AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He’d come back? How? Why?
Lucas’s hands clasped my face, that grin of his parting hishandsome face. “Don’t cry, Rosie.” He pressed his forehead to mine, his hold on my face growing desperate, pleading. “No more tears, no more.”
Aware only of him, I didn’t know where the tiny sparks of color falling around us came from; I just knew Lucas was here, with me. And he was holding on to me like I had wished he had that day at the airport.
I felt the words against the skin of my temple when he said, “Happy New Year,ángel. I’ve missed you so much.”
My lips parted, and my hands went to his wrists, my fingers closing around them, feeling his pulse under his warm skin.
“Lucas,” I whispered. “You’re here. Why are you here?”
His forehead came against mine, and his body stepped even closer to mine, causing a shiver to trail down my spine at the feel of him. “I’m here because I love you. Because I thought I had to walk away, Rosie. Because I didn’t feel worthy of you. Of us. And because I’m ready to grovel as much as I need to to get you back.”
A sound I didn’t understand climbed up my throat.
His hold of my face tightened. “Walking away from you like that was the hardest thing I’d ever had to do. But now, I understand. Now I know that I couldn’t claim you without wanting to become a better man for myself. Without wanting to get there on my own.” His nose trailed along mine, his lips coming so very close to mine, hovering with the promise of a kiss I desperately needed. “But I’m not going anywhere now. If you’ll take me back. If you’ll have me.” The pads of his fingers tangled in my hair as he tilted my head back so he could look at me. “Will you? Do you still want me?”
The question left me so breathless that I couldn’t utter a word.
“I have so much to tell you, Rosie. So much to explain, but—” He stopped himself, coming even closer, his hold turning more urgent, his voice dropping with the need I felt surging through me, too. “I need you. I need you to take me back so I can show you.”
“Lucas,”I finally said, “would you just… stop talking and kiss me? Please.”
I didn’t need to look at him, to see him, to know that he wassmiling when he took my mouth. Because when his lips finally met mine, I felt it. Deep in my bones. I felt his beautiful smile, his kindness, his selflessness, his honesty, his love. I felt all the things that made himhimand that I adored so much. Everything that had made me fall so helplessly in love with him.
He parted my lips, deepening the kiss, telling me with it how much he’d missed me, how sorry he was, how much he needed me and wanted me. And I took all of it. I took it for myself, keeping it in the safe place where I’d stored everything else he’d given me and I’d thought I’d lost. Only now, it didn’t hurt anymore. Now it only filled me with happiness. It made me float.
When we came up for air, his gaze met mine, looking at me like he had something precious in front of him. Something invaluable. Something he wasn’t planning on ever letting go.
“You’ve killed Sad Grinch Rosie,” I croaked in a broken voice.
Lucas laughed. “I’ve missed you so much, Rosie.” His throat bobbed. “This mouth.” The pad of his thumb grazed my bottom lip. “These eyes.” It moved to my brow. “This beautiful face.” He leaned down, brushing his lips along my cheek. “But most of all, I’ve missed this.” Lucas’s palm pressed against my chest, where my heart was thrumming out of control, wanting out, wanting to leave me and go to him. “And I have no right over it anymore, but God, I want it for myself. I want it so badly.” He paused, like it was impossibly hard for him to continue. “I hope I can have it.”
My hands trailed up his arms, reaching his face. I brushed his hair back. “You do,” I told him, looking up at him, letting him see just how much. “You always did and you always will.”
I hadn’t realized he had been holding his breath until his chest moved, and air left his nose shakily. “Good,” he said, leaning his face on my touch. “That’s good. Otherwise what’s coming next would have been a little awkward.”
My mouth parted, but before I could utter a word, the song over the speakers registered.
Slowly, I became aware of my surroundings. New Year’s Eve. The party. Lina and Aaron. Confetti dusted over every surface. Theopening line of the track that had marked the start of something before I could know what it would lead to.
I glanced up at Lucas again, finding that pair of brown eyes filled with the same emotion flooding my chest.
“Our song,” I barely managed to say, something clogging my throat. “Rosie and Lucas’s Soundtrack.”
Lucas shrugged, the corner of his lips tipping up, and then he lowered his head, grazing my ear with his mouth. “I told you to make it count.” A shiver crawled down my arms, my whole body coming alive at that simple touch. “Will you dance with me, Rosalyn Graham?”
“Yes,” I told him. Then, I repeated it for good measure. “Yes, yes.”
His arms rearranged around me, one of his hands traveling all the way to the nape of my neck and slipping in my hair. “I know this is not a song to slow-dance to, but I don’t think I can stay away from you a second longer.”
Lucas tilted my head back, and he kissed me again. Intently. Honestly. Wordlessly granting me a little piece of himself I hadn’t had access to before. My arms linked behind his neck and I couldn’t do anything but pull him to me and give him access to whatever I had left.
His mouth left mine, his lips soft along my jaw. “I wish we weren’t in the middle of a party,” he admitted low and only for me. “That I had you all to myself right now. But that needs to wait, anyway. There’s so much I need you to hear first.”
Sobering up, I nodded, letting him sway us softly. “Then tell me. Tell me everything, Lucas.”
“I left you without an explanation, back there at the airport,” he said, swallowing hard. “And for that, I’m sorry. I’m sorry I hurt you, and I’m sorry I somehow let you believe that what I was feeling for you wasn’t strong enough, powerful enough for me to be with you. I let you believe that you weren’t enough for me, and I’ll never forgive myself for it.”
