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The realisation is in his voice—he finally sees why his efforts to “fix things” are always unsuccessful: because he acts without emotion and expects everyone else to do the same.
“But I want to let you in. I want to be the kind of partner who’s emotionally available and loving and not afraid to reveal himself. I want to give you back what you’ve given me.” He draws me closer and brushes the messy strands of hair from my face. His fingertips trace my hairline and my ear and the ticklish spot on my neck. “I know neither of us had great examples of what love could be like—”
“Understatement of the century,” I say with a shaky laugh.
“But that’s a good thing for us.”
“It is?”
“We’ve seen the mistakes. We’ve learned our lessons the hard way about whatnotto do, so we know what to avoid. We know how to do better.”
Is this really happening? I want to shake myself to see if I’ve fallen asleep in my bedroom and this is nothing but my brain’s way of trying to resolve my hurt.
“I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you,” I admit. “Every day I’ve hoped and dreaded that you’d come to your senses.”
“Why did you dread it?”
“Because I don’t know if I’m strong enough to withstand you changing your mind.” The hollow feeling is so vast and so black and so all-consuming that it terrifies me. “What if it turns out your feelings are false? A mistake?”
“There’s nothing false in how I feel about you,” he says, resting his forehead down on mine. The touch is tender and perfect. “You’ve changed me, Ava. You’ve helped me to see all the ways I was holding myself back, all the ways that I set myself up to fail. I’m a better man because of you.”
“How?” I need to know the details, to know exactly how he’s changed. To know that this change means thereisspace for me in his life.
“I wouldn’t have given my brother a chance to explain before,” he says. “What he accused me of... It’s the biggest, most painful insult anyone could have hurled at me. In my eyes, it was unforgivable. I only wanted him to know I was not having an affair with Lily because it was important to the company...because I didn’t want people to gossip.”
He draws a long breath, as though it pains him to be so raw. So open.
“But when you called me on my inability to be vulnerable, I realised I was doing the same thing my mother had done all those years ago. By worrying more about what outsiders might think, I was letting bad feelings fester. I wanted Marc to come back to the company, but I never had any intentions of forgiving him for what he said.”
“But youdidforgive him?”
“Yes. I understand why he believed the lies and...” His Adam’s apple bobs. “I understand the role I played, unintentional as it was, in why he didn’t trust me. Before you, I would never have had the conversation with him because I have always loathed talking about my feelings. I never saw the point in it, because the discomfort was too great. But it’s worth it. Letting you go because I was too scared to say how I felt would be a crime. The fact is, I don’t know what the future holds, but I do know thatweare in charge of it.”
“We are,” I echo.
He lowers his head down to mine, capturing my mouth and kissing me deeply. He backs me up against the wall and I let him in. His lips are firm and his tongue demanding, and he slides his arms around my waist.
“Can you forgive me, Ava? Our business arrangement was done the second you came up those stairs.” He closes his eyes for a moment. “Saying I felt nothing was the biggest lie I’ve ever told.”
“I forgive you.”
“I want us to build something wonderful together.” The raw intensity of his voice makes my body hum with excitement. With anticipation for a bright and beautiful future. “I want us to have a home that is ours and make a family there.”
I smile up at him, letting all the heat coursing through my body bubble to the surface. “We should probably start practicing, then. For making a family, I mean.”
He laughs and kisses me deeply. Out of the corner of my eye I catch the living room sliding door creep open, where my grandmother pokes her head out and gives me the thumbs-up. Laughing and cringing and feeling all things perfect and awkward and wonderful, I grab Daniel’s face between my hands. “But let’s not do that here, okay?”
“We can go anywhere you want, Ava. We’re starting over, right now.”
“Right this very second?” I loop my arms around his neck. “Why, Mr. Moretti, I have to say I’ve heard some terrible, wicked things about you.”
He quirks a brow. “Don’t tell me you read internet gossip.”
“I don’t. But I did hear you’ve got a thing for curvy women with big mouths who like to sneak up when they’re least expected.”
He entwines his hands with mine and looks at me so long and so deep it’s a miracle I don’t melt right at his feet. “You have no idea.”
“I havesomeidea.” I grin. “So, want to stay for a bite to eat before we escape back to your place so I can have my wicked way with you?”
