Honestly, now Tessa didn’t know exactly why she’d stayed with Rick for so long. “Maybe because he was all I ever knew,” she said breathlessly, looking into the eyes of the man who would belong to her forever. “I didn’t know what love was back then.”
“So you think you do now?” he asked cautiously.
“Yes. It’s a man who sees me as beautiful no matter what. It’s a man who challenges me and doesn’t treat me like I’m different or like I have limitations. It’s a man who is willing to make himself vulnerable to me, even though it’s not a comfortable position at all for a powerful man to be in.” Tessa sighed. “For me, that’s you, my love.”
His expression still fierce, he leaned his forehead against hers and rested there for a moment before he lifted his head again.
“You are beautiful. But you are different—different from any woman I’ve ever known. You were amazing tonight, Tessa. Not amazing considering you’re deaf. You were just amazing.”
Her heart thumped as he gazed down at her with a look of love in his eyes, an expression that she hoped would never go away. She said, “I wonder why it is that you showed up just when I needed you so much, just when I was ready.”
He grinned. “Because Beatrice’s stone cleared our pathway?” he asked.
“Maybe. I can almost believe that we were thrown together now for a reason. Maybe I wasn’t ready before. But I am now.”
She circled her arms around his neck and urged him down to her.
“How ready?” he asked almost hesitantly.
“Very ready,” she concluded, her expression sensual.
He grasped her ass and pulled her body against him. “Show me,” he insisted.
He was challenging her, and she knew she was in trouble. “Okay,” she agreed, knowing she’d always rise to his challenges—simply because she wanted to.
And so, right there in the tiny room, she did everything she could to rock his world. She let go of any inhibitions she had, her adrenaline still pumping through her body from her performance and Micah’s proposal.
A little while later, completely sated, Micah declared defeat and told her he was completely persuaded that she really was ready to open her heart completely, and he was damn grateful for that.
EPILOGUE
A Few Weeks Later
Tessa looked slowly around the enormous, ridiculously ornate table, realizing that everyone she really cared about was here. Micah had wanted a Vegas wedding, but then backed down because he thought she deserved the wedding of her dreams.
Little did he realize, he was her dream. She hadn’t cared about the wedding just as long as they had family and friends attending. So once she’d convinced Micah that it didn’t matter to her where they got married, there was no stopping him.
They’d wed in one of the prettiest chapels in Las Vegas, and the wedding dinner she was currently attending had everybody present that she really needed. Liam was here, seated right across from Micah. Dante, Grady, Jared, Jason, and Evan were all sitting next to their wives, and Julian was sitting next to Kristin, the two of them appearing to be in an argument, a common occurrence for those two these days.
Tessa sighed, and Micah squeezed her hand under the table. She turned and looked at him, still astonished that she was now married to this wonderful man who had changed her life in so many ways.
“Having second thoughts?” he joked.
She shook her head. “Not for even an instant. I was just thinking that just about everything that matters to me is here.”
Micah’s expression turned more serious. “Me too.”
“I’m so sorry Xander couldn’t be here,” she told him softly. Micah’s brother was, thankfully, still in the rehab center.
“I’m not. I’m damn grateful he’s still in rehab. Hopefully he’ll stay there. It’s the best wedding gift he could give me.” He hesitated before asking, “Are you nervous about going back to New York?”
Tessa was returning to New York with Micah to start her implant procedure. They’d stay there for a while as she went through the process and Micah tried to rearrange the hierarchy in his company to function better with him living out of state. If he’d wanted to, she would have stayed with him in New York in a heartbeat. But Micah being Micah, he’d told her that location didn’t matter to him, and he liked Amesport. The builders on his property had made great progress, and he wanted to make Amesport his home, even though it would mean some frequent trips to New York for business.
She looked up into his eyes, her heart tripping as she noticed his worried expression. A man in a tuxedo shouldn’t look so serious. Especially not a man like Micah. Neither one of them had changed clothing, and she was still wearing the glorious wedding dress she’d purchased when they were in New York.
Lifting her palm to his cheek, she explained, “I’m not afraid, Micah. It’s not a dangerous procedure, and I know you won’t stop loving me if I’m not perfect or the implants aren’t successful for some reason.”
“You’re already fucking perfect,” he told her, a stubborn expression on his face. “I don’t give a shit if you don’t hear my voice.”
Stroking a finger down his cheek, she said, “I already know your voice. I hear it in my head every day, sometimes when you aren’t even in the same room with me. For me, you already have a voice. It’s kind, bold, sometimes arrogant, but always sexy.”
“Good.” He nodded. “But what happens if I sound like a dick when you get your hearing back again?” He lifted a brow as he stared at her.