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I study his expression, my mind racing. Yes, everything he’s saying is everything I’ve been pining to hear, but I force myself to be firm. Didn’t I tell my aunts that Charlie Fox is a smooth talker? It’s a skillset, a muscle he’s flexed as long as I’ve known him.
How can I be sure he really means what he’s saying?
“You were right too,” I say, though it pains me to admit. “Youdidtell me that commitment wasn’t on the table. You were honest, so I’m being honest too. Thatiswhat I want. I can’t pretend to play it cool, or just be casual—”
“I know.” Charlie says immediately. “And I’m not asking you to settle for anything less. What I am asking is for another chance. For real this time,” he adds. “No arrangement, no boundaries. Just you and me, seeing where this can take us.”
I pause, aching to hold him again. “And if it takes us down the road together, how can I be sure you won’t freak out and run again?”
“I won’t,” Charlie promises. “And if I do, I give you—and Dash, and Poppy, and your crazy aunts—full permission to hit me over the head and knock some sense back into me.”
I smile, but only just. My heart is no laughing matter, and that’s what’s on the line right now. “Charlie…”
“I know.” He reaches out and tenderly cups my cheek. “Look, I’m not going to lie to you, neither of us know for sure what the future holds. Maybe this doesn’t work out, and it hurts like hell. But… I love you, Grace, and it’s a risk I’m willing to take. I guess my only question is, are you willing to take that risk with me?”
I stare at him in disbelief, his words slowly sinking in.
“You love me?” I whisper, my heart soaring.
He grins. “Yeah. I do. I didn’t see you coming, Grace Sommerville. But now I’ve found you, I’m not going to make the mistake of letting you go.”
Tears sting in the corner of my eyes, but they’re happy ones.
He loves me.
“I love you too,” I whisper, sniffling happily. “In case you couldn’t notice with all the crying and snot. Real romantic,” I say ruefully.
”Your snot is very romantic,” he says, wiping away my tears.
I huff with laughter, and he finally draws me close, slipping his arms around me and claiming my lips in a slow, deep kiss.
The kind of kiss that says ‘I’m in this’.
The kind of kiss I never want to end.
I snuggle into his arms, holding on tightly, to keep from floating away. Charlie’s right, we can’t tell what’s going to happen in the future, but somehow, I know we’ll navigate it together. With his charm, and my smarts, and these sizzling kisses to fuel us along the way, how could we fail?
I could stay there forever, kissing him in the sunshine, but there’s a discreet sound of someone clearing their throat nearby. It’s Trudy, looking delighted.
“Not to interrupt,” she says, beaming. “But the sticky toffee pudding is really best served warm.”
“Well, in that case…” I laugh, as Charlie immediately brings another chair over.
“You must join us.”
“Oh, I couldn’t intrude,” Trudy protest – but takes a seat.
“Are you kidding?” I exclaim. “We want to hear everything. Like about the time you made sausage rolls with that old Duke, and his pet ferret escaped.”
“Or when the kitchen caught on fire, but your soufflé still came out perfectly,” Charlie adds, just as much of a Higgenbottomhead as me.
And so Trudy launches into stories of her broadcasting history, as we sit there in the sunshine. Eating cake. Together.
27
GRACE
“Here’s oneSoulmate,aGolden Couple, and aHappily-Ever-After,” I declare, setting a tray of drinks down on the table. It’s the grand opening night of the new bar, which the guys have named Renegades, and it seems like half the city is lined up around the block for the first glimpse of action.
