefly, his eyebrows pinched together. His hand traced my shoulder and neck slowly, and I had the urge to lean into him and beg him to do much more than that.

“I thought about this a lot, especially during these days without you. I was afraid, Marissa. When you didn’t answer me at first, I thought something bad had happened to you, and you can’t even imagine how horrible that made me feel. I was scared that I lost you.”

His hand stopped right beneath my ear, his thumb grazing my sensitive skin. I swallowed with difficulty, unable to look away from his dark eyes.

“Then I heard that you didn’t want to see me, and it sucked. Just when I started developing feelings for you, you cut me out of your life, and it hurt more than I could’ve ever imagined.”

“You developed feelings for me?”

“Yes. I started feeling something that I never thought was possible. I was so sure I’d never feel something like this again, but you made it happen. You helped me feel again, and these last days were hell because I was afraid I would never see you again.”

I couldn’t resist myself anymore, so I placed my hands on his chest. I needed to touch him. His heart was pounding loud, his heartbeat matching mine, and my breathing sped up. I’d never considered the possibility that Daniel felt the same way about me, and now that he was admitting this to me... I felt like I was on cloud nine. I wanted to jump around, laugh like crazy—anything to express how happy I felt right now.

“Before you, I needed sex almost every day. I fed on shallow sensations that meant nothing, thinking they could mean something in the future, but they never did. Everything changed when I met you. Not only was I able to feel, but I also couldn’t stop thinking about you, needing you by my side.”

His lips met mine, his tongue sliding into my mouth instantly. I moaned and embraced him, my body warming when our kiss became more passionate. I could feel his hard cock against my lower abdomen, which brought fire to my insides, and all my suppressed desire came back at me with full force.

“I haven’t slept with any woman at all since the first day I met you,” he murmured into my lips, his voice husky. His hands on my hips held me flush against him, never letting me go. “You’re the only woman I have eyes for. No one can compare to you. No one.”

He pushed me backward until we ended on the couch with me on his lap. I pressed my lips against his, our hands exploring each other’s curves and planes. I wanted to dance with joy.

“Really? Is this really true? You didn’t sleep with anyone?”

“It’s true.”

“But have you wanted to? You know, sleep with someone else?”

He chuckled, his thumb brushing against my lower lip. “Not even once. I can’t stop thinking about you, Marissa. You’re the most beautiful and sexiest woman I’ve ever met, and I don’t want anyone else. Now I know that you’re the one. Now I know that I was never really a sex addict. I was just looking for the right one all this time.”

Once more, I was left speechless. This made perfect sense. Since he wasn’t able to feel anything, he was trying to connect with other women through sex. However, chasing that feeling through sexual connection proved to be wrong because lust didn’t present a strong basis for something more. Unless there was an attachment on a deeper level, things could never work out.

“I wasn’t sure if I was the only one who felt this way, Daniel. I felt something stronger between us—something that always pulled us toward each other—but I wasn’t sure if you were able to feel it too. I felt it was one-sided.”

His lips curled up. “It was never one-sided. From the first moment I saw you I felt different with you. It was more powerful than anything I’ve ever felt. Even more powerful than what I felt back then when I was with the girl who broke my heart. Hell, that can’t even compare to this.”

I followed the perfect lines of his face with my eyes and fingers, thinking like I was going to explode from happiness. This was all I needed—these words that gave me life and lifted me up.

“I’ve been fantasizing about you telling me these words a lot, and now that you’re saying them I can’t even express how happy you make me feel. I’m so happy, Daniel.” I grabbed his face, my eyes teary. “You know, I have to admit that I felt jealous back then when you told me about your first love. I didn’t have any right to feel this way, especially because that was something from your past, but I couldn’t help it.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

He left several quick kisses on my face, stroking my hair with his fingers. “I’m over the moon because of this! I have to admit that I felt the same way when I saw you with that Tinder guy in the restaurant. I was so jealous, and I couldn’t do anything to stop it. I just wanted to claim you as mine and take you away from him.”

His confession made me giggle, my insides warming when his fingers slid up my thighs, coming dangerously close to my mound, and I wished he would just touch me and fill me with pleasure.

“Well, you did take me away from him. You interrupted my date.” I pouted my lips, pretending I was offended.

“Don’t complain. It was obvious that you were bored to death with him.”

I pushed my hands beneath his shirt, relishing in the feeling of his hard muscles against my palms. He moaned in response, and I moved so that I was straddling him now. My pussy was pressed directly on his hard cock, which was exactly what I needed.

“But you were still jealous.”

“Yes, because I don’t want you with any other guy but me.” I ground against him, already wet.

“Oh, so you want me for yourself only?”

“Yes. I want you all for myself and I want everything with you.” The way he was looking at me now was very intense, and I stilled in anticipation of his next words... “I love you.”

Oh my God. He loved me. I gaped at him, my heart rate skyrocketing. “You... You love me?”

“Yes. I love you, and I want to be with you. I don’t need other girls. I need you. Only you.”

I was smiling so hard now that my muscles hurt.

“You sure know how to melt a girl’s heart, Daniel.”

I slammed my lips against his and laced my fingers in his hair, deepening our kiss. I wanted to show him just how much he meant to me. Now that things came to their right place, I was able to see the whole truth. I felt so much for him that I never wanted to let him go. He was the right one for me, and I wanted to fight for us.

“I love you too, Daniel. I want to make you happy.”

“You love me? Oh, babe.”

His smile was dazzling, his lips taking my breath away when they came back to mine for more, our bodies communicating our feelings for us. I’d never felt happier or more loved than now. Daniel Chisolm. My man. I loved the sound of it.

Now that I knew the truth, I regretted distancing myself from him and causing us pain. If I’d reacted differently, things between us could’ve progressed much sooner.

“I realized how wrong I was,” I told him when I separated my lips from his, breathing unevenly. “I was wrong for presuming things and not actually believing you. I was supposed to know better, and it bothers me that I almost ruined everything with my stubbornness and premature judgments.”

“No, don’t be hard on yourself, Marissa. I should’ve mentioned Anna sooner to you. Actually, I want you to meet her.”

“You do?”

“Yeah. I spoke with her about you and she wants to meet you too. Maybe we can schedule some dinner next week and you can get to know her.”

“I would like that.”

“Then that’s settled.”

“So you talked about me to your sister?” I was unable to stop smiling. “And what did you say to her?”

His smile matched mine. “That you’re the best woman I’ve ever met. That there isn’t a day goes by that I don’t think about you. That you made me feel some amazing things that I’d given up on a long time ago. But now that I have you I don’t want to lose you.”

He took my hands in his and kissed each of them, his soft lips cherishing my skin. “I’m sorry for all our misunderstandings, Marissa.”

“There is no need for you to be sorry. I’m the one who should apologize for how I acted these last few days.”

“It’s okay. It doesn’t matter anymore. I want to start over with you. So, will you be my girlfriend?”

“You don’t even have to ask. With pleasure, Mr. Chisolm.”

He ground against me, his signature smirk sparking desire deep in me. “I’ll show you pleasure, Miss Ford. Actually, I intend to show it to you every single day until the rest of our lives.”

He picked me up and placed my legs around my waist, heading to my bedroom.

“Starting from now.”