Page 243 of The Friends and Rivals Collection

SHAW

Derek glares. “Just tell her, man.”

“Vanessa?” I raise an eyebrow as I tug on my sweater.

He leans against the door of the bedroom. “Yes. But in this case, I mean my bride. Tell Perri you’re going to do right by her friend. That’s all she needs to know. I assure you.”

“You assure me?”

“Trust me. No one knows her better than I do. Now, get out there, get your woman, and sort it out with your sister.”

My woman.

That’s the answer I’ve been searching for.

When it comes to Vanessa, I don’t want what I can’t have. I don’t want a one-night fling. I don’t want a friendship.

I want all of her for all of me.

It’s now. I’m telling her.

I leave the bedroom, run my fingers through my hair, and head down the hall. I’m going for it completely. Nothing is going to stop me.

Not even her when she spots me.

“I’m in love with you.”

Nope. Nothing is stopping me. Not even the best words anyone has ever said to me. Words that touch down in my heart and burrow inside it, making me so damn happy. I’m a man on a mission.

I stride across the living room, reach for Vanessa’s hand, pull her up from the couch, and wrap my arms around her. “I’m in love with you too.”

She melts against me, warm and snuggly and wonderful. I press a kiss to her hair. “I think I have been for a long, long time.”

Somewhere behind me I swear I hear Derek murmur, “ I fucking knew it. ”

I ignore him because Vanessa looks up at me with a huge goofy grin on her face. “Same here,” she says. “It’s been since high school for me.”

I feel like I’m made of gold. “Is that so?”

She loops her arms around my neck. “What can I say? I had a crush, and it never stopped.”

Perri clears her throat, and I let go of Vanessa but take her hand in mine as I turn to my not-a-banshee-anymore sibling. “Perri, I love you like a sister.”

She rolls her eyes.

“And I never went for it with Vanessa because I respected your wishes. But here’s the thing.” I look her straight in the eyes. “You might think I’m not serious, but that’s because I save it for work. I save it for my job. I save it for when I have to save lives—just like you do.”

Perri sighs but then nods, and I know she understands me deeply. On this, we’ve always connected. She’s a cop, I’m a fireman—and we both do what we do to help others.

“I need a little levity outside of work. That’s why I make jokes, keep it light. You get me?”

“I do,” she says softly.

“So you might not see that side of me, but I have it. I have it when I walk into burning buildings. When I answer heart attack calls in the middle of the night. When we rush to an accident on the highway. Same as you.”

“I understand.”

“And the other thing I don’t joke about is this woman.” I squeeze Vanessa’s hand harder and turn to face her. “I fucking love you so much. So much that you simply can’t go to the wedding with Jamie. You’re going with me.”

Vanessa laughs. “You’re not asking? You’re telling me?”

I roll my eyes. “Woman, you’re going with me, you want to, and that’s that.”

She grins, smacking my chest. “Fine. If you insist.”

I look back at Perri. “Cancel Jamie. Call off that blind date. Whatever you need to do. Vanessa is mine, and I’m a hundred percent serious about that.

And you need to know I will treat her right; I will do right by her.

I will treat her like the queen she is to me.

So you can just stop worrying and talking shit about my balls. ”

Perri’s mouth parts in an offended O. “I do not want to discuss your balls. Now or ever.”

I grab my crotch. “Good. The balls are off-limits. And so is Vanessa. No more setups. No more anything.” I drape my arm around my woman, tug her closer, and plant a quick kiss on her lips. “She’s taken.”

Perri’s smile is huge and surprises the hell out of me. She jumps up and wraps her arms around both of us. “I love you guys. Just be good to each other. Always, okay? Or I’ll hunt you down and break your arm, Shaw.”

I laugh. “It’s always something with you, isn’t it?”

“Always,” Perri adds.

The three of us separate, and I return to the final matter at hand. “You’re going to uninvite Jamie now?”

Perri furrows her brow. “He’s a guest. That’d be rude.”

“Then uninvite him from the blind date.”

Vanessa chimes in. “I should let Miriam know too. It’s the right thing to do.”

Derek coughs, cutting in. “I can handle that.”

I turn and stare at him quizzically. So does Vanessa. And Perri.

He shrugs, an impish grin on his face. “I might have played a part in the whole thing.”