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Loyal swerved over to the side of the road and threw the Rover in park. Roxanna’s head swung toward him in surprise as he unlatched his seatbelt to face her. His heart cracked at the sight of her tear-streaked cheeks.
“Shit.” Her head ducked as she reached up with trembling hands to wipe at the moisture. “I didn’t mean to say that out loud.”
“I love you.”
She jerked her head back up, her eyes wide.
“Even when I didn’t want to like you, I was drawn to you from the second we met. At first I fought it because I was engaged, after that, I fought it for all the wrong reasons, until the night of the fire. Maybe even for a little bit after, but the truth of it is, as soon as I caught one glimpse of the woman you are instead of who I thought you were, I was done for. I couldn’t not love you.”
Her cheeks were wet again, and he unfastened and got her seatbelt out of the way before cupping her face with both hands. He intended to swipe the new tears from her cheeks with his thumbs, but as her luminous gaze stayed with his, he instead leaned down to kiss them away while his own eyes stung.
“Listen to me, Roxanna, and believe every word I say. You are not the problem. Your mother is. She’s the selfish one who can’t love anyone but herself. She doesn’t deserve someone as wonderful as you in her life.” He moved his lips to her other cheek. “Hell, I probably don’t, either, but I’m going to do my best to earn the privilege of having you in my life every day.”
Realizing she’d been dead silent since he said, “I love you,” he experienced a moment of panic.
“If you’ll have me, that is.”
Her head ducked again, and the next thing he knew, she burst into loud, gasping sobs and sagged into his arms. He held her tight against his chest, rocking slightly as he smoothed her hair, until the sobs became sniffles, then hiccups, and finally there was silence in the dark cab.
She flattened one hand on his chest, sliding it until her palm covered where his heart thumped in his chest.
“I love you, too.”
The whispered words made his heartbeat speed up, and her fingers flexed lightly against his wet shirt. He wanted to tilt her head up to his, but she was still tucked in pretty tight and not moving.
“When I was younger, I had a vision that the true love of my life would be Loyal and true.”
He gave a tiny, involuntary head-jerk. “Seriously?”
“I don’t joke about
visions, Loyal.”
He grinned as he recalled saying something similar to her about numbers. His grin widened when he realized she was teasing him. The tightness in his chest shifted, and he suddenly knew they were going to be okay.
“When we were first introduced and I heard your name, I thought it was fate,” she continued. “I was also young, and foolish, and you were—”
“An ass.”
“Engaged. And then you weren’t, but yes, you were an ass, too. As time went on and things didn’t change, I knew I needed to get over you and move on, but my heart never quite got on board with my head.”
“I love your heart,” he murmured. He didn’t apologize for being a jerk again. They’d agreed that was in the past.
She finally pushed away from his chest far enough to see his face in the dim light of the dash. “And then you moved home. The morning after the fire is when I truly got my first glimpse of you. Not the wounded man afraid to believe, but the loyal and true man you are in here.” Her palm moved over his heart. “You are beautiful and amazing, and I do love you with all my heart.”
The sting in his eyes returned, and he blinked hard while giving a self-conscious sniff. “Well, now you know what can make me cry.”
“I’d much rather make you laugh.”
She reached up to wipe his tears, then leaned in to give him the sweetest, most wonderful kiss he’d ever experienced. Nothing but goodness and love.
“Thank you,” she murmured against his mouth. “For coming for me. For believing in me. For…loving me.”
He cupped the back of her head and whispered, “Always,” before sealing his vow for all three with his own kiss of pure love.
Epilogue
On a bright, sunny Saturday in mid-January, Roxanna and Honor held a joint grand re-opening/opening for Lift Your Spirit and Honor’s new specialty cake shop, Must Love Frosting. The morning was a smashing success, crazy busy, but filled with the love and laughter of family and friends, and a whole lot of customers.
