His Greatest Treasure (Greatest Love #4)

Chapter 41

41

OLIVER

I finish rolling the hose seconds before Adams is there, hauling it over his shoulder. The second is already laid out flat for me, and I drop to my haunches to start on it. Every two pushes, I look up at the clock on the wall and hope that it’ll have jumped forward to tomorrow morning.

Only one more shift, and I’ll be heading home to my girls. I’m done with the space, and I’m ready to tell Avery exactly that.

I’m here in her life to stay, and it’s way too fucking late to go back now. There never was an opportunity for it in the first place. Not with us.

She’s stuck with me now, and I’m prepared to tell her that. That there isn’t any future for me that doesn’t involve her sass and Nova’s giggles. I’m ready to put it all on the line for her without a single doubt that this is the right choice.

My pulse is strong, excitement buzzing beneath my skin at the thought of holding her in my arms again and kissing her so hard she’ll feel my mouth against hers long after we’ve pulled apart. She’s etched her name in my ribs, but now I want to do the same to hers.

I finish the second hose and shift to start on the third one before I realize that Adams is back, watching with an all-too-knowing expression.

Dropping my attention back to the hose line, I grunt, “If you’d prefer to roll, just say so.”

“Not a fucking chance. My back still hurts from the other day.”

“Then stop watching me.”

“But it’s so fun watching you work for a change.”

I shove the growing roll of hose hard and turn my head to blink at him. “For a change?”

“Been a minute since I’ve seen you sweat.”

“There’s already enough of my sweat on this floor.”

“Yet, here you are. Rolling hose is for probies, Lieutenant. Why isn’t Hart doing it?”

I’m growing breathless, and it’s obvious in my weak reply. “Because she doesn’t need to do it today. I’ve got it.”

He bends to grip the second rolled hose and laughs. I ignore the noise and finish the third hose before shifting to the last one. By the time he’s hauled the second one over his shoulder, I’ve double-checked the fourth for any kinks and started rolling.

“You’ve been in a better mood the past couple of days. Fixing up that shop helped, right?” he asks.

“I’m excited to get out of here and see my family, Brent.”

He glances out of the engine bay, and his smirk grows so big it’s goofy-looking. “I don’t think you’ll be waiting much longer.”

The teasing tone is enough to encourage me to follow his line of sight, focusing on the woman on the other side of the windowed wall. My legs move of their own accord, forcing me to abandon my task.

“Don’t worry, I’ll finish up for you!” Adams calls, and I shove my hand behind me in a wave of acknowledgment.

The door to the office is the last boundary between us, and once I’ve torn it open, Avery turns to look at me. The rookie at the desk is quick to hop up out of his chair and leave as I quicken my pace .

With her soft blonde hair curled down her back and tucked behind her ear, she smiles wide. I wrap her in my arms and tug her close. Fully enveloped by my body, she laughs, and the blissful sound of it burrows itself into my soul.

Dragging my hand up her back, I cup her nape and gently guide her head back just enough for our eyes to meet. Electric blue, my favourite colour for as long as I can remember.

“What are you doing here?” I ask, unashamed of how deep my voice has gotten. How desperate I sound.

She presses her palms to my chest and, at a snail’s pace, drifts them up to twine around my neck. On her tiptoes, she kisses my chin just once.

“I missed you.”

“As simple as that? You missed me?”

“Do I need something more than that to want to visit you?”

My laugh is brash, filling the entrance to the station. “No, princess. You don’t.”

“I just couldn’t wait until tomorrow. You’re busy, so I won’t stay long, but . . . I needed to come, even for a couple of minutes.”

“Because you missed me?” I ask, pushing, digging further.

Humour lights more than just her eyes. Her entire expression has become brighter since the last time I saw her, like the clouds that used to veil her happiness have been lifted. She looks free, the way she did when we were just little kids.

“Missing you is just the beginning, butternalle. ” She leans further forward, using me to stabilize herself. Her lips taste like oranges when they touch mine. “My grumpy bear.”

The name registers a moment too late. She’s kissing me with a fierceness that sets fire to my blood before I can comment on the meaning of my nickname. Running my fingers through the hairs at the base of her neck, I slip my tongue into her mouth to remind her of my claim. Not just on these soft lips but over every inch of her. Mind, body, and soul, she’s mine the way I’ve always been hers.

“Come with me,” I whisper, dipping a hand to wrap around hers. “I don’t know how long we’ll have, but I can’t let you walk out of here without telling you what I need to.”

She lets me pull us into the bunk room with a soft noise of agreement and waits with her hand in mine as I shut the door behind us and twist the lock.

“We could have ten minutes or two, but?—”

My words die against her lips when she kisses me and strokes a finger along my jaw. “There’s no rush. I’m not going anywhere other than back home to wait for you.”

“Fuck, Avery,” I breathe out. “If you say shit like that to me again, I’ll lose my mind.”

“I’ve already lost mine.”

