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sequences be damned.
* * *
Melodie was curled up in bed reading a romantic suspense novel, unable to sleep, when a loud knock sounded at her front door. She glanced at the clock on her nightstand and frowned. It was nearly eleven o’clock at night, and she’d never had anyone stop by her apartment so late. Her first thought was that the visitor was her father, but he wasn’t the kind to drop by without calling first.
Feeling uneasy, yet curious to find out who was at her door, she set her book down, grabbed her old, favorite chenille robe and slipped into it as she headed down the hall. She looked out the peephole and saw no one, but was startled by the crinkle of paper beneath her bare toes.
Stepping back, she bent and cautiously picked up the cream-colored stationery that someone had shoved beneath the door. She instantly recognized Cole’s handwriting. A tingling awareness pervaded her entire body, and her heart beat triple-time in her chest, echoing in her ears.
Swallowing hard, afraid to hope or assume anything, she read the words he’d written.
I never knew life could be so exciting until I fell for you, and there’s no denying the pleasure we shared. Now nothing will ever be the same. Take another chance on me.
There’s nowhere else I’d rather be than with you. You’re always in my thoughts, my dreams, and every fantasy I have revolves around this longing I have for you. I want to kiss you, hold you and love you. Take another chance on me.
I’m absolutely crazy about you. You’re the only one for me, and I pledge on my honor to be forever true. If you’re willing to take another chance on me, open the door and let me back into your life.
Giddy with indescribable emotions, Melodie hugged the fantasy close to her chest as Cole’s words sank in, warm and wonderful and full of the kind of promises she’d ached to hear. She’d resolved herself to the fact that those sentiments would never come from the man who’d walked away from her, yet here he was, putting his own heart on the line, asking her to take another chance on him. On them.
Her answer came as naturally as breathing.
She opened the door, the gesture huge and significant for both of them. But welcoming Cole back into her life was so incredibly easy, because she not only loved him, she believed in him and his vow to her. In this case, his honor and integrity was a very good thing—it was that credible quality that made him a man she could trust with her heart.
He stood just beyond her threshold, his thick tousled hair and the stubble on his jaw darkening his eyes to a deeper shade of blue. A lopsided grin canted the corner of his mouth, but there was no mistaking the uncertainty etching his lean features.
“I’m not much of a poet,” he said, looking like a young boy searching for her approval.
She resisted the urge to throw her arms around his neck and kiss him senseless, to reassure him with her touch that to her the words, written from his heart, were as eloquent as anything Shakespeare could have penned. “Your letter said all I needed to hear.”
“Not quite,” he said, his tone gruff. The invitation to enter her house had been issued the moment she’d opened the door, and he stepped inside, then turned to face her once again. “There’s more I need to tell you.”
She closed and locked the front door after him, then led the way into her living room. “Do I need to sit down for this?”
He smiled at her teasing tone and shook his head. “No, I think you can take it standing up. But you’ll have to bear with me, because this relationship thing is all new to me and I’m sure I’m going to make a few mistakes along the way.”
“I’ll be here to help keep you on the straight and narrow,” she said, and set his letter on the end table by the couch.
“I knew you would.” He closed the distance between them and brushed the tips of his fingers along her cheek in a whisper of a caress that made her ache for more. “First of all, I’m not here out of obligation or a sense of duty. I’m here because I want to be.”
She shivered as his finger absently trailed along her neck and followed the collar of her robe. “I never doubted that.”
His gaze met hers, intent and determined. “And, secondly, I never did answer the question you asked me in my office—if I was ever attracted to the real you, or just the woman you’d created for the Russell case. I want you to know that I’m attracted to both the woman you were before you decided to make changes, and the woman you are now. Your intelligence and sweetness drew me in from the beginning and made me want you, and your new daring, confident attitude excites me. Despite the clothes, hair, and outward changes, you’ve always been sexy to me.”
Her breath caught and bubbles of exhilaration tickled her belly. But before she could respond, he continued on.
“There is absolutely nothing fake or pretentious about you. You’re real and sincere, and you have the most uncanny ability to touch my emotions and make me feel. And, amazingly, you give of yourself and ask nothing of me in return, and that’s something no one has ever done for me. You’re truly more than I deserve, and while I’m scared of what you make me feel because it’s so intense, I can’t let you go, either.”
She bit her trembling bottom lip as renewed hope funneled through her. “I’ll take whatever I can get from you, Cole. No pressure, no demands. Just take your time and we’ll see where all this leads.”
“For my sake, I’d appreciate it if we took things slow and easy, but I don’t need any more time to know and admit that I love you. All the time in the world won’t change that fact.”
Her eyes widened, her pulse sped up a few notches, and her knees went weak with disbelief. “You love me?”
“Oh, yeah, I do.” His gaze devoured her, and in the twin depths she witnessed the truth of his heart-felt declaration. “I adore the way you laugh and smile and that sassy, seductive mouth of yours.” Dipping his head, he nuzzled her neck and inhaled her scent. “I love the way you smell, the way you taste and how uninhibited you are with me.” He settled a soft, lingering kiss on her lips and smiled down at her. “I pretty much love every single thing about you.”
Tears stung the backs of her eyes, and she valiantly tried blinking them back. “I love you, too.”
“I’m a damn lucky man.” He framed her face in his big hands, the stroke of his thumbs along her cheeks infinitely gentle. “Take another chance on me, Mel.”
