“Damn.” Wes shoved me. “Now I have to see your mug all the time.”
“Deal with it. I’m the favorite.” I shoved his shoulder back.
“Well, let’s not be hasty,” Mom said.
I faked a look of hurt. “Mom.”
“When you give me grandbabies, we’ll talk.”
Kim chose that moment to walk up. “Grandbabies?” she asked.
“Kim,” I said on a sigh. To my family I whispered, “Give me a minute alone and I’ll work on it.”
My mom’s eyes went wide, but she quickly corralled the rest of my family away.
Kim tucked loose strands of hair behind her ear and waited for us to be alone.
“Follow me.” I tugged her along the darkened corridors to the secret room. Once again, I thanked my previous self for the forethought.
The second the door was shut, Kim launched herself at me. Her arms were wrapped tight around my neck.
“I’m so sorry I left with him,” she whispered as she squeezed me tight.
“You don’t have anything to be sorry about. I should have told you everything.” I pushed her back so I could hold her gaze, my thumbs ran over her cheeks. I’d missed her so damn much I was shaking. Looking at her again, holding her again, was a gift I would never take for granted.
She leaned back to look in my face. “Yes. You should have. Never do that again. Tell me everything.”
“Everything?”
She nodded happily. “From here out until forever.”
“I can do that.”
I took her into my arms and held her tight. “God, I love you.”
“I love you too.”
“Thank you for playing my music,” I said.
“You’re welcome.” She grinned. “It was beautiful. The piece was perfect.”
“I wasn’t sure that they would show up. I went to them all and groveled,” I explained. “I was shocked that Carla showed up last minute.”
“Carla is harmless. She’s just doing her best, same as all of us.” I was surprised to hear her say this. “I talked to the symphony. I might have told them about our long and tragic love story to twist some arms. Hope it’s okay that I spilled the beans on your past and our shared history.” She smiled mischievously.
“I don’t care about anything but this right here.” My head lowered to inhale her scent. I didn’t care about anything else so long as she was here. “Thank you for loving me. I don’t make it easy. I don’t know that I’ll ever feel like I deserve you.”
She rolled her eyes. “That’s not how it works. You’ve loved me from the beginning. I loved you too, but I wasn’t ready. We just needed to figure a few things out. It took time, but we’re here now.”
“This is all that matters.”
“Agreed.” She kissed me. “We should probably go back out there. Your adoring fans await.”
“I just need one more minute.” I slid my hand up the back of her shirt and rubbed over the soft skin there.
“Just a minute?”
“You’re right,” I nuzzled her as I lifted her shirt off her head. “I need forever.”
