Talk Wordy To Me (His Curvy Librarian Book 1), Frankie Love [knowledgeable books to read .txt] 📗

do. The doctor comes in soon, and Cassidy and I are ushered back out to the waiting area so they can perform some tests and find out what toll the stroke had on Gramps.

But he’s awake, and they tell us he’s out of the woods.

“Oh, Chuck,” Cassidy says as soon as we’re alone again. “I’m so glad he’s okay.”

She throws her arms around my neck, trying to hug me, but I steal a kiss instead. “I am too. And I’m glad you’re here with me.” I take her hands in mine. “Cassidy… I know this is not nearly as romantic as lying on a blanket together and staring up at the stars. In fact, it might be the least romantic setting imaginable… but I can’t wait another day to say this—or even another moment.”

Her brows furrow. She’s looking at me with such intense concentration, and her eyes are alight with emotion.

God, she’s beautiful.

“Yes, Chuck?”

“Cassidy, I love you,” I tell her. “I know this was just supposed to be some casual fling. We were never even supposed to go on a second date. You may not be looking for forever, and I didn’t think I was either—until I met you. Cookie, I want forever with you.”

13

Cassidy

I’m speechless.

It’s been one hell of a night, shifting rapidly from anticipation to fear and sorrow, and now this… this unbelievable sentiment from a man who makes my heart skip a beat whenever he looks at me.

“You do?” I finally manage to ask.

“Yes,” Chuck says. He’s got both my hands clasped in his own, and his warm brown eyes are melting my insides, smoldering inside me. “Cookie, I can’t pretend any longer that what we’re doing is just casual—I think I loved you the first minute I saw you.” He smirks and adds, his voice lowered, “Definitely by the first time I made you come.”

My cheeks are burning and my heart is racing.

I’m thinking about the conversation I had with my mom right before I left the house tonight. She’d think I was nuts if she knew I was hesitating right now—hopeless romantic that she is, she’d be telling me to jump into his arms and tell him I feel just the same.

Because I do.

I love him.

“When I walked down the stairs the night of our blind date and saw you for the first time,” I say, “I thought that you were the man of my dreams. I couldn’t have built a more attractive mate from whole cloth.” Now it’s my turn to smirk. “But at the restaurant, I kind of thought you were a dud.”

Chuck laughs. “Yeah, I knew I was blowing it then. I was just trying so damn hard not to listen to the little voice in my head that was telling me how perfect you were.”

“Really?”

“Yes,” he says. “I redeemed myself, right?”

I nod. “A few times over.”

“Hey, it’s nearly midnight,” Chuck says, glancing at his watch. “Let’s go outside for a few minutes. Maybe we don’t have to miss the meteor shower after all.”

I let him lead me through the hospital and we find a door out to a courtyard where employees and patients can get a little fresh air. It’s deserted at this time of night, and the air is brisk. Chuck pulls me close to him, wrapping his jacket around me while we stare up at the sky. A few faint meteors streak across it.

There’s a lot of light pollution because of the hospital, and this isn’t nearly as sexy as watching the sky from a blanket in Chuck’s expansive back yard, but as I snuggle against him, I know that I don’t need romantic surroundings. I don’t need big adventures, or even grand gestures.

All I need is him.

“The body knows things a long time before the mind catches up to them,” I say softly, and Chuck bends his head down to kiss my temple.

“Hmm?”

“That’s a quote from The Secret Life of Bees,” I tell him. “Charles mentioned it during the book club discussion and it’s one of my favorites. It’s the truth.”

Chuck takes my waist in his hands, turning me to face him. “Cookie, tonight has made me realize just how fleeting life can be. We don’t get any guarantees. My grandfather almost died tonight, and my parents died in their thirties, when they were just a little older than I am now and they still thought they had so much living left to do. I don’t want to waste another minute of my life, and I sure as hell don’t want to live with regrets about the things I didn’t do just because I was scared.”

“What are you scared of, Chuck?” I ask, even though I think I already know the answer. It’s the same thing I’m afraid of—loving and losing, putting our hearts out there only to see them broken.

Instead of answering, he says, “I still have one speed dating question left for you.”

I smile. “I haven’t forgotten.”

“Well, here it is,” he says. “Cassidy, will you marry me?”

“Oh my God,” I breathe. This time, I don’t hesitate. Not for a second. “Yes, Chuck, yes I will.”

I jump straight up and wrap my thighs around his waist, and he catches me and spins me around as we kiss.

Deep.

Long.

True.

When I open my eyes, another meteor is streaking over us in the sky and I know in my heart this is right—this is my Prince Charming and I’ve found my happy ever after.

Epilogue One

Chuck

One Month Later…

We decided we didn’t want to wait to get married.

Neither of us wanted a huge ceremony, and even though I could afford to give Cassidy any kind of elaborate wedding gown and fancy venue her heart desired, all she wanted was to be married in the back yard at her parents’ farmhouse, where the memories of her childhood meant so much to her.

All I wanted was my grandfather to see us get married and to be able to call that beautiful, incredible woman my wife at the end of the day.

So