Page 83 of A Heart to Find
“That’s not all. I love you, Keira, and I’ll fight for you. If you’re not ready to accept me now, I’ll move back to Healing Springs and work hard every day to show you we belong together. I can be the man you need.” He reached for her then, his eyes begging her to see him fully. “I vow I will never leave you. No matter what. And if you decide to leave me, you’d be forever welcomed in Hailey’s life. I would never do to you what the others have done. You can believe in me, Keira. I wouldn’t hurt my daughter by taking someone loving away from her, and I wouldn’t use my daughter to hurt you. Not ever. But I don’t expect you to trust me fully on that, because you’ve trusted others who have hurt you. I’ll sign legal documents to codify that promise. I believe in us, and I want to be with you while you learn to believe too.”
The overwhelming urge to throw herself into his arms and to kiss him with all the enthusiasm she felt at his speech took an incredible amount of power to contain.
“Is that all you have to say?” She placed a hand on her hip and tried to look as sassy as she tried to sound.
His eyes widened as he noticed her appearance for the first time. She hadn’t seen a mirror since before she left for the farewell party, but she was sure her hair was a mess, her makeup smudged, and her clothing wrinkled. But he drank her in as if he had been wandering through the desert for days with no water in sight.
“No,” he said, his voice low and deep. He stepped closer and reached for her hips, which he pulled closer to him. “You look… stunning.”
She smiled coyly and wiggled out of his grip.
“Can’t break the rules about coming into my room. I believe your privileges expired when I started walking on my own again.”
“I don’t care about the rules. I care about hearing what you have to say. And then I care about holding you and kissing you and making you my wife.”
Joy tore through her, nearly crippling her. She fought for the words she wanted to say to work their way through her vocal cords.
“Well good. Because I was just about to tell you that I know I’ve been dumb to try to resist you. I love you, Jared. I loved you then, I love you now, and I’ll love you forever. And I know I’ll love your sweet little girl. And I love Elizabeth for guiding you here. For her determination in bringing you to me. I don’t care where we live. As long as you promise we can be together until the day we die, I’ll consider that a life well lived.”
His beaming smile cast a glow on her that warmed her from her toes to her nose. After two weeks of resisting the urge, she finally allowed herself to trace the groove on his cheek that she had been wanting so badly to touch.
“You fulfill me in ways that nothing ever has, Keira. I had a big dream I had to chase last time we were in a relationship together. But now I have a bigger one.”
Unable to contain the flow of tears any longer, Keira pulled him to her lips to seal the deal on the promises they had sworn to one another.
His kiss was everything. Passion and fire and tenderness. He tasted exactly like she remembered–a mix of spice and sweet that had nothing to do with food. Electric currents flashed through her body, burning her from within but in the most delicious way.
She never wanted to stop kissing him. She wanted all of him. All the time.
After a moment, and just as the kiss was heating up and her body threatened to rebel if he didn’t do something to put out the flames, Jared mumbled against her lips.
“Forgot something important.”
What he thought could be more important than this was beyond her, but when he reached into his pocket, she wondered if…
No way.
He wouldn’t propose already. He kind of already did, she supposed, but he wouldn’t have an actual ring, right?
Even better.
Speechless, she watched him pull the silver strand from his pocket, his breath still hot on her face.
“You found it?” Her voice cracked, and the rest of her broke. A floodgate lifted, and sobs of relief wracked her body as she clutched the precious locket to her chest.
“I probably should have led with that,” he teased, squeezing her shoulders before pulling her to his chest.
She wept onto his shirt, inhaling his cologne and the faint scent of manly sweat—musky, not unclean. She wrapped one arm around his waist while clutching the necklace in her free hand.
This man had already started making her dreams come true.
“I don’t know how I got so lucky to deserve you, Jared.”
“Hush,” he kissed the top of her head. “I’m the lucky one.”
He kissed each of her eyebrows, then the sides of her head by the corners of her eyes, the tip of her nose, and then each of her cheeks, where salty tears had carved trails.
“Let’s get that on you.”
