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“You’re it for me, Nova Pratt.” Sincerity bathes his brown eyes. “You’re all I want. This is it. I’m never letting you go again.”
“Damn you, Devin Hawthorne.” I blink back hot tears. “I swore I wouldn’t cry.” Sinking my hand into the strands at the back of his head, I tug his mouth onto mine, and he doesn’t hesitate to mold me to him. Devin holds me so tight he lifts my feet off the ground. I don’t even care about the scene we’re making in front of the other passengers. If they only knew what it took for us to get here, they’d understand.
“Mmmm,” he hums. “You taste like cinnamon.”
My teeth tug his bottom lip. “Only for you.”
Devin sets me on my feet. The tip of his nose nudges mine. “You came to my games.”
“Of course I did.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“You know it wouldn’t have made much of a difference.”
“Maybe not in terms of my relationship, but knowing you were there would’ve made a difference to me, to us.”
The Christmas Eve conversation with Dad plays in my head. “I’m sorry if I came off as unsupportive. I will never not support you, Dev. No matter what happens to us. I—”
“Hey.” His lips hush mine. “Bite your tongue. This is working.”
I smile against his mouth and pull back, the logistics of his being here in Chicago registering. “How are you even here? There’s no way you could’ve flown in from Florida this early.”
“I flew in last night, got a hotel, and picked up a couple things.” He scoops his leather duffle and a previously unnoticed bag off the floor.
“Garrett’s Popcorn.” I wipe away a tear as the trouble he went through sinks in. “You remembered.”
“When it comes to you, I remember everything.”
The last call for passengers on the flight to Anchorage comes through on the PA.
“What do you say we go to Alaska?”
I turn to get a hold of my carry-on. “You could’ve picked a different season, but okay.”
He smacks my butt. “Get on the plane, Spitfire.”
* * *
DEVIN
I have this overwhelming need to touch Nova. To curl her hair around my finger when her head rests on my shoulder. To run my thumb over her knuckles as I hold her hand. To press my lips to her temple when I need another hit of her sweetness.
Inhaling her sugary scent, I ask, “Crew and Cora still buying all your presents from Bath & Body Works?”
She nods with a laugh. “Pretty sure it’s become a gag gift at this point, this inside joke that will live on until I die.”
I nibble the sensitive spot behind her earlobe. “I can live with that.”
A breathless sigh escapes Nova. “I still can’t believe we’re doing this.”
“Even though your dad told me he dropped you off at the airport, there was a part of me that worried you’d change your mind. Especially when everyone started boarding and you weren’t here.”
It wasn’t until her sunshine hair peeked through the crowded terminal that I was able to breathe.
“We can blame your travel agency skills on that one. I had to sprint across two terminals to avoid missing this flight.”
“Have I told you how hot you are when you’re all riled up?” My hand runs the length of her supple thigh.
