The Shop Around the Corner (Sweet Tea and a Southern Gentleman #2)

by Anne-Marie Meyer

I knew kissing her on the lips would wake her up, and even though every molecule in my body was screaming at me to press my lips to hers, I remained still.

She was my person. I was made to love her. I was made to make love to her. I was hers, physically, spiritually, emotionally.

My soul yearned to make her mine.

It was only a matter of time before I heard those words come from her sexy lips.

I was willing to spend every moment of every day proving that to her. I was never going to leave. Ever.

In the short amount of time I’d been back, I’d fallen hard for both Miles and Belle.

I needed to keep my wits about me, even though every molecule in my body wanted me to walk over and let him touch every part of me.

I wanted him to stay, but I also wanted him to go. I wanted him to agree with me and walk away. It would pulverize my heart, but it would make leaving at the end of the six months easier.

My mind drifted back to Bash and what had happened yesterday.

He grabbed the muffin and pulled the wrapper down before taking a large bite. I watched him closely, trying to gauge his reaction. For some reason, I wanted him to like the muffin. And that frustrated me.

But from what I knew of Bash—which was very little—everything about him seemed a tad strange.

If I got too attached to this town, it was going to be hard to leave. And leaving was my fate. Packing up and driving out of town once more was as inevitable as the sun rising in the morning.

Abigail had to know that I wanted to be around her. Even though I tried to be discreet, she always seemed to find me.

“Just let me hold you for this moment,” I whispered. I was begging, but I didn’t care. I needed this woman like I needed air.

“Yeah, your person. They come into your life and change everything. You are no longer the person of your past, and you have no idea who future you is either. If your person is with you, you know you’ll be safe. But if they aren’t, you are so fundamentally changed that you’re scared of moving forward without them.”

“He’s your life-altering person.”

“Shelby, I love you,” I said, my voice rumbling in my chest from the emotions that coated my words. “I will always love you.”

“My heart is with you. It will always be with you.

“I want you. Forever.”

“You are worth the moon.”

“It’s not that I don’t want you.” My thumb stroked her skin. “I want you more than you will ever know. I just…can’t. Not until you have my ring on your finger and I have yours on mine.”

“I love you,” she whispered when she finally broke the kiss and pulled back. My entire body froze as those three little words left her lips. The three little words that I’d been aching to hear. That I’d been desperate to hear. “I love you, Miles,” she repeated as she held my gaze. “I’d marry you tomorrow.”

I was going to marry Shelby as soon as I could. She would be my wife, and I was never ever going to let her go.

Thinking back to growing up, it felt like this was a sentiment I’d held for a while, but I hadn’t been self-aware enough to label those feelings.

This man had been protecting me his entire life.

He pressed his forehead to mine, and his eyes closed for a moment before he suddenly dropped to his knee.

I wanted to speak, but the words just wouldn’t come. So I nodded, knelt down in front of him, and extended my hand.

He pulled back for a moment only to whisper, “I love you,” before his lips found mine, and we lost ourselves in that kiss, in each other, and in the happiness that would come from a future together.

“That’s the man. The man that found Samuel and me. That’s the man that saved me.”