Page 141 of My Destiny

“Just so you know, you can’t take it back,” he says. “It’s a done deal.”

“I don’t want to take it back.” I cup his face in my hands. “My place is wherever you are, Hot Stuff.”

CHAPTER FIFTY

Logan

“Good morning,” I say before placing a soft kiss on Brooke’s shoulder when she stirs. I’ve been lying here for over an hour waiting for her to wake.

“Morning, Hot Stuff.” I love the raspy sound of her voice in the mornings.

“How’d you sleep?” I ask, when she turns to face me.

“Good. It seems weird waking up here though. I’m so used to our bed back in Sydney.” I grin when she says that. Although it’s been six weeks since she officially agreed to move in with me, I still love that she called it our bed.

We arrived in Melbourne yesterday and are staying for a week. Brooke’s been busy getting her dance studio ready for its grand opening in January, and Michelle’s been helping her, which has been great. But, I’m looking forward to having her all to myself for the next few days.

Tonight is the Melbourne office’s Christmas party. I moved it from its usual Friday night to Saturday. I wanted it to coincide with our anniversary: exactly one year to the day since I first met the love of my life.

Rolling onto my back, I reach into the top drawer beside the bed. “I have something for you,” I say, grabbing the box I stashed in there last night while she was in the shower. “Happy Anniversary.”

“Anniversary?”

“Yes. Exactly one year ago, you walked into my life and changed it forever.”

“A year. I’d forgotten about that. So much has happened since then.”

“Some good, some not so much,” I say, sliding my arm around her waist. “But I’d go through it all again if it brought me to this exact spot with you.”

“That’s sweet.” She runs her hand softly over my hair. “I’m glad we ended up here.”

“Me too. From the moment I laid eyes on you that night, I knew you were something special.”

“You did?”

“Never in my life have I been affected so deeply.” I sigh. “I was drawn to you, like a moth to a flame.”

“I didn’t know that.”

“You took my breath away the moment I saw you appear in the doorway. You still do that to me now.”

“Who knew back then that we’d end up here, together?” She pauses, averting her eyes away from me. “And that Jake would be…” When her gaze moves back to me, she forces a smile, but the sadness in her eyes is unmissable.

“I’m glad we’re still together, despite all the obstacles we’ve faced.” I’m still haunted by that night, and I’m not sure if that will ever change. “What happened to Jake was a shame, but he chose the path.”

“I know,” she says, “but it’s still hard to believe.” I place the box on top of the covers so I can use both hands to pull her body closer to mine. “I received a letter from his mother about a week ago, along with a Christmas card.”

“Oh.” I’m surprised she never told me until now.

“I was going to tell you.” She shrugs. “I don’t know why I didn’t.”

“It’s okay,” I say, tucking her hair behind her ears. “I’m sure you had your reasons.”

“I feel for them. They’re really struggling to come to terms with his death. He was their only son.”

“I can’t even fathom what it would feel like to lose a child in that way.”

“They were estranged from him too by then, which hasn’t helped their grieving process. His mother said he went to live with them when he first came back to Sydney, but after he stole money and some jewellery from them—probably to support his habit—they ended up asking him to leave. They never heard from him again after that.”