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“That’s insane! I wanted to be there for you. I was there for you!”
He nodded. “I know you were. But I was inconsolable. And sharing the grief with my brothers somehow only made me feel more lost and alone. Worthless.” He dragged a hand over his face. “You were a ray of light and I was bitter despair and darkness. You were too good for me, and I’d decided it was never going to last.”
“Well I’m glad you got to decide that life altering stuff on your own!” She released the handle of her luggage, her anger palpable. “My God, your parents didn’t mean to die, Aiden. And I never intended to leave you. I was in love with you!”
His eyes darkened, hope thickening his voice. “And now?”
“Now I can’t help but wonder if I’m ever going to get over you.”
His eyes flared with shock, his whole body tense, his muscles coiled like a predator about to strike. “I love you, Luna. I always have. If you feel even a little of what I feel for you then that will be enough for me to work on and earn your love, your trust and respect back.”
She licked her bottom lip, his eyes following the movement. She was only half-aware of Trina hovering in the background, glued to every detail of their exchange, along with half-a-dozen other travelers who appeared happy to tune into the drama unfolding in front of them.
That her heart tripped with joy, with fierce excitement and anticipation, was one thing. That her soul flicked the self-protection mechanism to repel him was a whole other thing again. Could she really trust him this time?
His hollow eyes held hers, the dark circles beneath standing out. “When you left me I realized the depth of hurt you must have suffered, the anguish and despair. It also made me realize I probably don’t deserve you. You were there for me and I turned my back on you.”
She crossed her arms. “I wanted you to suffer,” she admitted, her voice brittle. “I wanted you to feel at least some of the pain you caused me.”
He nodded. “It worked. I was inconsolable.” He exhaled heavily. “If I could take back what I did for you, I would in a heartbeat. At the very least I’d absorb all the pain you suffered thanks to me.” He shook his head. “I’m deeply sorry for what I did to you.”
Something inside her softened, like hardened cement becoming putty. “You waited eighteen years to finally apologize?”
His gaze darkened. “I wish you knew just how much I regret doing what I did to you.”
She closed her eyes momentarily as the world did a slow turn around her. “I think I’m beginning to understand.”
One of the travelers standing behind Aiden, a middle aged woman with a wide-brimmed hat covering her graying hair and a sundress barely covering her ample bosom, clapped her hands while giving voice to her opinion. “How could you possibly resist him?”
How indeed?
Trina cleared her throat, then said, “I might be crazy, but I’m going to have to agree.” She straightened a little, her hand tight around the handle of her wheeled luggage. “Either way, I’m sure you’ll make the right decision.”
Luna managed to flash a smile in Trina’s direction before her friend disappeared amongst the crowd of travelers arriving and departing inside the terminal. Right then all Luna knew, all she cared about, was this man in front of her, the same man who’d taken hostage of her thoughts and emotions for far too long already.
That he had the ability to reduce her to a blubbering, mindless mess no longer seemed to matter. Better that she failed knowing what true love felt like than face having to once again walk away empty of all emotions.
Uncrossing her arms, she stepped toward him, lifting one hand then to touch his face. That he needed to shave everyday never seemed more obvious right then, with his five o’clock shadow roughening his chin and cheeks. There was never any doubting his masculinity.
He sucked in a breath, his nostrils flaring as his brilliant eyes held hers. “Please tell me you’re considering this...considering us,” he stated.
Her thumb brushed over his bottom lip. “I doubt there’s been a time in the last eighteen years when I haven’t considered us,” she conceded heavily. And yet her admission made her heart so much lighter, as though all the weight of her denial had been lifted from her.
She traced her hand up and over his sharper jawline and up his cheekbone, touching his brow before she pushed her hand through his hand and up behind his head. It took very little pressure to bring his head down to hers, even less persuasion for his mouth to cover hers and for their lips to hungrily kiss.
It was beyond strange for their surrounds to fade away until it was just him and her in their own private world, where nothing else mattered but him and her and this moment...their moment.
It wasn’t until she pulled back, that she was half-aware of their growing audience who were even now watching them quizzically.
Aiden smiled down at her, apparently completely immune to anyone else. “Come home with me, Luna,” he said huskily. “Make me the happiest man in the world.”
She blinked back sudden tears. “I can’t fight what we have, not anymore,” she conceded. “I don’t want to be anywhere else in the world but with you.”
“And I don’t want anyone else in the world but you,” he said hoarsely.
When he dropped onto one knee and pulled out a small velvet box, their audience oohed and ahhed, caught up in the romance unfolding before them. He opened the box, his eyes shining as brightly as the sparkling diamond on its band when he looked up at her, his devotion all too apparent.
“I love you, Luna. I always have. Please let’s not waste any more time by not being together. Luna, will you marry me?”
