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“Nikolai,” Jude breathed.
I drank in the sight of Jude as he stood just a handful of steps from me.
He was really here.
I felt caught up in a vortex of emotion as my eyes held Jude’s.
My Jude’s.
I saw every piece of him in those beautiful eyes of his. Uncertainty, courage, fear, joy… everything that made Jude who he was clearly showed in his expression.
“Uncle Nikolai, Jude got me and Maks ice cream,” Nattie announced as she held up her ice cream cone and a package that I could only assume was a treat for Maks.
“I asked the nurse if it would be okay for Maks to have it before we left his room,” Jude blurted. “She said it would.”
I began descending the steps one by one, never taking my eyes off of Jude.
“Is Maks going to be okay, Uncle Nikolai?” Nattie asked.
“Yeah, honey, he is,” I said to my niece as I shot her a quick smile. When I returned my attention to Jude, I could see how relieved he was. I didn’t think it possible, but I fell even more in love with him in that moment.
“Thank God,” Jude whispered as he bent at the waist a bit like he’d been holding his breath. It was only when his eyes shifted back to me and he noticed my slow descent that I saw that little bit of uncertainty creep back in his eyes.
“I tried to call,” he said.
“My phone died. How did you find me?”
My stomach was in knots. What if Jude had only come here to make sure Maks was okay? Obviously, I loved him for that alone but what if his plan was to walk away again?
“I went to your house first. The bakery was closed and no one answered,” he said nervously. “So I went to your office. I knew you wouldn’t be there since Mike fired you and Cliff pulled his contract, but I thought if I told Mike the truth about what happened between us then he’d change his mind. Mike wasn’t there but Dannie told me about Maks.”
“Mike didn’t fire me,” I said. “And Hayes didn’t pull his contract.”
“What?” Jude asked, truly dumbfounded.
“Who told you all that?”
“Cliff—” Jude began to say and then he muttered the words “that rat bastard” under his breath so Nattie wouldn’t hear.
“What’s a rat bastard?” my niece immediately asked.
Jude looked down at her and then at me. “Does it run in the family?” he asked. I found myself smiling because he seemed completely exasperated. The mere fact that he hadn’t blurted some excuse about needing to leave left me feeling a little lighter and more hopeful.
“What truth?” I asked as I came to a stop just a few steps above him.
“Huh?” Jude said as he swallowed nervously.
“You said you were going to tell Mike the truth about what happened between us…”
“Oh, yeah, right.”
I dropped down another step. Jude’s fingers began tapping together nervously. Before I could even do anything about it, Natalia reached up to take Jude’s hand in her own. She didn’t say anything. She just took his hand in hers like it was nothing.
But I could see it wasn’t nothing for Jude. He looked down at the little girl and then back at me. His eyes welled with so many emotions that I had no doubt he was struggling to process them all.
I stepped down onto the landing and closed the distance between Jude and me until there were just a few inches between us. “What truth?” I asked softly.
I could see how tempted Jude was to drop his eyes, but he didn’t. “Forever, right, Nikolai?” he asked. Before I could even answer, he said, “No, you know what, don’t answer that because it doesn’t matter. We aren’t guaranteed a forever. We’re guaranteed a right now and while I know I will love you for the rest of my life, I just want to start with today. I love you, Nikolai. It scares the ever-loving crap out of me, but it scares me more to go even one more day without you. I’m so sorry—”
I kissed him before he could complete the apology because it was the last thing I wanted. He’d just given me everything I’d been looking for my entire life.
Jude let out a little whimper and then opened his mouth beneath mine. His free hand came up to cradle my neck as he kissed me back. Mindful of Nattie’s presence, I kept the kiss short and as G-rated as I could considering I’d been without Jude’s touch for more than a week.
“I love you,” I murmured against his mouth.
Jude nodded. “Love you,” he whispered. He kissed me softly.
I had no clue how long we stood there for, just basking in each other’s touch, but when Natalia suddenly bumped into me, I returned to the present. I opened my mouth to ask her if Maks’s ice cream had melted when the hair along the back of my neck began to stand up. I scanned our surroundings at the same time that Nattie asked, “Uncle Nikolai, who’s that man?”
