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His closest was neat before, but now, it's meticulously organized.

“Your closet looks nice, honey.”

“What do you see?” he growls into my ear, sending a shiver racing up and down my spine.

I take in the expansive area that was different last night. The new arrangement leaves an entire wall and half the sectioned shelves empty.

“I see a lot of empty space,” I barely breathe out, his arms growing tighter.

“It's not going to be empty for long. I want you to hang your clothes in here. Bring over all you want, but make sure you never have to leave again because you don't have clothes for work at my house.”

“Walker, about last night and this morning—” I start.

“Last night and this morning are over. We're here now, and it's time we have that conversation I mentioned.”

My heart starts racing, and I force myself to stay quiet. He drops his arms, keeping a grasp on one hand, and twirls me to face him. His free hand slides across my shoulder, trailing up my neck, until it's caressing the back of my head. He pins our joined hands on the edge of my hip. I'm wedged against him.

“I told you that you had given me a gift I'd been waiting for. That gift is precious to me. It's something I don't take lightly, something so powerful that I needed the appropriate time to show you exactly how

it makes me feel. Standing in your parents’ living room with them down the hall wasn't the place to strip you naked and make love to you until you’d remember the feeling of me deep inside you while I told you the same. I tried to pour all of that into a kiss. I guess it didn’t work.

“So, I'm going to ask you to say it again.”

“You don’t have to—”

“Goddammit, Emi, this time it’s going to be exactly as it should have been. Say. It. Again.” His demand is ruthless and powerful, fire blazing in his eyes.

My mouth and throat go so dry that I have to swallow hard to try to find my voice. I let out the breath I didn't realize I was holding.

“I love you.” I raise my hand to his cheek and, like yesterday, his hazel eyes flare and fade into a deep shade of blue.

“I love you, too. That first night I saw you in the restaurant with Maren, all it took was one look. You made it easy on me by marching your sweet ass into my station. I knew I was in trouble. The kind of trouble that makes a man want to fall at your feet and worship you. The kind that makes a man sit on his couch on a Saturday afternoon texting, flirting, and stroking himself to the thought of exactly what promises lie ahead the next day. I am not the kind of man known to talk about my feelings or do the hearts and flowers thing. But with you, I see that changing.”

“I don’t want you to change. You’re doing perfect just like you are.” I try to fight back the tears that threaten but fail miserably. My nose starts to sting as two tears roll down my cheeks.

“Why are you crying?” His thumb swipes away the wetness.

“I’m not sure. It doesn’t happen very often. I think it’s because I’m so happy. I’ve never, ever, in all my life, felt this way. My heart is about to burst.”

His lips tip up in a lopsided grin. “Get used to it, because making you happy is my life mission.”

We stare at each other, letting the words hang in the air. Slowly, he starts to back up, taking me with him.

“I need to hear you say one more thing.”

“What?”

“Next time you get upset, you’ll talk to me. No matter what it is, we talk it out.”

“We talk it out,” I confirm.

His eyes light up with approval.

“I think it’s time we get to the stripping naked part now.”

My stomach flips again, this time fluttering at the same time.

“Stripping naked sounds good.”