“I loved you from the moment I kissed you, well before I discovered the money gone. None of that matters though; the money was simply the excuse to keep you with me. I couldn’t let you go, not without it being the only option left. So, tell me Dani, is that the only option left for us? Is that the only thing that will bring the spark back in you? Letting you go, will that make you happy?”
“No,” she said as the tears welled up inside her. “I want what I’ve wanted for the longest time—you to love me but you can’t and if you do then…”
“You’ll lose me? I will never let that happen. Take a chance with me baby, let us be happy. Please say you’ll stay; say you love me still.”
“I’ve been in love with you forever it seems Luke. At first, I hated your attitude towards the secretaries and that’s why I used your money to cover the company’s loss. For the first few months I hated you, hated myself for sticking us together despite the way you made me feel when we were in bed and then I got sick, the flu, remember?”
“I hated seeing you like that, it was the first time you never argued with me and I didn’t want that. It made me soft, and I didn’t want you to figure out I loved you because it’d give you all the power, but you’ve always had it, Dani. You’ve always had it.”
“That’s when I fell in love with you and why I started pushing you further. I knew when you were gentle and nice, that’s when I opened up too much and I couldn’t risk it. But now, not loving you, not being with you is killing me. I want to stay forever this time, but I’m so scared you’ll stop.”
“Never Dani.” Luke groaned leaning over to kiss her. He took care not to disturb the girls still sleeping between them. He deepened the kiss as he pulled her onto his lap and showed her how much he adored her. “Ah baby, I’ve missed you so much.”
“Just hold me Luke, please,” she said sliding over his lap, wrapping her legs around him.
“Always sweetheart, as long as you’ll let me.”
She buried her head in his shoulder and let go of the pain she’d been holding onto, the fears of never being his, and cried. He rubbed his hands up and down her back holding her as tightly as he dared because of her ribs. Her tears finally subsided, and she leaned back slightly testing her body for pain at the unusual angle.
“What is it, Dani?” he asked cupping her face.
“Can we go away? You, me and the girls—can we go somewhere that’s not here, somewhere where the pressure isn’t so much?”
“Anywhere you want Dani, for however long you want. You and the girls are the only thing that matter to me. The business can fall apart around us, and I wouldn’t care as long as I have you all.”
Dani laughed resting her forehead against his chin before she looked back up at him. “I know exactly where I want to go.”
She leaned forward and whispered it to him, and he smiled giving her another kiss.
“Sounds perfect,” he agreed as the girls stirred. “Shall we go now?”
“Maybe in the morning, I’m not sure how these two will do on a plane.”
“They’ll be pros,” he stated, and he was right she found out the next day.
That night after she settled them in, Dani took her time getting ready for bed. She walked out onto the balcony sliding her arms around his naked torso and leaned into his back until he turned around and pulled her to him.
“Dani are you sure?” he asked seeing the nightie she wore, the kind that begged to be ripped off. “Your ribs…”
“Are healing nicely the doctor assured me. You don’t have to worry about them, the only thing you need to worry about is kissing me, love me, Luke.”
“I do Dani.” He groaned lifting her into his arms carrying her to the bed where he showed her it with every word, every touch, and every look within him.
***
“I told you they’d be here,” Angela said to the others as they headed up the path.
“We were beginning to think you two had ran away with our girls,” Wren stated moving over to them to kiss Dani’s cheek and check on the girls playing happily in the playpen set up on the beach.
“How long did it take you to find us?” Luke asked shaking his dad’s hand then his brother’s.
“Considering you two took off from the hanger five weeks ago…five weeks,” Tyler answered. “But I’d say it was worth the silence,” he added leaning down to give her a hug. “You’re smiling again.”
“I am,” she agreed leaning back into Luke as he wrapped the blanket around her a bit more.
“I’m hoping this means that you two are staying together,” Joan said hugging them both.
“I couldn’t let go of her when I knew I should and I certainly can’t do it now,” Luke replied kissing the side of her head.