Page 127 of After We Fall

“And what do you want?” I whisper.

“I still want to do what I’ve been doing. I like my business. And I want to continue traveling for service work.”

Tears sting my eyes, and I cover my face with my hands.

“I just want to do it all with you by my side.”

A sob escapes my lips.

“Or maybe it’s me by your side.”

My shoulders start to shake.

“Baby?”

Baby. Tears stream down my face.

“Penelope?”

“I missed you,” I whisper, and my lower lip wobbles.

“Baby.” His voice rumbles through my ears, down to the very tips of my toes.

Three knocks sound at the door, and I jump, my heart pounding out of my chest. “Someone’s at the door.”

“Then you need to answer it.”

“What if it’s Marcus?” I pull the covers up to my chest. Great. Now Luke has me freaked out.

“Penelope.” Luke’s voice gentles, sounding closer to me than through the phone. “I think if you answer the door, you’ll find that the person behind it knows how to back a trailer.”

“What?” I shoot out of bed, throw my AirPods and phone on the side table, swipe away my tears, and rush to open the door.

With his hands braced on either side of the doorframe, Luke crowds my doorway. I barely get a look at his layer of stubble and bloodshot eyes. Intense eyes that burn the moment he sees me, just before he steps into my room, wraps his arms around me, and shoves his face in the crook of my neck.

I run my fingertips up and down his cropped hair. “I thought you said you were going home.”

He lifts his head so his face is just a few inches from mine. “I am home,” he whispers against my mouth. He presses his lips to mine with an urgency, as if he’s scared that if he doesn’t communicate everything he needs to in this one kiss, I’ll run away. He gives me deep, wild kisses with his hands cupping my face, then moving through my hair. Then the kisses turn beautiful as he cradles my head, holding me to him, slowing us to a sweet, gentle ending.

He pulls back but keeps his forehead pressed to mine, our breaths tangling, fighting for oxygen. “I’m sorry, Penelope. I got it all wrong. And I took my grief out on you. And I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay.” I lift up to kiss him once.

“And that speech you gave me the other night—”

I stand on tiptoes to kiss him again.

“It was wild, out of control, and the most beautiful thing I’ve ever heard.”

One more kiss.

“And I love you. All the numbers. I love you too.”

I wrap my arms around his shoulders, pulling him down to me, and nuzzle my face into his neck.

He tightens his hold, angles his head down, and says into my ear, “There’s my kitten.”

My mother’s words almost float through the air. “The daughter of a lion is still a lion.” She would have loved Luke. She would have loved Luke for me. Puzzle pieces that need each other—that fit together.