“I could have told you in an easier way.” He cupped her face in his palms.
She sighed and the sound slipped into his heart and twisted there. “I was only angry because you were keeping things from me for ‘my own good.’”
“Yeah, and I’m sorry about that, Melinda. It was never about thinking you couldn’t deal with the truth. It was more that I didn’t want to be the one to hurt you.”
“I get it,” she said, covering his hands with her own. “But no more secrets, okay?”
“Absolutely.” He kissed her again and grinned down at her. “From now on, it’s the whole truth. Starting with, I love you more than life and I’m going to need an extension on our little marriage deal.”
She grinned back at him. “Yeah? For how long?”
“I’m thinking, forever.”
“Is that all?” she teased as he pulled her into the room and closed the door behind her.
“Forever and two months,” he said, tearing his shirt off then helping Melinda take off hers. “Sound about right?”
“Sounds perfect,” she said, moving into him, lifting her face for his kiss. “Because since we’re all about honesty now, I love you Sean King. More than I ever thought it possible to love anyone. And I am never going to let you out of our marriage bargain.”
“Best news I’ve ever heard,” Sean said, holding her so tightly, he could feel the beat of her heart against his own chest. He felt whole for the first time in his life and he had this one amazing woman to thank for it. “Oh, hey. There’s something I want to show you.”
Reluctantly, he let her go, but kept a tight grip on her hand as he drew her over to his cluttered desk. There were sketches scattered across the surface and he picked up the top one and handed it to her.
“What is it?” She looked up into his eyes, and he felt warmed to his bones by the love shining in her gaze.
“It’s our new house,” he said. “No more hotel living for us. Rose taught me how to cook a little, but we can hire a chef if neither one of us wants to do all the cooking.”
“A house?”
“I want to build it by that cove where we made love the first time.” Pointing to a building to one side of the main structure, he said, “That’s your new workroom. Lots of natural light. Plenty of space—”
“Sean…” She took a breath and lifted one hand to cover her mouth as she stared at the sketch. “You did this for me?”
“For us.”
“But what about California?” she asked, “I thought you’d want to go home.”
He smiled. “No, I already told you. Home for me is where you are, and Tesoro is where you belong.”
Tears rolled along her cheeks, but her smile told him just how happy she was. “God, I love you. This house, the workshop, it’s all so beautiful.”
“It will be, if you’re in it,” he told her, “because without you, I’ve got nothing.”
Melinda took both of his hands in hers and felt more joy than she had ever known rise up inside her.
“With you,” she said, “I’ve got everything.”
He swept her up into his arms to carry her to the bed and Melinda knew there was nowhere else she wanted to be.