Butterface (The Hartigans, #1)

by Avery Flynn

he had a sense of self-preservation. “Look, this may seem like just a silly job to you from the outside, but it’s serious. People pin a lot of hopes and dreams on their wedding day. Being a wedding planner is about organization, psychology, negotiation, and crisis management. Do not think for a second that coming in uninvited and thinking you could do my job without even an idea about what it entails was the right thing to do.”

He cupped her face in his hands and took her mouth like a man who had just discovered the meaning of life, because that’s what he’d just realized. Gina. She was his meaning.

“Do you want me to fill you up and make you mine?” Lip caught between her teeth, she nodded. “Yes.” “I want you to be mine.” It was a declaration, a promise, a prayer. He picked her up and headed for the stairs. “No one else’s.”

She loved him.

There wasn’t any two ways about it. Ford Hartigan didn’t have to make her his, she already was.

More power to anyone who wants to go that route, but it’s not for me. I don’t want to get a makeover. I don’t want to change my face. I just want a man who sees me and doesn’t see the ugly girl. He sees me and he loves me, not in spite of my face but in part because of it.”

“I know you won’t believe this, but I love you and I can’t imagine my life without you in it.”

“Because I love you and I know you. You wouldn’t knowingly have anything to do with your brothers’ illegal activities.”

“The fact is, you deserve better than me. I’m the lucky one, and I fucked it all up because I was too scared of losing you to tell you the truth, to tell you that I’d fallen in love with you.” He cupped her face with his large hands and forced her to look up at him. “I love your laugh, your smile, and the way you look at the world as if it’s like the Victorian, just needing someone to love it.” He smiled down at her, warm and encompassing, and promising so many tomorrows. “I love how you feel in my arms. I love how you make me feel every time you walk into a room. I even love being stuck in this damn hole with you, because it means that I get to see your beautiful face.”

“I do, too. You’re beautiful, and I love the woman you are because of your face, not in spite of it.” He dipped his head down and brushed her lips with his, setting off a cascade of sensations that left her breathless. “I fucked everything up, and I can’t say I won’t mess up again, but I love you, Gina Luca, and I’m okay with doing whatever it takes to prove that to you.”

“Gina Luca, I don’t deserve you, but I’d be the luckiest guy in the world if you’d agree to be my wife.”