Page 131 of The Rescuer

“But …” the guy sputtered. “You’re not serious, are you?”

“About the first two? No.” He turned in his seat so he faced Neve. “But that last one, crazy as it sounds, that one’s the truth. I didn’t plan it. It was a wild hair that caught us both by surprise. On a whim, I married my best friend, and I want to stay here. With her.” Reece was vaguely aware of cursing in the background, while his focus zeroed in on Neve’s mouth forming an Othat matched the shape of her eyes.

Joe’s voice rose in pitch. “Jesus, can’t you bring her with you?”

“She’s a vet with a growing practice, and I can’t ask her to give that up and move with me. And I’ve decided I won’t move without her.”

It wasn’t long before the call ended. Neve’s expression remained frozen in shock, and Reece gave her hair a gentle tug. “That bonfire you see is the bridge I just burned down.”

She seemed to come out of her daze. “Are you … staying? Are you reconsidering Summit County?”

“No.”

She shook her head as if to shake off her confusion. “Right. You don’t want to be part of the ‘bedazzled’ set.”

“If it takes wearing rhinestone jeans to make you happy, I’m in. I would jump off a cliff without ropes and harness for you. I would cling to the side of a mountain in subzero temperatures for you. When you were lost out there, when I knew someone had you and I couldn’t get to you and I didn’t know if you were okay …” His voice broke. “It all became so fucking clear.”

She placed a soft finger against his lips. “You don’t have to—”

He kissed it, pressed her hand to his cheek, and cleared his throat. “Yeah, I do. I have some things I’ve got to tell you, so let me get them out.” He fastened his eyes on hers so she could read the truth of what he was about to say. “It might have taken a drunk night in Vegas to open my eyes, but they’re open now, and I want to keep them that way because when I look at you, I’m in awe. I guess I always have been, but I was too stubborn or boneheaded to admit it. For years, I’ve looked at you like you were that skinny-legged kid who used to chase me around, but you’ve grown into a vibrant, strong, sexy woman that any man would be proud to have as his wife. Neve Embry, you take my breath away.”

Once upon a time, he had believed she belonged to Charlie, and he’d erected barriers around himself. Although he knew better now, it didn’t matter anymore. She could have been with Charlie or Shane or all the men in town who saw her for the knockout she was, and he still wanted her. Wanted to stake arealclaim on her, to put up red warning flags around her to keep other men away. He wanted her to be his and for the world to know it.

Her eyes filled with tears and spilled down her cheeks. Leaning across the console, he cradled her face in his hands and brushed them away with his thumbs while he searched her eyes. Did she still want what she’d wanted right after they woke up married? Did she still want to end their “mistake”? And how could he stop her if she did?

He rested his forehead against hers. “I want time with you, Neve. I want a chance to prove to you that I can be the man you think I am. Iwantto be that guy. For you.”

She lowered her lids and sighed. And grew very, very still.

He tried to swallow the lump in his throat. Maybe he was pushing too hard after her ordeal. Maybe he was pushing too hard, period—he’d never had any practice fighting for a woman he loved. But the floodgates were open now.

“Neve, I don’t want a divorce. I want to be married to you. I want to make this work with you.”

Still not looking at him, she murmured, “Are you serious?” Her tone conveyed her doubt, and he couldn’t blame her. He’d been one big contradiction.

“Dead serious. You know me well enough to know I don’t glibly throw out comments with that much weight to them.”

“No, I guess not.”

“No guessing about it. You know it’s true.” Desperation flared inside him. “You’ve been asking why I never got serious with anyone before. Well, I finally figured out the answer. It’s because none of them was you.” He rubbed his nose against hers. “Hey, look at me.”

She raised her gaze to his.

“Neve, I am in love with you. Head over ass. I have been for a long time—maybe even since we were five—but it only hit me recently, and when it hit, it was like a rockfall. I know I’ve been an idiot, refusing to see what was in front of me, but sweetheart, my eyes are wide open now, and I can’t take them off you. I want you, Neve, and I’m not talking about sex.” He paused a moment to wag his head back and forth. “Well, I’m not planning to leave that out either, but seriously, I’m talking about the sharing and the taking care of each other and the talks and the tears and the cooking dinner together. I want all of that. And I want kids with you. I want little Neves with bouncy blond hair trying to knock their dad down on the ice. I don’t want that with anyone else. Ever. It’s only you.”

She began crying in earnest now, but a whisper of a smile danced across her lips, and his achy heart dared to bump against his chest wall.

Neve froze inside, notbelieving her ears, not daring to hope, not trusting what she might blurt out. So she said nothing. But God, this man! He had the ability to take her solid, beating heart and turn it into a squishy blob of Silly Putty she couldn’t hold in the palm of her hand. But did he truly know what he was asking? Did he mean it, deep down, where the truth might lay hidden from view? It was what she’d wanted her entire life, but was it the little girl inside her or the woman she’d become who held that flame of hope? Did grown-up Neve want to stay married to grown-up Reece and try to turn what started as a mistake into something real? And did it standa lasting chance?

She needed a beat to process the unexpected twist. So much was at stake. Or was she overthinking?

“I tell you what,” she choked out.

He continued to cup her face, his touch gentle and warm. His eyes wereright there, question marks floating in them. One eyebrow lifted.

“Let’s throw for it. Rock, paper, scissors.”

His second eyebrow joined the first and smacked his hairline. “Seriously?” Letting his hands slip from her face, he drew back. He was obviously biting back his thoughts, which would have gone something like,“You want to take a risk on the rest of your life with a game of rock, paper, scissors?”And who could blame him? But she needed this. And for once in her life, she was counting on him winning the contest.

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