Ed lifted his hand to her cheek and brushed away her tears with his thumb. “I’m going to say this, and then you can decide how you want to deal with it.”

Darcy’s eyes grew wide, but she nodded.

“I love you.”

She choked back a sob. “Still?”

“I think forever.”

Darcy moved in closer and wrapped her arms around him. “Please don’t change your mind.”

“Why would I?”

“I don’t know. I’m scared.”

Ed rested his cheek against the top of her head and pulled her close. “Don’t be scared. I want this too much. I don’t want to lose you.”

Darcy shifted and looked up at him. “You can trust me. I want you to know that you can. That’s why I had to come up here—now. You had to know.”

Darcy watched his eyes as he processed it all. He’d said he loved her, and she was going to run with that. Her father wasn’t a man that said it easily or often, but when he did, he meant it. She had to assume that when Ed Keller said it, he meant it.

She’d been so wrapped up in telling him what she’d done that she hadn’t realized just how insufficiently dressed they both were. Her bare arms pressed against his back and her face had been flush against his chest, where she could hear his heart beat in her ear.

A tank top and a pair of shorts were all that covered her, and he only had on a pair of boxers. This instant tantrum of hers had certainly thrown them into an interesting situation.

However, Ed Keller was much too much a gentleman to either have noticed or to ever take advantage of it.

“Darcy, I’d use every resource I have to find your birth parents. If that’s what you want, I’d do that for you.”

She sighed and shifted her arms so they encircled Ed’s neck. His hands rested low on her hips as she rose up on her toes to look him eye to eye.

“Thank you, but I don’t want to. I don’t care anymore.”

“You don’t care?”

She shook her head. “My parents are Francis and George McCary. Whoever came before them…well, they didn’t really have anything to do with me, did they?”

“You’re sure about this?”

“Very sure. As far as I’m concerned now, the desire to find out simply led me right here.” She pressed against him tighter. “Right into your arms. Otherwise…”

“Let’s not think about otherwise,” he said as he lowered his lips to hers and hoisted her up.

Darcy wrapped her legs around Ed’s waist, and he carried her to the bed and laid her down.

His mouth was hot on hers, and his body pressed against hers. She’d never in her life felt so right about anything, but Ed’s kisses stopped.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, her own breath caught in her chest.

“How old fashioned are you?”

“I’m not.” She wanted to laugh, but there’d been a seriousness to his voice. “Why?”

“Don’t get me wrong. I could very much go through with this.”

That much she already knew.

Ed lowered his forehead to hers and rested himself with his palms against the mattress. “Sleep in here with me. Stay in my bed, and let me wrap my arms around you all night.”

“I will.”

“For the rest of the week—you belong right here, with me.”

“Okay.”

Ed lowered himself down and rolled to her side. He scooped her against him and held her tight. “I’ll make love to you someday. For right now, I think I want to be a bit old fashioned.”

She had to admit she was a bit let down. How could she possibly want this more than he did? That wasn’t typical, was it?

But the soft gaze from his chocolate brown eyes said there was something different about this. This was compassion, respect—this was true love.

Every woman’s dream was to find a man and wait for the moment to be right. To be that bride who made a wedding night special. Was this what Ed Keller was thinking? Was that his plan?

Panic erupted in her chest. Marriage?

They’d known each other for only a week. Finding the right person was one thing. Falling in love with them immediately was another, but this?

She cleared her mind. He hadn’t said a word about getting married and there she was, her over active mind playing tricks on her again. One thing she knew, Ed Keller was a gentleman.

She rested her head against his chest and listened to his breathing slow.

“Ed.”

“Yeah,” his voice rumbled in his chest.

“Thank you. You could have tossed me out, and you didn’t.”

“I believe in second chances. My parents taught me that.”

“You come from a long line of good people.”

“That I do,” he yawned. “Consider them your family, too. They’ve really taken to you. That says a lot about your character.”

Darcy closed her eyes. To be part of the Keller family was a dream she didn’t know she’d ever wanted until that day she’d bumped into Ed. Fate was a strange thing. But it seemed to be on her side.

Chapter Thirteen

Waking up wrapped in Ed’s arms made the week worth of meetings tolerable. Darcy had no idea insurance was so boring.

As she and Ed sat on the wall of a planter just down the block from the construction site, eating hot dogs from a cart, she realized how happy she was.

Things were just as she’d always assumed they’d be when she realized she was in love. The sun was brighter. People were cheerier. And there was a peace that resonated through her.

Ed had kept his word. They had shared a bed for the past three nights, and a million kisses too, but he never pushed the limit to where they couldn’t stop themselves. He was absolutely a breath of fresh air.

Ed bit into his hot dog and looked around. “I think we should be done here by tomorrow.”

“Should I arrange our flight?”

He nodded as he took in the scenery. “Yeah, let’s make that a plan. It’s time to head home.”

Darcy bit down on her hot dog and then quickly wiped away the ketchup that dripped down her chin. “I want you to know that I understand your position in the company, too. I’m not going to flaunt our relationship around in the office. And by no means do I expect anything special.”

Ed nodded and sipped from his soda can. “I am beginning to think you’re worried about working for me, back in the office that is.”