“I love you.”
His eyes blazed even as a lopsided smile slowly overtook his mouth. “I love you,” he said.
Her lips parted with wonder. Those words!
“I think I fell in love with you long ago,” he said somberly. “Maybe the day you insisted that I rescued you from a canal at The Venetian and I agreed. I'd never have agreed if I hadn't loved you.”
She laughed.
“I love you, Gemma. I'll spend my life making sure you know how much.”
Her feelings billowed, tightening her throat and threatening tears. “I don't think I deserve you,” she confessed in a low voice.
“Gemma—”
“—But that’s not going to stop me from taking every bit of you that I can get.”
Epilogue
SIX WEEKS LATER
“Ithink you're overdoing it,” Gemma stated.
Jude secretly relished all the ways she'd cared for him since his injury. Sometimes she coddled him, like when she stuck pillows under his feet in the early days or brought him chocolate. Sometimes she nursed him, like when she'd changed his bandage or brought him dinner. Sometimes she scolded him, like now. He treasured all of it. But accepting her opinion too quickly in this case would rob him of the chance to banter with her.
“The doctors let me do a rowing machine at the gym,” he pointed out. “This is easier than a rowing machine.” They were out on Pushaw Lake on a perfect summer day. He maneuvered her rowboat's oars rhythmically through the water, Gemma facing him and Mabel behind him.
Gemma gave a disdainful sniff. “The doctors don't know you as well as I do, and I say that's enough already.”
“It feels great, actually.”
“Stop at once.”
“You know who's really easy to get along with right now? Mabel. She's too busy enjoying my efforts to grumble at me.”
“Mabel is a dog. Are you comparing me to a dog?”
He was way too smart to answer that one.
“Stop rowing,” she demanded. “This is far enough.”
“Just a little farther—”
“This is my last warning before I use your word aversions against you.”
He pulled the oars into the boat, then moved toward her swiftly, catching her face in his hands.
She released a squeak of surprise.
He grinned. “Fine, because what I really want to do right now is kiss you.” His universe was right here, in his hands. He loved Gemma with every breath, every minute of his day. She'd overrun into all the corners of his life and improved them all.
He'd broken FBI protocol by falling in love with her. However, his actions in New York had swung the higher-ups in his favor. Sustaining an injury in the line of duty tended to have that effect. He'd resumed his role at the Bureau and appreciated his second chance to work as a special agent even more than he'd appreciated his first chance.
With the completion of Scent-sible, Cedric and Vincent had been charged and were awaiting trial while Jude worked with prosecutors to build the government's case. The physical documents containing Rhapsodie's secrets were safely stored in the evidence vault. At the conclusion of the trial, they'd be returned to their rightful owner—the CEO of the Bettencourt company, Cedric's father. Based on family tradition, he'd almost certainly opt to destroy them.
Jude and Gemma had come clean to her family about his real identity and the reasons for their charade. Upside: Her family had been extremely supportive. Downside: He hadn't attended a Clare family gathering yet in which one of her brothers hadn't made a crack about his butterfly collection.
“You presume you can kiss me now after flagrantly ignoring my orders?” Gemma asked. But her hands gripped his knees and tugged him forward an inch, bringing his profile closer to hers.
