Page 94 of The Hero + Vegas = No Regrets

I nod and take a step toward him. “I shouldn’t have walked out on you.”

“I understand why you did. I get it, Sophia.”

I shake my head. “You can understand—because that’s the man you are—but it’s still not okay. I can’t run when things get scary. That’s not what trust is. That’s not what love is.”

“Love?” he asks.

“I love you,” I whisper. He closes his eyes for one second, then two, like he’s feeling the words trail over his body. “I won’t do it again.”

He fixes me with his gaze. “I won’t survive if you do.”

My chest tightens. I can see the hurt in his eyes, the pain in his expression.

“I’m sorry.” I step forward and press my palm to his chest. He feels solid, like one of the trees standing tall and steady in the Catskills. He feels like shelter. Like home. “I’m truly sorry.”

He circles me with his strong arms and pulls me closer. I sink into his warm body and let myself go. Being here with him, anywhere with him, feels like exactly where I should be. Cincinnati isn’t home—not anymore. It’s only a place I used to live. It’s my history. My present and future are with Worth, wherever that might be.

“So you’re back for good,” he says, like he’s turning the words over on his tongue to see how they taste.

I tilt my chin up to look at him. “If you’ll have me,” I say. “For as long as you’ll be my husband and my hero.”

“That’s forever, then.” A smile curls at the edge of his mouth.

“I want it to be forever with you, Worth. You’re an incredible man and I’m lucky just to know you. I’m the luckiest person alive to be married to you.” I gasp. “I signed those papers.” I look up, searching his face.

“I sent them to my lawyer,” he says. “We’ll figure it out.”

“But what if we’re not married?” I ask.

“Then we’ll do it all over again. I’d marry you every day for the rest of my life if I could.”

I pull off my gloves, lift up on tiptoes and cup his face in my hands, pulling him down to meet me in a kiss. It’s like the Fourth of July inside my body as his touch lights up every part of me.

His hands hold the back of my neck and he deepens the kiss. My knees weaken and my heart lifts in my chest like it might float away at any moment. It feels as if we’re in a bubble, just the two of us. It doesn’t matter where we are; if I’m with Worth, I’m where I’m meant to be.

His cheek scrapes mine, and goose bumps scatter across my skin. He’s cold.

“Shit.” I pull away. “You’re out here without a coat. It’s twenty degrees.” I take his hand in mine and kiss it. “You need to get inside.”

He doesn’t say anything, he just smiles at me. “I haven’t noticed the cold.”

“I mean it, Worth. You’ll get sick. Let’s get you inside.”

He sighs. “The house is full of people. I just want to have you to myself for a little while.”

I can’t help but smile at his wish. “They’re holding it at your house to make you feel better,” I say.

He nods. “I know. They’ve been amazing. I was… in a bad place there for a bit.”

I tilt my head. “If I could take it back, I would.”

“Don’t,” he says. “Don’t say that. We’ve been tested and survived. You left and you came back. We’re stronger because of that. It doesn’t mean it wasn’t hard, but look—it’s all worked out in the end.”

I tug on his hand a little, leading us back to the brownstone. “Let’s go see your friends.”

“They’re your friends too.”

“Maybe not anymore.”

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