“I’ve been missing you, too,” I replied softly.
“What did you want to talk about?” he asked.
Swallowing, I struggled to hold his gaze, so nervous my breathing grew heavy.
“Sadie?” Cyrus said, his brow furrowing with concern. “What is it? Is something wrong?”
“No,” I assured him, shaking my head. “I’m just…trying to figure out the best way to say this.”
He slipped a finger beneath my chin and tilted my head back.
“You can tell me anything,” he insisted.
“I know,” I murmured.
“So…what is it? Is it about Megan?”
I let out a weak chuckle and shook my head. “No, no…it’s about me. About us, really.”
He tensed. “Us? What about us?”
I wasn’t sure how to interpret his reaction, but I forced myself to continue and said, “Yeah. Can we sit?”
“Of course.”
He took my hand and led me to a small sitting area by one of the office’s windows. We settled into two of the cushioned chairs, and Cyrus leveled me with a concerned look.
“What’s going on?” he asked in a soft voice.
Taking a deep breath, I began, “Cyrus, there’s been so much happening the past few weeks. The past few months, really, and I think…I think we should figure a few things out.”
“Okay,” he said cautiously.
I struggled to come up with the words and dragged this out. I needed to just say it and get it over with.
“I told you earlier, but I want to make sure you know that I meant it. Cyrus…I love you,” I confessed. “I am in love with you. I know that changes things between us…”
Before I could finish, he reached forward and grabbed hold of my hands.
“Wait, before you continue, I have to tell you I’m in love with you, too.”
I blinked at him, caught off guard. “Wa…wait, what?”
Squeezing my hands, he repeated, “I love you, Sadie. I’ve loved you for some time now.”
“You have?” I gasped.
He nodded. “Yes.”
“I…I’ve loved you for some time now, too,” I whispered.
He grinned and brought my hands to his lips, kissing my knuckles.
“I didn’t know how to tell you,” he said. “I didn’t know when the right time was, given everything that’s happened.”
“I was having the same struggle,” I confessed with a small chuckle.
“We’ve been through quite a bit, haven’t we?” he murmured.
I nodded. “Yeah…we have.”
There was a moment of silence before Cyrus hesitantly said, “I…I don’t think I’d have been able to get through everything without you.”
“Really?” I grinned and shook my head. “I doubt that. You’d have managed everything just fine…”
“No,” he insisted, cutting me off. “I’d probably have ended up in jail, and what would have happened to Megan then? Sadie, you’ve become an integral part of my world. When I think of my life from this point forward, I can’t picture it without you.”
I swallowed. “I…I can’t picture my life without you either.”
He looked relieved by that. “Good…in that case, I don’t want to be without you. Ever.” To my shock, he moved from his chair and knelt on one knee in front of me. “Sadie, I love you more than I thought I could love any woman. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Will you marry me?”
I gasped, my eyes widening, and for several long moments, I couldn’t find words to answer him.
Chapter 65
Cyrus
The silence stretched between us for several long moments, and with each second that passed, I grew more and more nervous that she was going to say no.
Her expression flickered between so many emotions so quickly, I couldn’t fully decipher what she was thinking.
At length, she slowly said, “Are…are you asking me to marry you because you genuinely love me and want to…or are you just afraid of losing me after everything that happened with Ralph?”
“Oh, baby, no,” I assured her with a firm shake of my head. “I love you with my entire being, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I want us to raise Megan together and be a family. I swear to you, this has nothing to do with Ralph.”
I held her gaze, praying she believed me. I was ready to do whatever I had to in order to convince her I was being entirely serious.
To my complete relief, though, her lips curled into a smile, and she blurted, “Yes! Yes, Cyrus, I’ll marry you!”
I surged to my feet, pulling her from her chair. Wrapping my arms around her, I pulled her in for mind-numbing kiss. She laughed against my lips and threw her arms around my neck, hugging me tight. I picked her up and twirled her around, and the moment was so perfect. It felt like a fairy-tale, which was a completely sappy thought, but it popped into my head nonetheless.
Putting her back on her feet, I kissed her again.
“I love you,” I declared. “I love you, I love you, I love you.”
“I love you, too,” she replied, tears in the corners of her eyes.
At that moment, it felt as if all the trouble of the past few months melted away, and I felt genuine hope for the future. I knew everything would really be all right, because Sadie and I would be together. We would be a family, along with Megan, and I was confident nothing would stand in the way of our happily ever after.
Another sappy thought, but it seemed being in love was making me a mushy sap.
Cupping her face, I kissed her again. This time, the kiss turned heated within seconds. Sadie parted her lips, and I swept my tongue into her mouth to find hers. Reaching down, I took hold of her thighs and lifted her off the floor. She wrapped her legs around my waist as I turned and made my way over to my desk. Setting her down on the edge, I tugged up the skirt of her dress and bunched it around her hips.
She fumbled with the buttons of my shirt but managed to undo them and shoved the garment off my shoulders. I shrugged out of it, all the while continuing to slant my mouth over hers like a starving man presented with a rich feast.
Once my shirt was crumpled on the floor, I moved my lips from her mouth and began kissing my way down her neck. I pushed the straps of her dress out of the way and tugged the top down to reveal her breasts. She wore a lacy white bra with a front clasp, and I quickly undid it. Once her breasts were free, I wrapped my lips around one of her nipples and began to suck. Sadie let out a hiss of breath and tangled her fingers into my hair, holding me against her.
“Cyrus,” she gasped. “That feels so good.”
I moved to her other breast and gave it thorough attention as well. As I continued kissing and licking at her breasts, I slipped my hand down between her legs. I snuck my fingers inside her panties and felt how wet she already was.
Growling, I looked up at her and murmured, “You’re ready for me, aren’t you?”