Page 124 of The Billionaire Who Hated Me (Until He Loved Me)

“So tell me, Cal.”

“Yes?”He pours another round of bubbly into my champagne flute.Then he reaches down and pulls my bare feet into his lap.His hands are warm against my arches.

“Everything is perfect here.It’s like a fairy tale.You went to such lengths to make all the details incredibly beautiful.Buthowdid you manage all this?”

“Ah well, we’ve been working on it for days.It took five SEALs and an ad-hoc special delivery command to pull it off.”

“An ad-what?”

He shrugs.“That’s a fancy way of saying that we called in a bunch of favors to get all this shit out here to Sulfur Springs.Damn near half the ranch was involved in some way.”

I nod.“Gotcha.But I do wonder about something.”

“Shoot.”

“What were you going to do if I told you to get lost?I mean, if you made all this effort, flew to San Diego to stand in my doorway, what would you have done if I kicked you to the curb?”

I see one of his dark eyebrows arch.The candlelight dances in his eyes.He smiles.“Honestly, I expected it.When you didn’t answer me, I figured you wanted me gone, and I walked out.”

I cringe a little, remembering that moment.It was only hours ago but it feels like another lifetime.

“When I stepped off the elevator behind that dog walker, I pulled my phone from my pocket to tell Declan the whole thing was off.And that’s when I saw you.”

“I came after you.”

“You did.”

“I knew I was making a terrible mistake.I knew I loved you and that I couldn’t let you get away.I refused to let you go.”

He grins at me.“Tango down, baby.”

I roll my eyes, knowing something SEAL-related is about to be shared with me.

“That means your target was neutralized.You found me.You got me.”

“Did I?Really?”

“Oh,fuck yesyou did.I’m yours, Victoria.”

I go over to him and sit on his lap, then place my palm along the rugged beauty of his face.So much masculinity with such deeply expressive eyes.I’ll never grow tired of this face, this man.“You need to know that no one has ever made this kind of effort for me.I’ve never had a man go out of his way to make me happy the way you do.”

He shakes his head.“Men can be incredibly stupid.”

I laugh at that unexpected bit of wisdom.“Not all men.”

“True.Not all.Not me.I’m smart enough to know what’s good for me.”

“And what’s that?”I leave a string of tender kisses across his forehead, upon each eyelid, and down his jaw.

“You are good for me, Victoria.You’re goodtome.You’re a good woman.”

I kiss his lips.“You’re a good man.The best I’ve ever known.”

Cal stands with me in his arms.I tell him that he’s carrying me so much that I might forget how to walk.He asks me to grab a heavy folded blanket, and we walk down the path to the hot springs.

Cal sets me down on the deck and lights the fire.We drop our robes and climb back into the water.We end up in the same spot, what his family calls the throne.Cal sits and pulls me down on his lap, my back to his chest.We ease down until the water is just under our chins.It bubbles around us.

The night sky is purple-black and cloudless.The only time I’ve ever seen stars like this is here on the ranch.It’s an endless expanse of black velvet blanketed with pinpricks of light, swirling and blinking.We see a shooting star streak across the sky.