Page 118 of Pretend Wife

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“She’s upstairs,” Sierra said. “The door right at the top of the stairs.”

“Thanks.”

My feet felt like lead as I climbed the steps to the second floor. Apologizing had never exactly been my strong suit, and there was a very good chance I was about to screw this up.

I knocked on the door Sierra had mentioned and waited for several agonizing seconds before it pulled open. And there she was. Right in front of me.

She was so beautiful it hurt. I took it all in, from her long hair that fell in waves over her shoulders to her full lips to her whisky eyes framed by dark lashes. I wanted to kiss her, to pull her into my arms and never let go.

But I’d lost that right.

“Hayden,” she breathed.

“Hi.”

She blinked a few times like she wasn’t sure if I was real or not. “What are you doing here?”

“Looking for you.” I took a step closer and inhaled deeply, hoping to catch a trace of her wildflower scent. “Baby, I’m so sorry.”

THIRTY-THREE

Danielle

Had I heard that right?Did Hayden just apologize to me?

He’d spent the past week ignoring every single one of my messages, and now he was standing here in my brother’s house, saying he wassorry?

“Did Nate threaten you?” I asked as the thought occurred to me. Hehadoffered to kidnap him only a few days ago.

Hayden winced. “Not exactly.”

“Oh my God.” I ran my hands over my face. Why did my brother have to be so overprotective? “I’ll talk to him. You can leave. He won’t do anything to you, I promise.”

He frowned. “Danielle, what are you talking about? I’m not going anywhere. Not without saying what I came here to say. Please don’t send me away yet.”

It was my turn to frown. “Are you saying Nate didn’t kidnap you?”

“What? Of course not! I honestly didn’t think he was going to let me in the front door for a minute there.”

“If he didn’t make you come here, then why are you apologizing?”

“Because I messed up. Fuck, baby, I was shocked and hurt, and most of it was not your fault at all. I never should have left, and I definitely shouldn’t have sat around waiting for you to come home instead of coming to find you.”

“You wanted me to come home?”

“Of course I did.” He took another step toward me, his hand reaching out and then pausing before he made contact. “I know you have every right to be mad at me, but I need you to know that I’m sorry. I will do anything to make it up to you.”

“But I’m the one who lied.”

“To protect your family. Because you were being blackmailed by my sister’s demon father—damn, that sounded weird. But it wasn’t your fault.”

“What are you saying?” I was afraid of coming to any conclusions at the moment. Even the blue-gray remorse and bright determination in his aura couldn’t be trusted. I needed to hear from him exactly what he meant.

He dropped to his knees, and this time when he reached out, he didn’t stop. His fingers wrapped around mine, sending a current shooting up my arm at the contact.

“I love you. I don’t care that you’re an angel or that I’ll never be good enough for you. I want to try anyway. When I told you that your secrets didn’t matter to me, I meant it. Yes, I reacted badly when I realized I was theonly person in my family who was unaware that angels and demons were real. If I could change it, I would. But none of that has any effect on the way I feel about you. I will always want you to come home to me. You are the love of my life and the only person I want to spend the rest of my years with.”

He turned my hand over and pulled the wedding and engagement rings from my finger. “I really screwed this part up last time, but hopefully I can make up for it.” He gave me a panty-melting smile as he held up the diamond, pinched between his thumb and forefinger. “Danielle Towler, will you do me the immense honor of being my wife for the rest of our lives?”