“Just… I’m lucky to have you,” he said. “And I hope you’ll still forgive me when it’s all over.”
“You know, animals aren’t the only ones who can fall in love at first sight,” she said. “If that’s what your bear even felt.”
“It was love,” he said. “I was still inside that bear’s body. I was still seeing a girl who was incredibly brave and beautiful and wanting her for myself. Wait, what?” He blinked as he realized what she’d just said. “What do you mean love at first sight?”
“Well, I didn’t fall in love with your bear, although I’m not sure what made me take the risks I did last night. I could have been eaten.”
“Never!” he exclaimed.”
“That’s what bears do!” she teased.
“Not this bear,” he said. “Well, I guess I do want to eat you.” His eyes raked over her body, and he loved the heat that hit her, the way her eyes darted from his as her cheeks colored. “But don’t change the subject. What did you mean love at first sight?”
“When I saw you as a boy,” she said. “You had an impact on me that never went away. Do you think there were no other options in town? There were.”
He snarled in jealousy, but she put a hand to his chest, steadying him.
“Easy, big guy,” she said. “What I meant was there was no one else for me. I guess you could say my heart caught sight of you and held on, not much different from what your bear did.”
“I see,” he said, feeling warm down to his toes at the thought of her accepting him. “I was worried when I told you that you would run.”
“It’s different,” she said. “It’s definitely something I never imagined.”
“I bet,” he said. “My mother was one, a shifter. But she left early, and I was the only one at the Aces compound that I knew of. I always had to hide it.”
“Well, if it’s your bear that makes you so freaking strong, I think I like him.”
“That and a lot of specialized military training,” he said. “I guess I can tell you more about that stuff, too, now that I don’t have to pretend to be an Ace.”
She seemed to remember how mad that made her and turned to give him a hard punch to the arm.
He laughed and rubbed, pretending it did anything but tickle him. “Okay, I deserved that. I’m sorry.”
“So what?” she asked. “Willow contacted you and you just came back to end the Aces?”
“I always wanted to end the Aces, and I always wanted to come back and see you,” he said. “Willow just gave me an excuse to do it.”
“By asking you for help?” she asked.
“No,” he said. “She just said you were in trouble. That I needed to come back and help you.”
She looked at him, face softening. “So it was for me?”
He nodded. “They were harassing you at the bar. She thought it would escalate. I agreed.” He walked a little forward, still thinking. “I knew deep down that if anything was off, Willow would tell me. Or watch out for you. I told myself I was doing things right. I wanted to get rich, to be successful, to give you as many reasons as possible for you to accept me when I finally came back.”
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“So you came back as an Ace?”
“It was the only way to get inside,” he said. “I knew the only way to get you away from this town was if you knew it was going to be safe.”
She blinked up at him. “Man, I misunderstood you a lot.”
“Did you?” he asked, walking forward to put a hand under her chin and tilt her face to look at him. His thumb grazed her velvet-soft cheek, loving that this woman was about to be his. He could feel it now, no barriers between them.
He didn’t even know what he’d said that made a difference, but he was glad.
“So it was really for me?” she asked. “Not just some dumb kind of revenge or a job?”
“You really don’t understand men in love,” he said, pushing hair behind one of her ears. “Everything was for you. Everything was about you. Every mission, every step I took with my business, everything I planned here. All roads led to you. They had to.”
She blinked in surprise. “I knew you wanted me, but…”
“I love you with every piece of my soul,” he said solemnly. “I don’t know how else to communicate that to you.”
She reached up and brushed hair off his forehead. “I can think of one way at least.”
Her eyes were hot as they stared into his, and he got her meaning immediately. He swept her up in his arms and jogged the rest of the way to her house, putting her down only to let her get her keys out and unlock the door.