She smiles sweetly at me. “Oh, just my family. That’s okay, right?”
Fuck. There's no way that I could ever say no to her. Especially not when she’s got that sweet as fucking pie smile on her face. “It’s fine, baby, but you won’t be cooking alone.”
She waves me away. “Of course not, Mama Absyth is helping. We do this every year.”
Grant nods. “Sounds like it’ll be a fucking feast. I’m there. I’ll see you both tomorrow. Merry Christmas.”
Cassie sinks against me. “Merry Christmas, Grant, I hope that Kelly calls you.”
I hold my woman tight and press a kiss against her head. My heart filled with warmth at how easily she’s accepted him into the family. Grant leaves, and it’s just Cassie and I. “I fucking love you, Cassie Carter.”
She turns in my arms and looks up at me with wide eyes. “What?”
I frame her face. “I. Love. You.”
She swallows hard. “But,” she whispers, her tongue swiping across her bottom lip. “It’s too soon.”
I don’t give a fuck. “I know exactly what I want,” I tell her. She’s all I fucking want. “Tell me you don’t want this too?”
She shakes her head. “I want you, I do, but love?”
“Never felt love before, baby,” I admit. “But I knew I had something special with you, now I know for sure what I feel is love.”
She glances down, shifting slightly from foot to foot. “I’ve never felt love before, I don’t know how to.”
She’s breaking my heart. “Baby.”
“But then you come into my life,” she continues. “You’re like a whirlwind, and I’m scared that when you’re finished with me, there’s going to be nothing left of me.”
Christ.
“Listen to me, baby. You are mine. I don’t mean for now, I mean always. You are it for me, and I swear to you, Cassie, I’m never going to hurt you.”
“I’m scared that I’m never going to love you,” she whispers.
“Then baby, I have enough love for you that as long as you’re happy, that’s all that matters.”
She sinks into me. “I really do want to be with you,” she assures me.
That’s all I need to hear. I slant my lips against hers and kiss her. She releases a soft moan in the back of her throat, one that makes my cock hard.
I’m always in a constant state of arousal whenever I’m around her.
I pull back and brush the hair from her face. “I want to give you your Christmas present,” I murmur.
Her brows knit together. “It’s a day early,” she breathes, her eyes bright with lust.
I move away from her and walk toward the table where there’s a brown envelope. I return to where she’s standing and hand it to her. She looks confused, and I hate that. I know that she’s never had much, the only things she’s had she’s worked her ass off for or the Absyth’s have given her.
It changes now. I have more money than I will ever use. Now I’m going to ensure that Cassie never wants for anything.
She opens the envelope and stares blankly at it. “Lucas?” she whispers as it finally sinks in what I’ve given her.
“This is yours,” I tell her. “You have given me everything I could have ever wanted, Cassie, I knew from the moment I met you that there was something special about you. If for some fucked up reason things go wrong. I want you to be looked after.”
She swallows hard. “So you’ve bought me a house and put ten million dollars into a bank account for me?” The disbelief is clear to hear.
I once again frame her face. “Baby, you are everything to me. I need to know that if something were to happen, you’d be taken care of. That’s not so bad, is it?”