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“Yeah. Which is nuts.” She let out a nervous laugh. “That’s nuts, right?”
“I don’t know anymore.” His sideways smile was filled with chagrin. She loved it. She loved him. “We don’t have to decide that now, but you do have to decide something.”
“Which is?” She couldn’t wait to hear what he said next considering his every confession had been better than the last.
“You have to come back to Monarch,” he said so seriously that a few banked tears squeezed from the corners of her eyes.
She sniffled and swiped them away. “Done.”
“And you have to be mine. Not like the chickadees, Sabrina. Like...whatever species of bird mates for life. Paint that kind of bird—two of them—and I’ll hang that painting over my mantel.”
“The only species I know that mates for life is black vultures.” She wrinkled her nose.
“How the hell do you know that?”
“I went through a macabre phase in my angsty teenage years.”
“Yikes,” he said, on the end of a deep chuckle.
“Oddly enough, a pair of black vultures is fitting for your apartment,” she teased.
He squeezed her hand, but instead of teasing her back, he said, “So are you. You belong there with me. I used to think I was good by myself. That I liked my space and having things easy, simple. But since you walked into my black and white penthouse, you changed all that. You’ve been too far away during the years Veronica and I were married. Then you came back and brought color into my life, Sab. And you brought love—real love. The patient, kind type of love they talk about in wedding vows. I’ve known for a while there’s been something missing in my life. I used to think it was success or money. But all along, it was you. You’re what’s been missing in my life. I’m tired of missing you. I don’t want to miss you again. Not ever.”
As he gave the speech, an earnest expression on his face, his hand held hers tightly. The words were stacked on top of one another like he was trying to say them all at once.
She had to make sure she understood what he was saying. There’d been too many moments lately where she and Flynn had been vague. They’d paid the ultimate price—losing each other. She wouldn’t risk him again.
“Just to be crystal clear,” she said, “you want me to work with you. And...live with you? Maybe marry you in the future?”
“Yes, yes and hell yes. You’re my vulture, Sabrina.” He winked. “Plus, I was absolved from the bachelor pact.”
“You were?”
“Yep. These two weird guys I know don’t want me in it. They’d rather us be together.”
Okay, she was giving Reid and Gage huge hugs the next time she saw them.
“They said I’ve always been yours. I thought about that a lot this past week. Over the years you and I have known each other, no matter who we were with at the time, we stuck together. You and I have never strayed. I’ve always been yours, but you’ve also always been mine.”
The truth of his words resonated deep in her soul. She, too, thought of the years they’d spent in each other’s company. The easy way they could talk and pass the time together. Of course it’d always been Flynn. Who else would it have been?
“I’ve always known the right place for you was by my side,” she told him. “I never dreamed you’d be more than a friend.”
“Then it’s a good thing I kissed you on the pier on Valentine’s Day.”
A thrill ran through her as she remembered the first contact with his lips. How surprised she was to explore another side of him. Who knew it could get better, then worse, and then better than before?
“I’m taking the rest of the day off.” He stood and pulled her to her feet.
She lifted a hand to his forehead, checking for a fever. “A half day? Are you sure you’re not sick?”
“Lovesick.” He lowered his lips for a soft, way-too-brief kiss and then handed over her coffee cup.
“Besides, we have a lot to do. Pack up your apartment, hire movers—”
“Redecorate your colorless apartment.”
“You’ll bring the color, Sab.”
