And then Dominic had told her his painful story and she'd finally realized that neither of them was perfect.
They didn't need to be perfect. The situation didn't need to be perfect.
All that mattered was the way they felt about each other.
She rang the doorbell, finally understanding what it meant to have one's heart in one's hands. Her arms trembled and so did her legs. But this time, she wasn't going to run. She was going to face her fears one by one until she'd conquered them all. She was going to look Dominic straight in the eye and tell him she loved him.
Dominic opened the door and she stood just looking at him, mesmerized by his beauty, his grace. "May I come in?"
He moved aside to let her in and she could barely wait for the door to click shut. "I came here to tell you ..." The words caught in her throat.
Dominic took her hands, and his touch was so strong, so warm. "Go ahead," he said softly. "I'm listening."
She looked up into his eyes, praying her words would come out right. "I've been in love with you for a long time, Dominic. As long as I can remember."
He smiled. "I know."
"I thought you never noticed me," she said softly. "You were so much older, so much more experienced. I never thought you'd look at me like this, never thought you'd hold me."
"You always were a sweet kid," he agreed, "until you weren't a kid anymore."
"But I wasn't your type," she protested.
"I made sure of that," he replied. "How do you think I felt, lusting after my agent's daughter? You were legal, but that didn't mean you weren't off-limits." He closed the space between them one inch at a time. "But that's not why I pushed you away."
"Then why?" she whispered. He pulled her against him and lowered his mouth, capturing her lips in a kiss that left her breathless. "You make me feel things I never wanted to feel again." His voice was rough with emotion. "When I'm with you, I lose control. Over my body. My mind." He found her mouth again and warmth spread through her body from her head to her toes. "Especially my heart."
"I do, too," she admitted, "but it's different than how I imagined. Better, because it's real. You're real. I'd spent so many years dreaming of you, but the truth is, until this week I hardly knew you at all."
"And now that you know everything, have your feelings changed?"
"They have," she said softly. "Because your wild teenage years, the bad things you've done, the innate power you work so hard to control, the way you make decisions for people whether they like it or not—all of that makes you the man I love today . . . and the man I'll love forever."
He picked her up and carried her down the hall to his bedroom. "For twenty years, I've punished myself for what I did when I was in high school. I've kept my distance from everyone, especially you— because I knew I could love you. I knew I wanted to have a home with you, children with you, the rest of my life with you." He captured her mouth in another hot kiss. "But I can't live without you, so I'm going to have to learn to live with myself and my past."I've never loved you properly," he murmured as he laid her down on his bed.
She sank into the soft down duvet. "Yes, you have. Every time."
Dominic pulled his Outlaws T-shirt up over his head. The sight of his bare chest, his tanned skin and rippling muscles, took her breath away, just as it always had.
Just as it always would.
"Am I ever going to get used to looking at you?" she asked with a smile.
Dominic's eyes were hot as he gazed down at her. "I've been asking myself the same question about you."
And Melissa truly felt like the most beautiful woman in the world.
He dropped his jeans to the floor, and as she lay against plush pillows, she allowed herself to fully appreciate the gorgeous man who had just offered her his heart.
And then he was moving to her, nearly naked in blue boxer shorts, and she reached for him, pulling all 230 pounds of gorgeous male down onto the bed, loving the moment when the hard planes of his body covered her, his heat penetrating her clothes, his erection pressing into her thigh. His lips found hers and he was so gentle, so tender, until he wasn't anymore. Before she knew it, her clothes were beside his on the floor, and her arms were wrapped around his broad shoulders, her legs around his waist, and he was moving inside her. They stayed like that for a long moment, just holding each other, Dominic's heartbeat throbbing against Melissa's.
"I love you," she whispered against his lips, knowing she'd never tire of telling him with words, and with her body, how much she loved every part of him.
It had taken her a long time to understand that love was complicated, and that that was okay. She loved her father, even though he'd always had the power to hurt her deeply, and she knew he loved her, too, in his own complex way. She loved her job, even though it was often difficult and frustrating. She'd even learned to love herself, to look past her faults and insecurities to the strong, intelligent woman she'd always been on the inside.
Most of all, she loved Dominic, both for the good deeds he'd done and for everything he was ashamed of. His strong conscience was just one of the things she loved about him. He believed in justice, even if he was on the losing end. Together they'd find other ways to keep kids out of trouble through sports.
Fortunately, Melissa knew exactly how to keep Dominic out of trouble ... by keeping him in bed. With her. For as long as possible.
"I can't get enough of you," he said, and she remembered his saying those same words to her the first time they'd made love. Only now, after he took her to the peaks of ecstasy, after he'd exploded and cried out her name, he added, "I love you, Melissa. 1 always will."
After they caught their breath, he smiled into her eyes."We need to talk about one more thing." Gloriously naked, he got out of bed and scooped her up in his arms.
"Where are you taking me?" she asked. "To where it all began."
He carried her into the living room and released her so that she slid down his body. He knelt before her, just as he had that first night.
But this time he held out a black velvet box. Every last one of her dreams was coming true.
"Melissa, will you marry me?"