Page 91 of Lonely Heart
“I’m never going to be alone again?”
I shook my head. “Never.”
She smiled at me, lifted her hands, and curled her fingers around my neck. “We should start practicing now.”
“Practicing?”
“For baby making. We’re both so determined to excel at the things we do, I would expect we want to be the very best at that.”
I laughed. “Who told you that you weren’t already stellar at that?”
She cocked a brow. “Are you turning down your future bride?”
I couldn’t help myself. I leaned forward and kissed her. “Not a chance.”
With that, we moved the woodcarving gift out of the bed and commenced my favorite part of the night. We skipped the movieand went right to the lovemaking, but I figured that was on par for the evening.
We had something big to celebrate.
Ivy was my fiancée now.
And with any luck, it wouldn’t be long before I was able to add another date to that woodcarving.
IVY - FIVE MONTHS LATER
If ever there was a full circle moment, this was it.
It was mere minutes before midnight on New Year’s Eve, and I was officially Mrs. Ivy Kingston.
It hadn’t taken me long to decide.
I wanted to make things official before we entered the new year. So, we planned our wedding for today.
And now we were here with all our friends and family, celebrating the start of our lives together.
Even though it felt like Marco and I had started a life together not quite a full year ago, this made it real. This meant he was mine forever, that I’d never feel lonely again in my life.
“Did you know I stood here last year during the New Year’s Eve party we hosted and felt like I’d never be this happy?”
Marco and I were on the dance floor—we’d been here nearly all night, almost as soon as we’d finished dinner—and I thought he deserved to know just how much this moment meant to me.
“Really?”
I nodded. “Yes. I remember feeling so frustrated, wondering if the clock would ever strike midnight and I’d have someone to hold me in his arms and kiss me when the new year began.”
“Your determination to make that happen has paid off, I’d say. It seems like you’re about to make that happen.”
I shook my head.
His brows shot up. “No?”
Smiling at him, as I danced in his arms while he looked undeniably good-looking in his suit, I said, “I’m not making it happen, handsome. You are. From the moment we were in that hotel room until now, you’ve done nothing but make all my dreams come true. And something tells me that this is just the beginning of it.”
Marco’s hand drifted down my back. “You mean everything to me, Ivy. There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do to see you happy.”
“I’d do it again.”
“What?”
“I’d sit in the misery and loneliness for all those years, wondering, wishing, and feeling devastated, if I was going to get you in the end. I’d do it a million times over. It was worth all those miserable lonely nights just to have you be mine in the end.”
His mouth curved into a smile. “Forever, Princess. I’m yours forever.”
The countdown started around us, but Marco and I didn’t tear our attention away from one another. Just before the countdown ended and the crowd shouted out new year wishes, Marco gave me what I wanted.
He held me in his arms and kissed me. The kiss went on and on, and it was the perfect start to the new year and our new life together.