Page 20 of True Fate

Lainey fumbled with the box, the hinge squeaking. Inside, a heart-shaped locket lay nestled in wrinkled red velvet. Her hand trembled as she lifted it out. The inscription on the back stole her breath—their initials, intertwined, with the wordFatebeneath them.

A single tear slid down her cheek as her heart quietly broke.

Justin’s smile dimmed as he reached to cradle her face, his thumb gently brushing away the tear. “No tears, Lain,” he murmured. “Shhh… I’m here.”

She closed her eyes as he tucked her against his chest, his heartbeat drumming wildly beneath her ear. She breathed him in, wondering how she’d made it this long without him. “I wasted so much time, made so many mistakes. I ruined everything.”

“Lainey, I wasn’t just mad at you. I was mad at myself. I could’ve tried harder to change your mind—or tried at all. I knew you were worried about the distance, afraid you were holding me back. Your family was as much of a mess as mine, so I understood your concerns, even if I didn’t consider them enough.”

He paused, his gaze dropping to her lips, then back to her eyes, searching for the vulnerability only they shared. “You’re right. We were two frightened kids. And one of them,me, had more pride than sense. But maybe we needed this time to figure ourselves out first…before trying to be a couple again.”

“Are you here?” she whispered into the crisp wool of his coat, holding on to someone she couldn’t bear to lose again. “Are you really here?”

“I’m exactly where I belong.” He kissed the tears from her cheeks, then buried his nose in her hair. “You smell like heaven. I don’t know how, but you always have.”

“I have a question. Are we still meeting at the gallery next week?”

Justin drew a lock of her hair between his fingers. “I have an answer. I told myself I’d wait, but then I realized I’d rather be with you than spend another day counting the minutes.”

Lainey pressed her cheek to his chest, her fingers curling into the back of his coat. “I love you, Just. I always have.”

“I know. Every kiss we ever shared told me, Lainey. That’s why I’ve always been angry with myself—for not trying harder to change your mind. I thought you were just another person I loved who turned their back on me. I didn’t give us a chance. I didn’t try to understand what you were going through. I only thought about what I was feeling. Without you.”

“I'm staying,” she murmured, her heartbeat racing as he leaned in to kiss her. “I’m opening a practice here.”

“Ditto.” He captured her mouth with his, his hands drifting to her hips as he tucked her closer. “Architectural restoration. The woman I love said she’d help me figure out my new direction in life. She’s a therapist, so she knows about these things.”

Lainey leaned back just enough to take him in. Color burned high on his cheeks, his breath coming in ragged bursts. His lashes cast shadows across his skin, framing burnished eyes that held her captive. She had never wanted another man the way she wanted him—his thoughts, his needs, his very essence.

“Don’t look so shocked, Lain. You know I love you more than life. Always. Now. Forever. You and I, we’re fate.” Sunlight spilled through the window, casting a soft glow across his face as a playful gleam sparked in his eyes. “Did you ever really doubt it?”

Lainey frowned, a touch of feminine pique stiffening her shoulders. “Well, after we made love, you went back to New?—”

“Alright, alright.” Justin cut her off with a grin, his breath dusting her lips as his hands curled around her hips. “I have an excellent way to convince you.”

And convince her he did—until there was no room left for doubt, no space for anything but the two of them, finally, exactly where they belonged.

epilogue

Iris–Goo Goo Dolls

One YearLater

LAINEY

LAINEY ADJUSTED THE painting above their bed, careful not to wake Justin. It was the one she’d first spotted at True Art—a vibrant watercolor of a woman gazing out a rain-streaked window, her features blurred just enough that only she and Justin would recognize them as her own.

The Dreamer,the brass plate read. His birthday gift to her.

The same painting they’d nearly knocked off the wall last night during a rather enthusiastic lovemaking session.

“That’s what I thought,” Justin murmured sleepily from beneath the covers. He wasn’t an early riser, while she was up at dawn. Most mornings, she had a cappuccino ready for him when he woke, a small, quiet joy that started their day. “That you were a dreamer…and my dream. You still are.”

Laughing as his muscular arm snaked out from beneath the tangled sheet to circle her waist, she let him pull her on top of him.

“We don’t have time,” she whispered as he pressed his cock against her, the thin strip of pink silk the only thing between them. He slept nude—much to her delight—and loved morning sex nearly as much as she did.

He slid his hand beneath her tank top, his thumb grazing her nipple and sending a jolt of heat through her. “Sweetheart, for this, we always have time.”

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