Page 116 of Cast to be Mine

Grace turned to me, her eyes still glistening. “I can’t believe you did that.”

“I can’t believe it worked.”

She laughed. “What if I’d said I wasn’t interested in front of everyone?”

“Then I would have had a very embarrassing story to tell at dinner parties for the rest of my life.” I reached over and took her hand, threading my fingers through hers. “But I knew you wouldn’t say no. I knew what we had was real. I just needed you to remember it too.”

“I never forgot.” Her voice was quiet. “I just got scared.”

“I know. I was scared too.”

She squeezed my hand. “Where are we going?”

“My place. If that’s okay.”

“That’s more than okay.”

I kept glancing over at her, half-convinced she’d vanish if I looked away for too long. But she was there. Her hand still clasped in mine, her thumb tracing absent patterns across my knuckles.

When we finally pulled into my garage, I cut the engine and hopped out. I walked around to open her door.

“Micah?”

I looked at her and remembered just how gorgeous she was. Even with mascara smudged under her eyes and her hair slightly mussed from where I’d run my fingers through it. Maybe especially because of that.

I’d spent the last few weeks staring at her face through my monitors. But it was nothing compared to having her in front of me.

“I missed you,” I said. The words felt inadequate, but they were all I had. “Every single day. I’d wake up reaching for you, and you weren’t there. It felt like someone had carved a hole in my chest.”

Her eyes welled up again. “I missed you too. So much it scared me. I’ve never felt like this about anyone before.”

I kissed her forehead. Her cheeks. The tip of her nose. Each kiss was a promise, a way of saying all the things words couldn’t capture.

“Come inside,” I whispered.

We made it to the front door. Barely. I had to stop twice to kiss her, unable to resist the pull of her lips, the warmth of her body pressed against mine. By the time we stumbled into the entryway, I was breathless and so was she.

“Wait,” she said, pulling back just slightly. “Before we go any further, I need to tell you something.”

My heart stuttered. “What?”

“I’m sorry.” Her eyes met mine, exposing her vulnerability. “For running. For not talking to you. I shouldn’t have shut you out when things got hard. I should have trusted what we had instead of letting fear drive me away.”

“Grace, it’s fine.”

“No, let me finish.” She took a breath. “I’ve spent my whole life trying to prove myself. Trying to earn my place without using my father’s name. And when the scandal hit, all I could think about was how everyone would assume I’d slept my way into the role. Nothing I’d worked for would matter anymore.”

“That’s not true.”

“I know that now. But in the moment, I panicked. And I took it out on you. On us. You were the one person who actually believed in me.” She reached up and touched my face, her fingers gentle against my jaw. “I’m sorry, Micah. I’m so sorry.”

I pulled her into my arms, holding her tight. “You don’t need to apologize. I understand why you ran. I just couldn’t let you stay gone.”

“I’m glad you didn’t.”

I breathed her in, relearning the scent of her hair. I’d missed this so much. The simple intimacy of holding someone you loved.

“I have something to tell you too,” I said eventually, pulling back just enough to look at her.