With a shake of my head, I grab her hands and hold them between us, letting them anchor my thoughts. If she keeps touching me freely, I’ll have her beneath me on one of these beds before we’ve even started speaking.

“I love you, Avery Miller. But I also love your daughter. I’ve been struggling with how to describe to you just how much it means to me that you’ve let me into not only your life but into her life. The two of you . . . you’ve filled this aching, empty spot inside of my chest that I’d grown used to ignoring. I’m no longer lonely, my life dull and bland, because with the two of you, it’s impossible for my cup to be anything short of overflowing.

“Our connection goes soul-deep, baby. You’re mine on a molecular level. I’ll never understand how it happened or why, but I do know that it means you’re stuck with me for the rest of our lives.”

“Oliver,” she whispers, her nails tracing the undersides of my fingers.

“I have a few promises to make you.”

“Promises?”

I hum, hovering my lips over hers but never quite touching them. “I’ve spent the past week kicking myself for not making these to you the very first night you fell asleep on my couch and I carried you to my bed because you deserve to hear them all. There’s never been a doubt in my mind that you were it for me, Avery, but I want you to know that until I can slip a ring on your finger, I’m completely fucking yours.”

“I already believe you,” she declares, cheeks flushed.

“Humour me, then. Please.”

She grazes her teeth along her bottom lip before nodding. “Okay.”

“I’ve said it before, but I know you’re a woman who appreciates action more than words, so until I can make good on all of these promises, my words are all I have.” I lift our hands and unlink our fingers before guiding hers to rest against my chest. My heart jumps against my sternum. “You’ve gone through too many experiences alone, struggled with hard decisions, and have carried enough weight on your shoulders to buckle a grown man’s knees, but I promise from today on, that’s going to change.

“I want to be by your side through every bad day and be there to witness your smile on the best ones. You no longer have to be both the good and bad guy. Choose one and give me the other. We do things together. And all that weight you’ve been carrying, baby, shrug it off and pass it over. I’m strong enough to handle the bulk of it while you get some rest. Then, we’ll split it straight down the middle. There’s no more suffering alone. Not anymore. We’re a team.”

A tear leaks from the corner of her eye, but I thumb it away before it falls down her cheek. With a shaky inhale, she curls her fingers in my shirt and grips it tight.

“That all sounds . . . It sounds perfect, Oliver. But what about Nova? Where does she fit into all of this? There isn’t anything I want more than this. For you to make good on all of these promises to me, but with a daughter, it isn’t going to be an easy road,” she says cautiously, but there’s an optimism there that I latch onto.

“I know I won’t ever be Nova’s father. I’d never overstep that boundary. Chris can have his title. What I want to be to her is whatever and anything she wants me to be. The one thing I can promise you right now is that I will love her with everything in me and will always only be one call away. From now on, she will always have my love, support, and care,” I declare. “You asked me weeks ago if I knew what I wanted my life to look like in ten years, and baby, the only right answer to that question is you and Nova.”

“And down the road, if Nova chose to think of you as another father figure? If that life you dream of becomes a reality?” Avery asks, her voice a near whisper.

“Then I’d be grateful she loves me even half as much as I love her.”

With a blink, she leans her forward against my chin. “I love you, Oliver Bateman.”

“I love you, Avery Miller. Soon to be Bateman.”

“Soon to be? That’s presumptuous of you. It’s only been a couple of months,” she teases, breath bathing my throat.

“It was always meant to be Bateman.”

“My father wouldn’t agree.”

“Your father’s always known I wanted you.”

She leans back, eyes wide as they lock onto mine. “What? No, he hasn’t.”

“The summer you visited when you were eighteen, he called me out on it behind the Huttons’ garden shed,” I say.

“He never said anything. Neither of you did.”

“I doubt he wanted you to know that he threatened to beat my fourteen-year-old ass if I even thought of looking at you again,” I grunt.

She laughs, relenting. “Well, you didn’t listen to him either way. You were always hanging around all of us.”

“No. I didn’t listen. And I still wouldn’t.”

“I wouldn’t want you to.”

“What is it you want me to do, Avery?” I ask lowly, curving a hand around her hip, loving the way she wiggles in my grip, pressing further into it .

Her stare flicks to the bunk bed closest to us. My cock throbs, stiffening in a matter of seconds. I swallow a groan.

“How much time do we have before?—”

The fire alarm blares, cutting her off. She gasps at the noise, and the dispatcher’s voice follows, explaining the call. My pulse spikes, and then I’m moving.

I kiss her too quickly, but she melts into me like I’m taking my time. It’s painful to pull back, and I have to remind myself that tomorrow, there won’t be anywhere for either of us to run.

“Go. Be a hero,” she says with a shove to my chest.

Walking backward to the door, I point at her. “Tomorrow, princess.”

“Tomorrow,” she agrees, and the kiss she blows is the last thing I see before ducking out of the room.

It’s the image that stays with me for the rest of the night.