“I love you Layla. I can’t just stop taking care of you. If anything happened to you I’d never survive it.”

“I can’t help feeling possessive over you Layla. You’re the most valuable thing in my life and I won’t share you with anyone, ever. You’re everything to me. I’d kill for you. I’d give up everything I own just to keep you. You’re my whole universe and I couldn’t exist without you.”

“Layla. I don’t know how you feelabout me. I hope you feel as deeply as I do, but I knew the moment I saw you how I felt. It hit me like a bolt of lightning right here.” He pressed mypalm against his chest, just above his heart. I drew in a sharp breath. “Layla I’m falling for you. I’m deeply, madly and completely head over heels foryou. You’re mine and I want to take care of you. Please, let me give you things while I can, let me spoil you and treat you the way you deserve. Likea queen. My queen. I…” He took a long breath while I held mine in anticipation of his next heart stopping words.“…I love you Layla.”

“I want you Layla. And if I have to wait ten years for you to be ready I will. We can take this as slow as you want and there’s no pressure. I just want to be with you”

“I’ll wait for you Layla. Forever if I have to; because there will never be anyone else for me. You are my only love and I won’t give up fighting for you.”

“Our lives are entwined and we’re bound together by everything that we’ve been through, what we feel and the love I have for you. I know you love me too Layla and I wish I could make it all right again but I can’t.”

“Stop it. Right now. Why torture yourself Layla? It’s notas many as you think. If I had to give you a number, which by the way I find a little unsettling, it would be…sixty, approximately. I started having sexwhen I was sixteen Layla. So when you think about it, that’s ten women per year. Not that many is it? And that’s including you. But none of them evenmatter because I’m with you. You’re the only woman I want in my bed, shower, tub, dining table, counter top, sofa and anywhere else I can throw youover. You, Layla Jennings are the only woman I will sleep with from now till the day I die. And I bet I know the next question and the answer is no. Ididn’t love them. I never knew what love was. I cared about them sure and I wanted to make them happy but I didn’t love them. I love you. I’ve nevermet anyone that affects me the way you do. I feel like I could conquer the world, bench press a bus and run a marathon when I’m with you. You makeme feel alive and so happy I can’t even think straight.”