Falling for Fitz by Katy Regnery Page A

though, with exposed brick to the left and right, and three
doorways straight ahead.
    She approached them, exploring each.
The first was a good-sized closet, almost a store room. The second
led to the back of the shop where there were two small rooms
flanking a back door, and the third was a tiny bathroom. She ran
her hands along the aqua painted walls that separated the three
doorways, finally spinning to take in the whole space.
    “ You did this for
me?”
    Fitz, who still stood leaning against
the doorway watching her, hadn’t said a word yet. Now he cocked his
head to the side and said softly in a low voice, “I told you last
night… I’d do anything for you.”
    Daisy’s face exploded into a smile,
and she sprinted across the room to him, throwing her arms around
his neck and letting him gather her against his chest.
    ***
    In his wildest dreams, Fitz hadn’t
expected this.
    He had hoped she wouldn’t be angry
with him. He had hoped she’d actually like the space he and
Stratton had chosen without her input. He had even been prepared to
cajole her a little—convince her that with his help she could do
this. But the one thing he never expected was to be holding her in
his arms, feeling the warmth and curves of her body pressed up
against him again.
    When she embraced him, she hadn’t
turned her face away from his, but, more intimately, into him. Her
cheek lay against his chest, right under his collarbone, and he
could feel the heat of her breath on his skin through the open V of
his shirt. He tightened his arms around her, bending his neck just
a little, until his cheek brushed her forehead, and his lips rested
right near the bridge of her nose. If he moved just the slightest
bit closer to her, he’d be nuzzling his lips to her skin, but he
stayed as still as possible, desperate not to break the profound
closeness he felt while holding her.
    His heart pounded, and he wondered if
she could feel the vibrations through his shirt, if she could feel
the rhythm that was beating out his feelings for her. Her fingers,
laced around his neck, were still except for one of her thumbs
which grazed the short hair on his nape distractedly, making
shivers run from his neck to his groin. He softly groaned as he
felt himself react to having her so close to him, his body aching
for more after missing hers for so many years.
    If he had doubted—even for
a second—that his feelings for her had ever weakened, he was
assured now, as they roared back to full strength, full vibrancy,
full visceral life, that they never would again. Fitz was as deeply
in love with Daisy right now as he’d been when she was seventeen.
And just like then, she wasn’t available to him. Only this
time he wasn’t
going to London, she was engaged to someone else.
    Alex’s voice whispered in
his head, She’s not married
yet , and Fitz panted lightly, not giving
himself a chance to reconsider what he was about to say, just
letting the words fall out of his mouth, no matter what the
consequences.
    “ I’m throwing my hat in the
ring,” he whispered.
    “ Mmm?” she murmured, the
sound reverberating from his chest to his throat where it kicked
his pulse up a notch.
    “ You haven’t gotten married
yet.”
    “ No.”
    “ I’m throwing my hat in the
ring,” he repeated, a little firmer, a little louder.
    “ Wait. What ? What did you say?” She jerked
back from him, but he kept his arms around her, so all she could do
was flatten her palms against his chest and lean back on his arms.
Her eyes were wide and wild as she searched his, and it was all he
could do not to lean forward and kiss her like the world was
ending.
    “ I don’t want you to marry
Dr. M..” He wet his lips, his heart beating impossibly faster. “I
want you to marry me.”
    “ You’re out of your mind,”
she answered and her face, which had been shocked a moment before,
seemed to harden before his eyes. “We haven’t seen each other in
over nine years.”
    “ It doesn’t