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“Why haven’t you called me? Or even reached out?” The pain leaks through my voice, and I grimace, knowing he can hear it. I lick my lips, tasting rainwater.
“I have been a stupid, stupid man,” he says, and I nod in agreement.
I don’t know what I’m feeling inside. I’ve dreamed of hearing these words from him, but after weeks with no contact, I was beginning to think that was all it was going to be—a dream.
I guess part of the blame lies with me too. I didn’t contact him, but it wasn’t like I didn’t want to. I fought with myself every day. But after he walked out of that dressing room, I left the ball in his court. He knew I was all in the whole time. And if he never came around, I would have had my answer, but I wasn’t going to wait around on my ass for him to decide if I was worthy again.
I know what I’m worth, and I won’t accept anything less than Simon’s all.
“That’s not going to cut it,” I tell him, and his hands grip mine harder.
He looks down, presumably to gather his thoughts before looking back up at me. The emotion I see in his eyes floors me. I don’t think I’ve seen him open up to me like this before. I see a myriad of thoughts fly by before he opens his mouth to speak.
“I know. The night that I left your dressing room, I knew that I’d messed up. You deserve your knight in shining armor, and I’ve turned out to be a frog. Damn it. I’m sorry. I let my fears take over, and I know you aren’t her. You came into this situation with me being cold and aloof, and you still took over my thoughts and my life. My daughter adores you, loves you.” His words come out in a rush, almost like he can’t get them out fast enough. “I can’t let you go again. It will destroy me. Please, Alice. Please say you love me back. That you want me as much as I want you. That—”
“I do.” With the rain still falling in sheets, I wrench my hands from his grasp and grab his face, pulling him down to mine and pressing our lips together to cut him off. I couldn’t go another moment without touching him, tasting him, and feeling him.
He slants his head, taking over as his tongue pushes past my lips, swiping hot into my mouth. His arms pull me closer, pressing our soaking wet bodies together, warming me, setting me on fire.
I move my fingers up into his hair, pulling as our mouths clash, wrenching a moan from my throat.
It was inevitable, the two of us. We are like the opposite ends of a powerful magnet, being dragged back together. I could tell from the moment I met him—standing in that classroom, awestruck by the way I reacted from just being near him—that we could be explosive.
He breaks the kiss to rest his forehead on mine, our chests heaving in tandem.
“I love you,” he whispers.
“And I love you.” I trail my hands over his shoulders and clasp them behind his neck.
“Please, don’t leave me again.”
“Never,” I whisper back.
I’m rewarded with his dimpled smile as he comes in for another kiss, just a peck this time. Then another and another.
“Okay, okay,” I say with a laugh, pulling back slightly. “I’m soaked.”
“Just how I like you,” he says with a wink, and I throw my head back with a laugh. “Come on in. You can shower and borrow some of my clothes. Stay with us tonight?”
“Didn’t I just say I wasn’t leaving again?”
“Yes. Want to share the news with Ivy?”
“Should we?”
“Yes. You’re ours now,” he says as he turns me and pulls me into his side.
We walk in the rain toward his front door, and I slip my hand around his waist.
Simon leans down, kissing my head, and I lay my head on his arm.
“And you two are mine.”
We step forward, through the front door, and I take a deep breath in.
This summer has been life-changing. I got the man, the daughter, and the job of my dreams.
Life can’t get any better than this.
