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“Melanie.” He repeats it, louder, even though he’s jogged close enough now that I catch the scent of his cologne, so familiar even after just so short a time together.
I turn, slowly, as if in a dream. And there he is.
Xander stands in front of me, his hands wrung out in front of him like he’s praying. “I didn’t know if I’d catch you before you left,” he blurts. “I probably just earned about twenty fucking speeding tickets, but I don’t care.”
“How did you find me?” My voice comes out a broken whisper.
Xander’s expression turns sheepish. “Andrew told me which terminal he dropped you off in.”
My cheeks flush bright red. “Ah.” So much for Andrew being a genuinely nice guy.
Xander shakes his head. “Don’t blame him. I may or may not have threatened him for the information.” Xander takes a slow step toward me. Then another.
“Here.” I hold out his credit card, before he completes the circuit. “I should give this back to you, before I go.”
He blinks, taken aback.
I tilt my head to one side. “What? It’s what you came for, isn’t it?”
Now his eyes go wide, his expression serious. “Of course not, Melanie. I don’t care about that. I came for you.”
My breath catches in my throat. I don’t understand. Not until he takes another step closer, and reaches up, slowly, carefully, wrapping his arms around my shoulders and drawing me toward him. I sink into the hug, reluctant and yet loving it at the same time. I always feel so safe wrapped up tightly in his arms. Even if it’s a beautiful lie, just like the rest of our relationship.
“I swear, I never meant to hurt you,” he whispers against my hair. Then he drops in front of me to one knee, holding my hands and gazing up at me.
The tears that already filled my eyes all night spring back to life, even thicker this time, my throat tightening at the sight. “What are you—”
“Melanie, listen to me.” His grip on my hands tightens. “The past two weeks have been about more than just this bargain for me. I didn’t realize it until now, because I was so focused on finally getting what I needed from my father. But you… you make me so happy. I feel content when I’m with you, centered and calm. And I realized, I never tried to do this before, the whole engagement thing.” He tugs on my left hand, and draws an uncertain, weak laugh from my throat. It almost sounds more like a sob when it emerges. “I never did this with anyone else, because I’d never met another girl I could picture the rest of my life with. Not until you.” His eyes shine, too.
I can hardly breathe. It takes all my concentration just to stay upright. But I manage to lock my knees tight and suck air deep into my lungs. “But… you lie to your family, to your father. For what?” My voice cracks.
He shuts his eyes, and his throat works with a tight swallow. “For the deed to my mother’s bookstore.”
Whatever I expected him to say, it isn’t this. I blink, confused. “What?”
When he opens his eyes again, they shine with real tears this time. “When I was growing up, my mother used to bring me to work with her, every day. It was a passion project, of course—nobody in this family really needs to work if they don’t want to. But my mother loved that bookstore. She poured her heart and soul into it. She stocked all of her favorite books, and she took great pride in always being able to suggest the perfect title to anyone who wandered in looking for recommendations. I loved it there, too. She used to read to me every morning, and in the afternoons, I’d explore the stacks…” He shuts his eyes. “When she died, I took over the place. Became the proprietor. But I never left the store. I didn’t want to face the outside world. I… wasn’t healthy, Melanie. I shut the store, didn’t let anyone else in. It became a tomb, more than a place of love.”
His throat works tightly around a hard swallow. “Finally, my father forced me out. After that, he gave me an ultimatum. I had to get my life together, or he’d sell the store. It was technically in his name—my mother left everything to him in the will, expecting him to dole it out among us children fairly. And he would have, but he worried that the place would suck me in, destroy me, along with my grief, if he let it.”
My lips part, understanding creeping over me. “He wanted you to have a wife and family before he gave it back to you…”
“So he knew I’d have something else to live for. So the store wouldn’t consume me, like it did the first time.”
