Tame the Beast : Small Beach Town, Single Mom Romance

And he is, based on the look on his face, on the tremble in his voice. Oh God. He is.

“W-what?” All humor is gone from my face.

“Marry me, Beastie. Be my wife. Be mine.”

“You cannot be seriously asking me that right now.” I bulge my eyes at him. “The tip of your dick is inside me!” I point down, in case he forgot what we were doing over here.

“I think it’s perfect timing.” He smirks, pushing in just a bit further and my breath catches. I catch onto his forearms, but he stops again. “So?”

I narrow my eyes at the hot-as-sin man on top of me, “Are you using your cock as a bait to get me to say yes?”

“Sure am.” He gives me another inch and my breath shudders. “Marry me, Zoe.”

I shake my head, silent laughter escaping me as I bring my hands over my head. He’s ridiculous, insane, crazy…but he’s mine.

No, the boyfriend title never did feel right.

“And all these years, Hope thought the romance was dead. She just hadn’t met my fiancé.”

This time it’s Matteo who sucks in a sharp breath right before a beaming smile stretches across his lips. “Fiancé? Is that a yes, Beastie?” He hovers over me.

“I guess it is. It’s not like I can get rid of you anyway, so might as well have the perks of the marriage, like splitting the bills and chores. Oh, and taxes!” I can barely keep my smile at bay at his narrowed eyes. It’s too easy to tease him.

“That’s why you want to marry me? For tax deductions?”

“Mm-hmm.” I nod, rolling my lips.

“I’ll show you tax deductions.” His nostrils flare a second before he dips his head and bites on my nipple. Hard.

“Matteo!” I scream but he keeps biting. “No, no! Not just for taxes. I love you, baby! Stop biting me!”

“Yeah? Then why?”

Without a hint of fear or hesitation, I place my hand over his bearded cheek and look right into those dark, warm eyes. “Because I want to wake up next to you every morning. I want to raise our daughter together and deal with her teenager tantrums together. God knows I won’t be able to handle that on my own.”

We share the same smile, knowing how right I am about that.

“I want to feel your warmth around me. Because I never knew love like ours. Never felt as accepted for who I was—flaws and all. Because I want to be with you every step of the way as you build your career and serve as your muse until the end of time. Want to see your handsome face full of wrinkles and your hair gray. I want to be here for all of it because I can’t imagine doing it with anyone else. Can’t imagine being anybody else’s wife. Just yours, Matteo.”

“So, not just for taxes?”

I laugh loud and hard, tears of joy slipping past my lashes. “No. Not just for taxes.” I brush my fingers over his cheek again and find them wet, covered with his own tears.

“Baby…” I whisper my hand to his lips, kissing every finger as his eyes bore into mine.

“I didn’t believe him,” he seems to say to himself.

“Who?”

“Don’t move,” Matteo tells, slipping out of me and running down the stairs buck naked before I can comprehend what just happened.

“Matteo! Where did you go? Are you crazy? Get back here right this second! We are in the middle of sex, for Pete’s sake!” I cry out, lifting up into a sitting position and glaring at the stairs, willing him just to show his face right now.

A few seconds later, Matteo appears, carrying something in his hand but I’m on a war path right now, so I don’t even care what his excuse is.

“I am definitely reconsidering this whole marriage thing,” I say as he approaches the bed, climbing on top of it again.

“Oh yeah?”