Rescue Me(53)

“She never had me, Erin. Not in the way you do,” I state firmly. “You’re the only one who has ever had my heart. I want to experience everything with you. Quiet walks on the beach while I hold your hand. Watching the sunset. I want to help Sierra grow up into an amazing woman, just like her mother. You’re the only woman who I have ever wanted a future with. You know that cliché where they say you complete me? Well, you do. It’s you, Erin, and even though I know you’re going through hell right now, I want to be right there beside you.”

She lets out a deep breath and when she smiles up at me I feel it seep into every bone of my body.

“You see a future with me?” she asks with elation.

“Sweet cheeks, I see so much of a future with you that it consumes my every waking thought. I am so deeply in love with you. I knew I loved you but I didn’t realize how much until I saw you lying in that hospital bed. All I could think about was how much I wanted you to wake up so I could tell you you’re everything I was looking for, and for you to know that you’re mine and I am yours. I promise you, nothing and no one is going to stand in the way of our happiness.”

I bring my hand up to wipe away all the tears streaming down her face.

“You really mean that, don’t you?” she asks as she lays her head up against my chest.

“I feel like I have been waiting my entire life for you, Erin McIntyre, and I mean every word I said.”

She sighs in satisfaction and when she lifts her head and those out-of-this-world baby blue eyes look up into mine, I know I have found what every man dreams of finding- someone who loves them back with no conditions or price tags or any type of bullshit. She loves me just as much as I love her.

“I love you, too. You are a dream come true, Adam Payne.”

I want to tell her I was just thinking the exact same thing but I don’t. This is her dream and I will always make them come true.





Chapter Eighteen

Erin



I could stay in the comfort of Adam’s arms forever. The way I feel inside right now is totally indescribable. Adam has a way with words I never knew existed. Everything he says and does I can tell comes straight from his heart. And he never complains about a thing. I know he’s real and not a dream; however, he is the ultimate package. He’s a man who is not afraid to tell me how he truly feels about me, he doesn’t hold it all in.

And the way he has brought me out of the self-sufficient dark place I thought I would be living in for the rest of my life has shown me life is not full of evil and shades of black, it’s full of every bright color of the rainbow and I, too, want a future with him.

We are both brought back to reality by the slamming of the back door.

“That must be my sister.”

We walk into the kitchen where Shelby is dumping bags on the counter. She starts taking items out of the bags and tossing them into the pantry. She bangs the door shut.

“What is your problem?” I snap at her.

She turns and glares at me. “Freaking Antonio Schavone is my problem. That man is a self-absorbed grade-A jerk.”

“That’s going a little overboard Shelby, don’t you think?” I ask gravely.

“No. I don’t think it’s even a little bit ‘overboard’,” she air quotes. “Of all the people that I have to run into at the store, it’s him. He’s like a damn pesky ass bug that you can’t seem to get rid of,” she stews.

“Seriously, Shelby. I think you’re overreacting here just a little bit, don’t you? I mean, what did he say or do this time that has your panties all in a bunch?”

“What did he do? You mean what didn’t he do?” She places her hands on her hips. I take a glance at Adam who just stands there with a peculiar look on his face. “He grabbed my ass right in the middle of the fucking store. That’s what he did. Who the hell does that?”

Adam lets out a loud laugh and I can’t help but join him because the look on my sister’s face right now is comical.

“Shelby,” Adam says through his laughter. “Antonio is attracted to you, girl. You’re a challenge to him. He may not be the most subtle person in the world, but I have known him for most of my life. Yes, he can be a jerk sometimes, but he’s not used to being told no. I am here to tell you right now that like most men, when we see something we want ,we stop at nothing until we get it.”

He peers my way with a heated glaze in his eyes.

“Well he is not getting a piece of me, and the quicker he realizes that then the better off he will be. He’s a man-whoring twat and UGH I just want him to leave me alone.” She stomps her feet.