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“Oh, Hunter.” She pressed the paper to her heart. “I missed you.”
“Not as much as I missed you.” He kissed her again, sliding his hands down to clutch her hips. “You feel so damned good.”
Heat flooded the space between them. Cupping her chin, he tilted her head back and slanted his mouth more firmly against hers. An upwelling of emotion filled Aria’s heart.
Hunter muttered a sudden curse and broke away from her. At their feet, Jumbo let out a yowl, snagging his sharp claws on Hunter’s jeans.
Aria laughed and bent to pick up the irritated cat. “That’s his way of sayingwelcome back.”
“I like your way better.” He brushed his knuckles against her cheek.
But are you back to stay? What happened? Why didn’t you call? What about your job?
The questions clogged her throat. She wasn’t entirely sure she wanted to know what their relationship, what his sacrifice, had cost him.
“I need to finish feeding the cats.” Still holding Jumbo, she led the way into the Cat Lounge. She tossed him a clean towel to dry his hair. “When did you get back?”
“Just now. I haven’t even had a chance to see if Mrs. Higgins has a vacancy.”
Aria suppressed the instinct to tell him he could stay with her. Everything had happened in such a tumultuous, crazy rush with them that she didn’t want to make assumptions. She needed certainty.
“So what have you been doing?” Keeping her tone casual, she filled the rest of the cat bowls. “You didn’t say much in your texts or emails.”
“I’m sorry.” His expression darkened. “I knew that if I talked to you, I wouldn’t be able to stop myself from getting on the next plane. I’ve been desperate to come back to you, but I needed to close the door on my old life before I could ask you to start a new one with me.”
A blossom right in the center of Aria’s heart began to open and unfurl. He was looking at her with what seemed like a thousand emotions—tenderness, warmth, uncertainty, even fear.
“I quit Imperial right after the Mariposa Association meeting, but I couldn’t tell you until I was sure there wouldn’t be legal issues. There won’t be,” he added quickly when she started to speak. “Leaving the company ended up being pretty straightforward, but there was a ton of paperwork, and I had over ten years of clients to contact. Not to mention, a decade of living in New York to leave behind.”
Her breath caught. “Leave behind?”
“I need…” He paused, his throat working with a swallow. “I needed to leave it behind because I want to start again with you. Here, in Bliss Cove. I’ve never felt at home anywhere in the world. I don’t think I even knew what that meant…at least, not until I came here. Not until I found you. I know it’s only been a month, but it feels like so much longer. As if everything I did before coming to Bliss Cove was just a rehearsal for my real life. The life that started the instant I opened the window and saw you.”
He got all blurry behind her tears. Aria grabbed a tissue and wiped her eyes. She’d been working so hard to prove herself, to start a new chapter, to succeed. But she hadn’t dared to hope that love would be a part of it.
She hadn’t dared believe a man like Hunter would stand at her side, make sacrifices for her, and believe in her. Whether their first encounter had been due to cat spirits, coincidence, or just plain luck, the fact was that it had happened. They’d both been right where they were supposed to be.
Okay, universe. Maybe you weren’t playing a cosmic joke on us after all.
“I love you, Hunter.” She pressed her palm against his chest. “I think I triednotto love you, but you…you’re kind of like Jumbo the way he eased right into my heart when I wasn’t looking and then decided to stay.”
“No wonder.” He smiled, his beautiful eyes creasing at the corners. “Given that your heart is filled with so many warm patches of sunlight, he must have felt right at home there. I know I do.”
He cupped her neck and kissed her again. Every curve and crevice of Aria’s soul filled with happiness. When they came up for air, she brushed her fingers against his lips.
“What happens next?” she asked.
“We’ll have to figure that out together.” He tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear. “I have some plans, but I can’t do anything without you. I want to live here with you and explore all the town’s secrets and do something…I have no idea what…with Mariposa Street, and help take care of your cats… Oh, that reminds me.”
He eased away from her to dig another crumpled piece of paper from his pocket. Smoothing it out, he handed it to her. As Aria scanned the paper, a fresh wave of love washed over her.
She looked up at him. “You’re sure?”
He smiled again. “That old cat and I have a lot in common. It’ll take some time for us to get used to each other, but I’m willing to adopt him, if he’ll have me.”
Aria laughed, wiping a stray tear from her cheek as she stood on tiptoe to kiss him. “Fang will have you, all right. I can’t think of a better companion for him than Glowering Stranger.”
He cupped her face in his hand, tender warmth filling his eyes. “And will you have me, Aria Prescott, love of my life?”
“I’ll have you, Hunter Armstrong.” She wrapped her arms around him, happiness lifting her heart like a bright, colorful butterfly. “Welcome to your forever home.”
