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“Ashley,” he whispers softly, stroking his hand up and down my back. “I’m sorry, sweetheart. I’m sorry.”
“Please,” I beg, my voice cracking. I don’t want his pity.
“I thought I was going to lose you. I saw your car half buried in that snow embankment…” he trails off, taking a deep breath. “I’ve never felt so helpless in my life. Then I got to you, and saw your head. Blood was dripping, and dried, all down your face. And I swear, Ashley. My heart stopped beating.
“I thought I’d never hear your voice again, or look into your mesmerizing eyes, or feel your heart beat against mine, or hold you.” His arms tighten around me, and his heart beats a little quicker.
“The second I laid eyes on you again in the café, it felt like my world was righting itself. Something in me told me to not let you go again. I should have never let you go last summer.”
“I heard you, Ryan,” I croak, my throat raw. “In the hardware store. I heard you.”
“I know. Jake just told me.” Tilting my chin up, his eyes search mine, swirling shades of blue swimming with regret, sorrow, and apology. “You have to believe me when I say it was all meaningless. I was just talking, trying to get Jake to stop asking me questions I didn’t want to answer. Not to him, at least. When I got home and you weren’t there, but all of your stuff was, I called you. And when you didn’t answer for a while, I called Ally, but she wouldn’t tell me what happened, just that you left. I was driving around, and then it came in on the scanner that a car was spotted...”
“Ashley,” he whispers, cupping my cheek, smoothing his thumb back and forth. Ryan closes his eyes, and when they open again, I see the look. The look I’ve been waiting for my entire life. The look that holds more meaning and weight than any words ever could. “Why did you run? You and I…I thought…This, us, is real. You know it is.”
More tears fall from my eyes as what he says sinks in.
“You see me as more?”
“So much more.”
Wiping the tears from my cheeks, Ryan presses his lips to mine, and I feel everything. He pours all of the unsaid words and emotions into this kiss, and my heart swells.
This man is everything I’ve always needed, but didn’t think I could have.
The pounding in my head slows, and is replaced with the pounding of my heart. Ryan’s kiss soothes me, and mends me from the inside out.
“I’m so glad you’re okay,” he whispers against my lips. “Next time you want to run, just promise me you’ll talk to me first.”
“Next time?”
“It’s probably inevitable if you’re with me,” he says, and I can hear the twinge of sadness in his voice.
“No, it’s not.” Reaching up, I brush my fingers across his forehead and down his jaw. “When I heard you say it, confirm what I feared most, I just…I didn’t want to hear it again if I came to you. So I ran.” I swallow the lump in my throat. “But I didn’t want to go, Ryan.”
Kissing me, he smiles softly. “Will you stay with me, sweetheart?” He strokes my cheek. “Stay with me.”
A few tears fall from my eyes and I nod, my pulse racing, as his mouth captures mine in a searing kiss that I feel all the way down to my toes. Heat spreads through me, finally warming my chilled body.
I tuck my head into the crook of his neck, and I close my eyes, breathing in his intoxicating scent, letting it calm me.
Chapter 24
“It’s time to go, Ash,” Ryan whispers, waking me from a deep sleep.
“Hmm?”
“It’s time to go.”
“Where?” I mumble.
“Home. I’m going to take you home.”
“I already am,” I mumble, snuggling closer into him.
“To my house,” he whispers, rubbing circles on my back. “And you have to sign some papers.”
“Okay,” I say around a yawn, stretching out my stiff limbs.
