Page 147 of Legally Mine

His blue eyes cast downward. "I know. And I want you to have that, Red. I want you to pursue whatever dreams you want." He looked at me again, eyes full of love. "I just want to be there with you. I want to be your center, where you come back to. Because you're mine, babe."

I frowned and shook my head. "I'm not yours. I don't belong to you, like all your fancy things. I'm a person, Brandon, not something to collect."

Brandon chewed on his bottom lip for a moment, then pressed his forehead to mine, so that we shared the same breath.

"You're right," he said finally. "I had it the wrong way around. You're not mine. I'm yours. I belong to you. You're like the sun to me, Skylar. I can't see without you."

All my reserve broke at his words, and I wished more than anything we were not sitting on a very public bench, surrounded by groups of tourists. I kissed him tenderly on the mouth. His hand slipped around my head as he held me there, reveling in my lips in the soft morning light. When he let me go, he smiled, but his smile dropped when he caught the look on my face. He must have seen the words I was going to say next.

"If I'm the sun," I said carefully, "and you're mine––because you are, Brandon, you really are––then I'm not going anywhere. And that's the truth. I promise."

I cupped his face and nuzzled my nose against his, delighting in the unique scent of him. The strong, lean arm around my waist tightened, but Brandon sighed.

"So that's a 'no'," he murmured. He said it lightly, but couldn't quite mask the regret.

"That's a 'not right now'," I corrected him gently with another kiss, as sweet as I could muster.

He caught my lower lip between his teeth, and pulled me in for something much more potent that took my breath away. When he released me, his eyes were bright blue fire.

"I'm going to hold you to that, Red," he said. His tone joked, but his face said otherwise. My stomach tightened in response, but with fear or anticipation, I couldn't tell.

"Okay," I said. "Okay."

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