Julien’s eyes light before he pulls me in for a hug. “That’s amazing! I’m so happy for you.”
I smile. I have to admit, I’m pretty happy for me too. After a moment, my smile falls by degrees. Smart or not, I have to give him his dad’s message. “He wanted me to tell you something as well, although I’m not sure if you should be concerned about anything that has to do with work.”
“What did he say?”
“He wanted me to tell you to not waste any more time closing the deal.”
Julien throws his head back and laughs, loud and full. It takes me by such surprise that I stumble backward. Julien, however, is quick to catch me. My misstep brings his mirth down a notch, but he’s still grinning wide.
“Why is that so funny?” I’m missing something, but for the life of me, I can’t figure out what.
“Dad’s not talking about a deal at work.”
Julien’s blue eyes are shining like newly polished sapphires. I have no idea what Mr. King could have meant if he wasn’t talking about something related to the publishing house, but if it’s making his son this happy, I’m not going to complain.
I am going to ask, though. “What’s he talking about, then?”
“You.” Julien brackets my face and kisses my lips.
“Me?”
He takes my hand and pulls me over to a row of seats. There are plenty, so we each can have our own, but he tugs me once again onto his lap. Instead of nuzzling into me this time, he positions us so that our faces are only inches apart. His exuberance has settled into a contented calm. There’s aknowing look about him as he gazes into my eyes. One that reaches inside my heart, hooks into my soul, and steals my breath.
“Martha.” He says my name like it’s his favorite word, savoring it on his tongue.
The hairs along my arms react, gooseflesh rippling along my skin. Awareness crackles and sizzles down my spine, and somehow I know whatever comes out of his mouth next is going to change my world as I know it.
“As a businessman, I make decisions every day. Some take time and data collection in order to know what the right thing to do is, but sometimes there’s a single moment of intuition that strikes like lightning, guiding me without a shadow of a doubt. When you walked back into my life, it was a lightning strike. You shook my world with your brilliance, and I knew my life would never be the same. I chalked it up to simple attraction, but I was only fooling myself. The deepest parts of my heart recognized you for who you really are—the person I’ve been waiting all these years to find.”
My heart swells to overflowing. So much so that a silent tear spills over my lid and tracks down my cheek.
Julien leans forward and kisses the salted dewdrop away. “I love you, Martha.”
Julien loves me? Is this real? I may have daydreamed about such a thing as a girl, but none of my wildest fantasies came even close to the reality before me. Of this man staring at me with pure adoration. Knowing his heart and his mind as a man of experience and not an untried boy. Declaring confidently his love and affection and offering me all of his heart.
I cup Julien’s face in my hands and kiss him soundly, my heart nearly bursting out of my chest.
This is crazy, right? Maybe. Probably. Some may say it happened too fast, our love. Then again, others may think taking a lifetime to reach this point was too long. Either way, it feelslike it was always meant to end this way. Me and Julien, full circle.
“I love you too,” I say against his lips. “I always have, and I always will.”
He kisses me then. A kiss that is a vow unto itself. Of richer and poorer, sickness and health. A pledge of a thousand tomorrows and endless todays. One where we will always have each other.
A thought enters my head, and I grin, even though I don’t stop our kiss.
“What?” He pulls back slightly to breathe the word across my lips.
“Evangeline and Hayley said the acquisition you were really looking for from me was the ever-after kind.”
He grins back, then nuzzles my nose. “I guess it’s true what they say. Librarians really do know everything.”
Epilogue
ThreeYearsLater
“I’m so proud of you.” Julien kisses my forehead.
Nerves are dancing a conga line around my ribs, and I need a distraction before I do something embarrassing. Like vomit into the potted plant in the corner.
