It's messy and quick and perfect.
For the first time in months, everything is finally perfect.
"Are you nervous?" Dominic asks, bringing my hand to his lips to kiss my ring as we wait at a red light down the street from the office. Ever since he put his grandma's ring on my finger in the middle of the night, he can't seem to stop touching it, stop touching me.
I don't blame him. I can't stop looking at it on my finger, can't believe we're together. When I left the office yesterday, my heart was broken. Today, it's overflowing with joy. Dominic loves me. I still feel him between my legs. His ring is on my finger. I don't think I've ever been this happy before.
The ring is a beautiful French-cut emerald and diamond halo ring in a vintage white gold setting. The center stone is diamond, with alternating emerald and diamonds all around it. It's breathtaking, and probably costs a small fortune. I'm a little afraid I'm going to lose it, but I love it so much. It's unique, something I will cherish forever because I know how much it means to him.
He slipped it on my finger and then stripped me naked before dragging me into his giant bed…well, I guess it's our giant bed now since I agreed to move in with him. I don't think his grandma would like knowing he used my body as a shot glass for her thousand-dollar whiskey. I liked it though. Her wicked grandson really liked it.
"A little bit," I confess, butterflies dancing through my stomach when the light changes and we roll through the intersection. It's bright and sunny out today, the sun hanging directly overhead. It's already mid-afternoon, but Dominic wants to stop by the office to finish a few things. Mostly I think he wants to go in so I can unpack my stuff in my office. He's mentioned it like five times. I'm worried once everyone knows we're together, they won't be as open with me as they always have been in the past. "I don't want anyone to start treating me differently just because we're together."
"They may treat you differently at first," he says, kissing my ring again as if to reassure me that everything will be all right, "but once they realize you haven't changed and that it's still going to be business as usual, things will go back to normal. Everyone adores you. That isn't going to change just because you're marrying me, sunshine."
"Everyone adores you too."
"No," he disagrees with a smile that says he doesn't mind. "They like me, but they'd take up pitchforks and torches for you. You're so easy to love because you radiant goodness, Summer. You care about people and it shows."
"You care about them too." I know how much he cares about everyone who works for him. He really is an incredible boss. His employees are very well taken care of. He goes out of his way to make sure they have everything they need and more.
He spends a small fortune feeding everyone at least once a week. He also pays everyone better than his competitors do, gives them more paid time off, and even pays for daycare for those with small kids. Several of our employees, like Tomas, have developmental delays or mental considerations. He doesn't hesitate to bring them on board and make them an important part of the Alessi brand. He says I'm the reason everyone is so happy, but that's not true. I made things more efficient and organized, but he's the reason everyone who works for him genuinely like their jobs.
"I do care about them, but I don't know a fucking thing about what people need to thrive. You do. It takes you all of five minutes to read a person and get them to open up. That's why I hired you, you know. My entire staff was smiling about two minutes after you walked in the door because you made a point to make each and every one of them feel like they were important."
"They are important," I say even as warmth fills me. He's so damn sweet.
"Yeah, they are. But you're pure light, sweet girl," he says, pulling into the parking garage. "That's why I call you sunshine. Just being around you makes people happy. As soon as you stepped in my office, I saw it. I wanted that light for myself and for my staff. I knew right then that you were going to change my world."
"I did too," I whisper. "As soon as you looked at me, I wanted to crawl into your lap and stay there."
He grins at me before pulling into his parking spot. "That's because you knew you were supposed to be with me. We were made for one another. I've known it since I met you. I just didn't know how to get you to see the same thing." He turns the car off before turning to face me. One big finger glides across my bottom lip, his eyes locked on my face. Even in the darkness of the parking garage, I see the heat in his eyes, the desire. "I didn't know how to make an angel fall in love with me."
"I saw it, Dominic," I whisper, grabbing his hand to press a kiss to his palm. "I've always seen it. I guess it just took us both a little time to find the courage to reach for it."
"Yeah, sweet girl, it did. But that's all right. We figured it out. Now, I get to spend the rest of my life loving you like you deserve." He grins at me, his eyes alight with happiness. "I plan to be real fucking good at my job, sunshine."
I smile back at him, unable to help myself when seeing him so happy has the feeling welling in my chest and then spilling over to fill up the rest of me. "I'm okay with that plan," I whisper, leaning across the console to press my lips to his. "Especially since I plan to be real good at mine too."
He groans against my lips and then spears his hand into my hair before stealing my breath. I have a feeling he's going to be stealing it for a very long time.
He kisses me long and hard, not letting up until we're both breathing hard. Once he's kissed my lipstick off and messed up my hair, he helps me out of the car.
"I love you, sunshine."
"I love you too, Dominic."
He tugs me closer to his body, tucking me against his side. His lips brush across my crown, making me smile. He smiles too. Like he can't stop. Neither can I.
We walk hand-in-hand into the office…and into our future.
Epilogue
Summer
Five years later
His hands dance like embers across my skin, setting me ablaze with each masterful stroke. Soft puffs of warm air sizzle across my overheated flesh, causing me to twist, and arch, and moan. His lips trail down the valley of my stomach, across the little lines that now mark me there. His wild hair follows in their wake, tickling what his mouth set on fire.