Worth waiting for.
After years of believing himself unworthy of love and building walls to protect others from his supposed capacity for damage, hearing such simple acceptance felt revolutionary.
“We should go home,” he whispered. “To our daughter.”
“Yes. Let’s go home.”
CHAPTER 28
“You have marmalade on your chin.”
Owen looked up from his newspaper to find Iris watching him with undisguised amusement.
Her blue eyes sparkled in the morning sunlight that came streaming through the breakfast room windows. Evie sat contentedly in the highchair between them, babbling at a piece of toast she’d somehow grabbed from a nearby plate.
“Do I?” He set down the paper and reached for his napkin.
“Here.” Iris leaned over the small table and brushed her thumb over the corner of his mouth with gentle precision. The simple touch sent warmth through him, as it had every morning for the past two weeks. “There.”
But she didn’t pull away immediately. Instead, her hand lingered on his cheek. Her expression grew soft with the affection thatstill caught him off guard. How had he convinced himself for so long that keeping his distance would protect them? This closeness and this simple domestic intimacy felt like the most natural thing in the world.
“Better?” he asked, although he made no move to lean back.
“Much.” Her smile was radiant. It transformed her face into ways that made his chest tight with emotion he still struggled to name. “But I have to say that watching the Duke of Carridan lose a battle with preserves is rather charming.”
“Charming?” He caught her hand before she could withdraw it and pressed a kiss to her palm. “I’ll have you know that dukes are not supposed to be charming. We’re supposed to be intimidating and aloof.”
“You’re terrible at being aloof.”
“Am I? I spent years perfecting the art.”
“Perhaps with other people. But with us?” She glanced meaningfully at Evie, who had abandoned her toast in favor of trying to grab Owen’s coffee cup. “You’re completely hopeless. She has you wrapped around her little finger, and you know it.”
Owen looked at his daughter, noting how her face lit up when she caught his attention. It was true. One smile from Evie could derail his most important meetings. One cry could sendhim rushing upstairs, regardless of whatever business he’d been conducting.
The transformation still amazed him.
“She’s persuasive,” he admitted while gently moving his cup out of her reach. “I believe she gets that from her adoptive mother.”
“I prefer to think of it as a natural gift.” Iris rose to retrieve Evie’s fallen toast. The movement brought her close enough that Owen caught her scent. Honey and something warmer, something that was purely her. “Don’t I, sweetheart? We’re not manipulative. We’re simply irresistible.”
Evie responded with a delighted gurgle. She waved her arms as if agreeing enthusiastically.
Owen felt that familiar tightness in his throat that came whenever he watched them together. He admired the love in Iris’s voice when she spoke to Evie. There was a natural ease to the way she’d claimed the role of mother. And it was plain to see the way the baby turned to her instinctively for comfort and care.
“What are you thinking about?” Iris asked as she settled back into her chair with Evie now on her lap.
“How perfect this is.” The words slipped out before he could consider them. “This morning, this moment. How I never imagined I could have something like this.”
“Like what?”
“A family. A real one, built on something more than duty or obligation.” He reached across the table to cover her free hand with his. “People who actually choose to be here with me.”
Iris’s expression grew soft, understanding. “You have us, Owen.”
“Forever, then.”
“Forever.”
