I raise my head, desperate to hear more, but so, so afraid. “Yes?”
“I want you. Always. I’ve spent years wondering what it is I was running from when I was meant to be with you from the beginning. Was it fear? Did I think I could find something better? No. You were perfection then, and you are now. It took my mother dying, losing everything that mattered, to realize my dream was never to move away from you.” Stone dips his head until his nose brushes against mine.
I’m disheveled, exhausted, and smell like garlic and sardines, but I’ve never felt more beautiful under his scope.
“I want to believe you,” I say.
He nods, my skin tingling where he touches mine. “I wasn’t worthy of your love. Not then. But now? You've taught me the importance of caring, understanding, and patience. You've shown me what it means to love someone beyond words. If you'll have me, I promise to be a better man, for you, for my mother, hell, even for Falcon Haven.”
My hand rasps against his cheek. I resist digging the pads of my fingers into his skin, clinging to him, clinging tohope. “I don’t love people who don’t deserve it.”
Stone chuckles darkly and moves to kiss my palm. As if I might stray, he reaches up and holds it there by my wrist.
“This is how I’ll prove our worth,” he says into my palm. “I won’t force you to choose between me and your dream. I want you to have both. I want to taste all your meals, curl up beside you while I sleep off your high-calorie creations, and be there for you when you open your eyes.”
My arm goes slack in his hold. “You were supposed to take your company to the next level.”
“It will be just fine without me living in my offices. I’d rather hold you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. No accolade in the world would match the feeling you give me every time you walk into the same room I’m in.”
My eyes water. My mascara clumps together, and my nose burns with the warning of an incoming sob.
Stone tips my chin, his gaze diving into mine, intome,until that string I tried to cut, or tangle, or drift away from, grows tighter, until nothing but hesitant inches separate us.
“Do you want me?” he asks, drawing me into him, encircling me with all he has to give.
“I want you,” I respond, softly but with certainty.
Stone’s expression falls as if the weight of bearing the reality of my pain leaves his shoulders.
“Forever,” he whispers hoarsely.
He’s in the midst of collecting himself when I add, “I love you.”
He stares down at me, and in that gaze, the rest of our burdens drift away. “I love you, too. My God, do I love you.”
And then he kisses me.
Our lips match each other in fervor and warmth. A familiar sigh escapes my lips, and he laps at it hungrily. He sheds his coat without breaking off our kiss and unbuttons my chef’s jacket before he pulls me against him. We fit together in perfect, rekindled harmony.
It’s the kiss I’ve always wanted. My dream within a dream. I picture Mrs. Stalinski, Mom, and our unborn daughter looking down at us with pride.
“It’s snowing in Falcon Haven,” he murmurs into my mouth.
I smile, keeping my lips on his. “It is?”
“Sure is, Lavender.” He tightens his arms around me. “Let’s go home and see it.”
I nod, half laughing, half sobbing, as he lifts me and spins me while we kiss.
No matter where I end up, I find Stone Williams. William Stalinski. The boy and the man.
We’ve returned to each other. Come home.
And this time? It’s for always.
EPILOGUE
One Year Later
