“It is a good sign,” I promised him. “It just had a big assessment and they’re redoing the school around the—”

“Chloe.” He shut me up with just the word, tugging on the ends of my hair and looking down at me.

“Yes?” I looked up at the man I loved and almost swooned.

“Stop talking and let me kiss my wife.”

“Your what?” I pushed against his chest, but then his lips were on me, and they were my weakness, soft and strong, my mouth opening for him, our kiss deepening.

When he pulled off, I tried to speak, tried to understand. Surely he wouldn’t propose here, not in this filthy condo in Tribeca. Proposals were supposed to be done in grand fashion, with candlelight and music.

But then he dropped to one knee and looked up at me, holding my hand, love pouring from those eyes. And in that moment, I wouldn’t have had it any other way.

“Chloe Madison, will you marry me?” he whispered.

I didn’t hesitate, didn’t need to think it over; the question one I had dreamed of for months. “Yes!” I shouted, his arms wrapping around me. He laughed against my mouth and pulled back.

“I don’t have the ring with me,” he admitted. “I wasn’t … it wasn’t supposed to happen like this.” He kissed my forehead. “I’m sorry.”

I pulled his mouth down to mine. “Don’t ever be sorry. It was perfect.”

And it had been. A little unorthodox. Not what I had always envisioned. But this entire life wasn’t how I had envisioned it.

It was so much better.

<<<<>>>>

Epilogue - Carter

I had seen girls like Chloe before. That’s what I thought, that first time I saw her. She was like a baby doe, skittering on her feet, legs and arms spread out for balance in that New Year’s Eve snow. My first instinct had been to protect her, to scoop her into my arms and carry her inside. But I’d known girls like that my whole life, and they didn’t want protecting—at least not from men like me.

My first mistake was judging her—just because she wore expensive clothes and stepped from a private car, a purse dog in hand. When she smiled at me, I saw every girl from my upbringing—the girls my mother warned me away from, the ones that only saw Prince Charming if he wore the right watch, in the right zip code, with a big portfolio and an intent to spoil. I was afraid of her because of it. Afraid because, in the wobble of her smile, I saw something else. Something that drew me in and wouldn’t let go. A hint of a girl who needed saving, and not financially. A hint of a girl who I wouldn’t be able to walk away from.

She stuck in my mind, like a dream you couldn’t shake, each memory fainter than the last. I should have gotten her last name. Her number. Anything.

And then she opened that apartment door and was there.

I’m not gonna tell you the leap my heart took. Or the way I had to tighten my hand against the doorframe because I thought I might fall. But I will tell you that the fear returned. She was different from my memories. Her hard edges softer. Her eyes kinder. The stiffness she had given me that New Year’s Eve night … it was gone. And I almost wanted it back. I needed the reminder of why she wasn’t good for me, of why we wouldn’t work, of why, in this huge city, I needed to find a simple girl—one who would fall in love with me, and not my trust fund. And Chloe wasn’t that type of girl. She was the type who’d look at me and wouldn’t want to dive any deeper. Except … she did. And from the beginning she shook my foundation. She scared me.

And later, she broke me. She found the weak places in me and slipped in, her tiny hands cradling my heart and making it her own. Such a tentative touch, yet one forever imprinted on my heart. Protection is the smallest thing I want to do for her. I want to protect, but also provide. I want to build her a home, and make babies with her, and to open her eyes to everything she hasn’t seen. I want to watch the rest of her journey—to see her in a job she truly loves, in a life she truly wants, and I want to give it all to her but I know she has to find it on her own. And that is the hardest, and the most beautiful part.

There is nothing left in me to save. With every imperfection in her I find, I fall farther. Every twist of her head, giggle from her mouth, and shriek of her orgasm … I am more vulnerable. When she found out about my family’s money, she was disappointed. When she told me about her parents, she was embarrassed. When she struggled with Nicole’s infidelity, she was flawed. And when she spoke of Vic, she was human. And when she looks at me, she is complete. There aren’t enough words to express how that makes me feel.

I can’t live without this woman. She is my best friend. She is the second half of my heart. She is the blood that pumps through my veins.

She is my everything.

She is my future.

She is my Chloe.

She is my Love.