Excerpt

I hopped off the stool and walked over to him, lacing my arms around his waist.  My cheek rest against his back and I heaved a big sigh breathing in the scent of his woodsy cologne. 

“What would I do without you?” Richard’s soft chuckle rumbled against my face.

“You’re mistaken, Grey.  It is me who would be lost without you.”

“I doubt it.” I whispered.

“How about we just never part so we don’t ever have to find out?”

His words struck a chord in my heart, jogging a moment I thought I had forgotten completely.  My eyes squeezed shut as the memory took over.

~**~**~

The sun was just beginning to peek around the curtains, casting a glow on Stefan’s face. My head rest against his stomach as my fingers traced the delicious lines of his chest.  His eyes were closed but from the way he was breathing I knew he was still awake.  It had been a little more than twelve hours since we said, ‘I do’ and I still couldn’t grasp the thought.  This perfect man with his incredibly intense blue eyes, soft lips and a heart of gold that he hid from the rest of the world—was mine.  How on Earth had I been so lucky?  It didn’t matter that we were young because I felt it in my soul, Stefan Harrison was the man I was made for.  Our hearts were just pieces of a puzzle and no one else could fit together the way we did.

“What are you thinking about?” I asked, daring to break the silence with my voice.

Stefan gave a contented sigh before opening his eyes to gaze lovingly at me. “Just thinking how perfect this moment is.  How incredibly perfect you are.” I smiled up at him. “I don’t deserve you Grey, but I’ll never stop trying to prove that you are everything to me.”

My hand flew to my heart as his beautiful words sank in.  “Oh, Stefan…”

“I don’t know what I’d do without you, Greyson Rose.  I could never imagine waking up each morning and not have you next to me.”

I sat up and wrapped my arms around his shoulders.  A smile formed over my lips as I stared into his stoically stunning face.

“Well how about you just never leave and then you will never have to wake up a single day away from me.”  

Stefan smiled back and pressed his forehead down to mine.

“I’m not going anywhere, baby.”

~**~**~

Fresh tears rolled from my eyes and stained the back of Richard’s shirt.

“I’m not going anywhere, baby.” I whispered much too low for Richard’s ears, while my arms squeezed him even tighter.