I swallow hard. “Jake probably told you there’s a helicopter waiting if you want me gone.”
Please don’t want me gone.
I’ve never begged for anything in my life, but I’m begging now, silently and desperately.
Her chin trembles before she catches it. “I never wanted you gone. Even when I was angry, I never wanted that.”
Her mittened hand comes up, hovering near my chest like she wants to touch me but is afraid to. “It’s just… I don’t want to get hurt again. And I’m scared that if I let myself…”
She trails off, sucking in a breath. “I’m scared I won’t survive it a second time. Because when I fall, I fall completely.”
“I’ll do everything I can to make sure I never hurt you again.” I step closer, closing the distance between us, and grab her hands in mine. Hold them tight. Look her dead in the eye so she can see I mean every word. “And I want you to fall completely. For me. I’m not... I’m shit at this. At saying what I mean. But I need you to know—” I take a breath. I’m standing here in the Arctic freezing my bollocks off, trying to say things I’ve never said to anyone, trying to be vulnerable when every instinct screams at me to protect myself. “Having you fall for me completely would make me the luckiest bastard alive.”
She looks down at where our hands are joined, my fingers wrapped tight around hers. A tiny furrow appears between her brows.Please don’t pull away.“I can’t go into something knowing you might change your mind again.”
I keep going because I have to get this right. I’ll never forgive myself if I don’t. “I won’t. I want you for the rest of my life. Not for now. Not until it gets hard. For the rest of my life.”
Her breath catches, a sharp intake that fogs between us.
“What?” She blinks rapidly, mouth opening and closing. “You… wait, what? For the rest of…” She stares at me like I’ve grown a second head. “But I don’t fit into your world, Patrick.”
I pull her closer still, until there’s barely a foot between us.
“That world can go to hell. When you walked into mine, you changed it. So no, you don’t fit into my old world. You fit into my new one. The one I want to build. The one where I come home to you. Where I choose right instead of easy. Where I get to love you for the rest of my life.” I pause, throat tight. “If you’ll have me. Let me earn my place in yours.”
Tears glisten in her eyes, catching the firelight.
“I’m not good at this. Never have been. But I’m asking anyway.” My voice goes rough. “Give me another chance, Georgie. Please.”
For a long moment, she just stares at me, her chest rising and falling rapidly. Wind whips around us, the whole bloody Arctic holding its breath.
Then she launches herself at me, arms flinging around my neck, nearly knocking me backward. Her lips crash against mine, mittened hands clutching at my jacket. Soft, beautiful lips kiss me with so much tenderness it makes my chest go tight.
I catch her, hands sliding to her waist, and lift her off the ground. She gasps against my mouth, and I use it as an excuse to deepen the kiss, pouring everything into it. Her legs wrap around my waist, snow boots knocking against my thighs.
I’ve spent years chasing highs. Summiting peaks, pushing helicopters to their limits, building businesses from nothing. Always searching for that next rush, that moment of standing on top of the world with my heart pounding.
Georgie’s the bloody jackpot. Every day with her will be that feeling. That pure, electric high of being alive.
She’s so genuinely sweet, so innately kind to everyone she meets, that I know I’ll wake up grateful for the rest of my lifethat she chose me. That someone this good saw something worth saving in a bastard like me.
When we finally break apart, both gasping for air, she’s crying.
“I’ve got you, sweetheart,” I murmur into her hair. “I’m not letting go. Not ever again.”
There’s an eruption of cheers from further down the hill. Jake and two random tourists who have apparently been watching our entire dramatic reunion like it’s fucking dinner theatre.
I glance over her head to see Jake giving me an enthusiastic thumbs-up.
Bastard’s going to be insufferable about this. I’ll never hear the end of it.
EPILOGUE
Northern Lights and morning delights
Patrick
The next morning
