The One Real Thing (Hart's Boardwalk #1)

by Samantha Young

At my continued silence he gripped my arms and pulled me close, his lips just a whisper from mine. Everything he felt for me shone in his eyes and I’d never felt such a strange mix of exultation and agony in my life. “You told me,” he whispered. “You told me when we met that the reason you became a doctor was so you could leave this life saying, ‘I was here,’ because someone out there that you’d helped would never forget you . . . and you’d made your mark on the world. Well”—his grip on me tightened to painful as he leaned his forehead against mine—“Jess, you can rest easy . . . because you’ve made your mark. You made your mark on me. No matter what happens between us now or in the future, I will never forget you. You’re inside me. Always will be.” He pulled back just enough so I could see his love for me, open, beautiful, and so incredibly heartbreaking that the sobs I’d been holding in burst out. “So you owe me.”

She loved him. He knew it without her having to say it. Relief poured through him as he wrapped his arms around her and held her tight. “I love you.” Her fingers dug into the muscles in his back. “I love you, too.” “Thank fuck for that.” He closed his eyes in relief, smiling at her answering giggle.