Page 124 of The Gift

Biting his lip and wrapping an arm around the back of my neck, Daniel said, “I told you I wasn’t particularly insightful,baby.”

“Holy fuck,” I breathed, as so many things settled into place. Of course, I’d felt like Daniel and I had known each other for years since the first day we met—in a way, Ihad.

“Youmad?”

I shook my head. Shock was still the predominant emotion, but amusement was followingquickly.

I smacked his arm,hard. “You know I haven’t read Pritchard inweeksbecause I thought you hated him or he’d done something personally awful to you?” Iaccused.

Daniel chuckled. “Aw. That’s really kindacute.”

I narrowed my eyes. “Come to think of it, maybe I ammad.”

“Keep reading,” Daniel prompted, nudging the box against mystomach.

“To the love of my life, Julian,” I repeated, and this time it wasn’t my name that tripped me up, but what came before it. “Love of yourlife?”

He nodded firmly. “The onlyone.”

I took a deep breath and tried to keep reading, even though my blood was fizzing through my veins, making me lightheaded.

“I once thought solitude was perfection when really it was stasis. You taught me that creativity can’t blossom in isolation, that sometimes we see each other more clearly than we see ourselves, and that the greatest gift we can ever receive is someone who accepts us just as weare.

But I still won’t eat broccoli onpizza.”

I sniffled. “Shutup.” I shoved ineffectively at hisshoulder.

“You still surprised I came back?” he asked, cradling my face in his bighands.

I shook my head. “No. You came back for the pets, obviously.” I took a shuddering breath as I pointed to the dog and cat curled up together on the rug by theradiator.

“Obviously.And?”

“And you really liked those tarts at thebakery.”

“Uh huh.And?”

“And because you love me,” I admitted. “Because O’Leary is yourhome.”

“Exactly.” He tilted my head down until my lips hovered just above his. “And also because I was fuckingdyingto know if Lady Madelynne ever won that barbarian’sheart.”

I laughed and leaned down to kiss him, not giving a good goddamn about Lady Madelynne’s happily ever after, because I knew that I’d foundmine.