Stephen stared down at her, his heart pounding and his stomach suddenly tying itself into knots. “I do, you know,” he murmured as he pulled the pins from her hair.
Her eyes closed as he combed his trembling fingers through her tresses, spreading the soft waves down her back in a silky curtain. “Do what?”
“Love you,” he whispered breathlessly.
Her eyes flew open. Stunned, she gazed up at him with parted lips, as if she couldn’t believe he’d said it, and that disbelief gnawed at him.
He’d given her so little reason to trust him over the years. But he resolved to prove to her exactly how much he’d changed, how much he needed her to heal his soul. And most of all, how much he loved her. Starting tonight.
“Four years ago, I took you for granted,” he continued, “and I was a damned fool not
