Maybe it was the fact that they were on this bucket-list quest to live with no regrets, to stop hiding from life and live it to its fullest. Gage was willing to take his life in his own hands that morning and jump out of an airplane for the first time, so he decided to stop hiding from love as well.
He kissed her and murmured, “I love you, angel.”
* * * *
Emma’s heart lurched at his words. She looked up into his green eyes and saw such vulnerability there. She wouldn’t let them make love to her if she wasn’t certain that they felt something for her, but she never expected him to make such a declaration so soon. It felt good to hear him say it prior to her own declaration of love. She didn’t have to wonder if he was saying it just because she’d declared herself first.
He smiled at her and kissed the tip of her nose. “I know it’s soon but there was no point in holding it back if I knew it was true. I probably could’ve picked a more romantic spot, though, couldn’t I?” he said with a chuckle. Gage tended to be more serious minded than Duke, although Duke had his serious moments as well.
“I’d rather that you say what’s on your mind than wait for the perfect location, Gage. I love you, too.”
Gage’s eyebrows knit together for a second. “You don’t have to tell me until you’re sure.”
“I was sure an hour ago when I was running to you after landing on the ground. I love you both and if I was following your example, I would have told you then. I’m positive that I love you, both of you.” Gage pulled out and removed the condom, and Duke helped her to rise to a sitting position. “Duke, don’t say anything you’re not feeling, okay?” She could see it in his eyes that he was about to speak and needed him to know she wasn’t expecting simultaneous declarations. She hadn’t expected to do more than to check skydiving off her bucket list when they’d picked her up that morning.
Duke slid an arm around her back and pulled her so her upper body was pressed close to his. “My way of thinking is that I’ve got you both beat.”
“Huh?” both Gage and Emma replied simultaneously.
A sheepish grin crossed Duke’s face, and his crooked smile curled up as he glanced at Gage and then looked her in the eye. She looked at him in confusion at his cryptic words.
He gently stroked her shoulders and said, “I have a confession to make.” He almost looked pained by what he had to say.
Emma couldn’t imagine what would cause him to look so guilty. “What do you need to confess?”
“That I’ve been in love with you since the moment I laid eyes on you.”
Emma frowned and said, “Really? At the lake? I looked like crap after a long day. I was windblown and someone had an arrow in their ass as I recall.” She glanced at Gage and schooled her grin. “I thought it was a gorgeous ass, by the way.” She made squeezing gestures with both hands. “Nice, tight buns. Hard muscles…”
“Em—”
“Sorry,” she said with a chuckle as she put her hands to her cheeks. “I was having a moment. So you fell in love with me then?”
“Not exactly.” Duke looked down and bit his lip as though he were forming his words carefully. “I’ve seen you before then.”
“Where?”
“At Discretion.”
“I never saw you at Discretion. I only saw Summer that day. I’ve only been out there one time—” She clapped her hands on her mouth and slammed her eyes shut. She curled up into a tight little ball on the end of the picnic table and hid her face.
Duke caressed her knees. “Someone had set the shop on fire, and broken in, and assaulted Summer. Gage and I were tasked with keeping an eye on the interior during business hours. We kept an eye on the ladies too, for their own safety. That’s all.”
“I’m so embarrassed.”
“Why? I couldn’t take my eyes off of you. Actually neither of us could.”
Emma looked at Gage, and he nodded. “Where were you?”
“In the landscaping van parked next to you. It was from there that we monitored the cameras in the store. I know it was wrong but I turned up the volume on the monitor so I could hear you. You giggled at something Summer said and…” She looked up and saw the distant smile on Duke’s face as he reminisced.
“You had a crush on me?”
Duke rolled his eyes and grinned. “It was more than that, Em. More grown up. I asked about you one day and Summer must’ve clued in to my interest. She hinted to me that you might be at that particular campground out at Campbell Lake two weekends ago.”