Oliver
Anna and I spend all of our free time together kissing, talking, watching movies, and making love. We’re having so much fun that I barely feel any stress from my clients or cases. I barely feel any anxiety about work at all, and that’s something new for me.
Usually, I have trouble sleeping because I worry about my clients so much.
Now?
Now I sleep like a baby.
At least until judgment day comes.
Anna is nervous about meeting with the judge, but she doesn’t need to be. George Locke is one of the fairest judges I’ve ever worked with. He’s tough, and a total badass, but he’s also kind.
He takes one look at the trust and calls bullshit on it.
“Absolutely invalid,” he says, shaking his head. “A tiger clause? Really? They thought they’d be able to sneak that in. Unacceptable.”
Anna breathes a huge sigh of relief and I squeeze her hand. If the judge notices our intimate gesture, he doesn’t say anything. I’ve worked with George long enough that I know he’s incredibly discreet.
We work through some paperwork with the judge and his assistant, and then that’s it. Then we’re free. Then we can leave the courthouse, and on Anna’s 25th birthday, she’ll have full access to her trust fund and the land her daddy left her.
And I couldn’t be happier for her.
We get back to the house and head up to our apartment. Anna gets settled on the couch and I grab a bottle of Crown Royal from the freezer. I pour us each a glass and then come over and join her, settling down next to her.
“To the future,” I say.
“To the future.”
We sip the alcohol and she leans her head on me. I’m so happy that Anna is going to get her money and she isn’t going to be forced into marriage. Not that I would have minded marrying her. It’s just that when you marry someone, it should be because you love them, and I don’t know that Anna loves me.
Over the past few weeks, I’ve fallen hard for her in ways I never could have imagined. The more I get to know Anna, the more I realize she’s not like any other woman I’ve ever met. She’s different in every way, and I love her for that.
I love everything about her.
I just love her.
“So what are you going to do now?” I ask, addressing the elephant in the room. “Carl is safely tucked away in jail, and you aren’t going to be forced to marry a shifter, so you could technically move back home if you wanted to.”
“What?” She sits up quickly and looks at me. Anna looks like this was the last thing she expected me to say. “You want me to leave?”
“No,” I tell her honestly. “I don’t want that at all, sweetie, but you don’t have to marry me anymore. You’re free.” I point to the stack of papers we brought back from the courthouse that are now on the coffee table. “You don’t have to get married just to receive what your dad left you. You don’t have to.”
“But…”
“But what?”
Anna doesn’t seem happy at the idea of not getting married, but that doesn’t make sense. She should be completely relieved. She should be happy, even. She’s never said I love you. She’s never said she wants to be with me because she likes me, because she wants me. Oh, there’s no doubt in my mind that she likes having sex and companionship and hanging out, but she’s never said she loves me.
She should be happy that she has her freedom now.
She can do whatever she wants, date whoever she wants, go wherever she wants.
She can do anything.
“But I don’t want to go,” she whispers, and her eyes meet mine. They swirl with confusion and anguish and fear. They swirl with sadness and regret.
“Why don’t you want to go?” I whisper. “This should make you happy. You don’t have to marry me.”
“I want to marry you, Oliver,” she whispers. Anna starts to cry silently as she looks at me. She’s holding my hand tightly as she speaks. “I should have told you before, but I was scared.”
“Should have told me what?”
“That I love you.”
I love you.
Is this really happening?
Did she really just say the words?
Did Anna really just say she wants to be with me?
My heart soars, and maybe I’m going crazy, but I want this, too. I want her. I never believed in mates before, and I’m still not sure if I do, but if there’s a mate for me in this world, it’s Anna.
“I want to marry you, Oliver. I want that more than anything. I want to be with you and love you and spend time with you. I want to grow old with you. I want to laugh with you and cry with you and have babies with you. I want all of that.”
“I want all of those things, too. I just didn’t know you felt that way.”
“What kind of shifter are you?” She sniffles, but smiles jokingly. “Shouldn’t you be able to read my emotions?”
“As it turns out, I’m not entirely level-headed and logical when it comes to the woman of my dreams.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
“You really want to do this?”
“I really want to do this.”
“I love you, Oliver.”
“I love you, too, princess.”