Page 72 of Matched with Her Runaway Groom

Landon smiles, wiping under his nose with the back of his hand as he sniffles. “I’m sorry about all of it, Rachelle. I love you too, I just have a hard time thinking you’ll even need me around now.”

I frown, surprised by that. “What do you mean? I did say I love you, right? That usually means you want to be around someone.”

Have I gone into some strange time warp?

He opens the door and goes to sit on the bed. The covers are rumpled compared to Dani’s, which are neatly tucked in.

“The thing is, most of my life, I’ve been needed by people. You needed me to help you through things your mom forced you to do. My mom needs me to help her with the house and the family. But everyone is growing up, moving on. And it’s hard to find my place.” The last of his words come out strangled, and his Adam’s apple bobs a few times, a signal that he’s fighting his emotions.

I walk over and sit next to him, holding his hand gently. “What are you talking about? You are charismatic and help people feel at ease when they’re having a rough time. You’ve obviously been able to do a lot with the Hamilton Group because they invited you here after only working for them less than a year. And you’ve supported me throughout this cruise. It would’ve been easy to slip into our old roles but you didn’t. You let me be the newer version of myself, the one who can take risks and work through problems instead of hoping someone will rescue me.”

Landon turns and smiles, his eyes tearing up. “I saw you in the skydiving simulator. You were nervous but you still did it. I figured if you can do that alone, you probably don’t need me around anymore. That’s when my brain started working overtime.”

I lean over and bump his shoulder with mine. “Come on, Landon. I might not need to lean on you as much, but at least we can be equal partners. Then you don’t feel like you’re dragging me around to do things or bored with your life because I just want to stay home where nothing bad can happen.”

“That’s true,” he says with a laugh. Then he settles in and looks over at me, his eyes vulnerable. “Are you ready to try us again?”

“Absolutely.” I lean over, pressing my lips to his. He reciprocates and we’re lost in the moment, kissing each other over and over.

The door hits against the wall and we jump back. I feel like a teenager again, getting caught kissing in the back of Landon’s old car.

“Well, at least we found them,” Dani says. She’s grinning and I match her smile, unable to stop.

“So, what did we decide?” Tiffany takes a seat on Dani’s bed and glances back and forth between us. All she needs is popcorn and she’s ready for a show.

“We’re going for it,” I say. I don’t know if I’ll ever stop smiling.

CHAPTER32

Rachelle

Leaving the ship with my best friend and now boyfriend is a unreal experience. All we’ve gone through in the past seven years has led us to this.

We spend a week together before he has to leave for a trip to Chicago, as requested by Roman.

Once we got back into the service area, my phone pinged with about a hundred different notifications. One of them was from the Love, Austen app. I click on it and am pulled to a matching page that shows a few profiles and the percentage match.

Tiffany has shown me this before in the hopes that I’d move on and find someone.

The top picture isn’t the same as the last time I looked at it. That picture has been moved down to the third position, still with a seventy-five percent match.

But the one who is in the top spot is a clear picture of Landon with me grinning next to him. Matched with My Runaway Groom.

Now I can keep my promise to myself to date the top match.

I smile as I walk into my parents’ home, thinking of how different my life looks now. Of course, it’s not perfect, since I’m still looking for a job, but it’s mine.

“Rachelle, what a surprise to see you here,” my mom says, grabbing her purse and keys. “You should’ve called. I’m late for a meeting with the Boston Ladies Society.”

“I just need a minute, Mom. Landon and I got back together,” I say, smiling wide. Her face drops and she looks like she’s ready to go to war.

“I thought you were done with him when he broke your heart.” She adjusts the purse strap over her shoulder and her keys jingle.

I bob my head from side to side a couple times and then say, “Sometimes couples just need some time apart to grow. Then they’re stronger when they get back together.”

She shakes her head. “I still don’t think you should be with him. Look at how you were when he left. Aren’t you worried about that happening again?”

“I can’t worry about the future, Mom. I’ve got to take advantage of what’s happening today. The reason I came to talk to you is that I need you to stop making comments about my body.”

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