“What is it they say, the third time’s a charm?” Korbin smiled, but I couldn’t bring myself to return it. Instead, I focused on cleaning up the leftover food, moving numbly around the kitchen as Korbin watched me, unaware of the doubts fluttering around in my mind. “Peyton,” he said finally, and when I didn’t respond he stood up, reaching out to take hold of my arms, stopping me where I stood. He reached up both hands to take my face between his fingers, holding me captive.
“What?” I murmured, feeling the weakness in my knees. He’d always had that effect on me. Always.
“I love you,” he said. “I love you more than I thought it was possible to love another person. I loved you then, and I love you now.”
I pulled in a breath of air between my teeth, skin tingling where Korbin’s fingers rested. Before I could say anything to this, his hands dropped from my face and he dropped to his knees, pulling something out of his back pocket. A box. A small box. My hand fluttered to my mouth, and I took a step back, wondering if I was really seeing what was right in front of me.
“Peyton Ann Blake,” Korbin said, reaching for one of my free hands. “The moment I met you I knew that I wouldn’t find anyone else I wanted to be with as much as I wanted to be with you. I knew that no matter what might or might not happen between us, even if we didn’t work out, I would never be with anyone else, because there was no other you.” Korbin stopped talking for a moment and peered down at the box in his hand, fingers running over the familiar blue suede. Then he looked back up at me. “The day I ended our engagement, you threw this ring at me and kicked me out of the house. Honestly, I think you should have done more. I certainly deserved it.” He chuckled humorlessly, then continued. “But I kept this ring wondering if someday I might have another chance at this. I never intended to give it to anyone else, not a single soul. Because it belongs to you, and you belong to me.”
“Korbin,” I whispered, but he ignored me, speaking again.
“Peyton Ann Blake, will you, for the second time, give me the privilege of marrying you?”
For a long moment I wasn’t sure what to say. My jaw hung limp and I stared at Korbin, realizing that every word he had spoken was right. It had been the same for me. Nobody compared to him, not before I knew him and not after I knew him. He had always been the man I thought about, even after all these years and all the heartache. Nobody else even came close.
“Alright,” he said as I continued to stare at him in shock. “I know I hurt you, Peyton, and if silence is your revenge, I understand that.” His hand holding the box dropped down a few inches, and that was enough to snap me out of my daze.
“Wait,” I whispered, reaching my hand out to rest it on his. “My answer, Korbin, is yes. Yes, I will marry you.” The words slipped from my mouth just as Korbin jumped to his feet and pulled me against him, wrapping those strong arms around me in an embrace that I had yearned for all these years. I buried my face in his shoulder, inhaling the familiar scent of him, and before I knew what was happening, I was crying, sobbing into the front of his shirt, breathless and snot-faced and probably looking pitiful as sin.
“No, no,” said Korbin, pulling his face back to look at me. “You’re not supposed to cry, Peyton, you’re supposed to be happy.”
“I am happy,” I assured him. “I haven’t been this happy since I thought we were going to get married the first time, Korbin Butler.” I shook my head and started to wipe the tears from my eyes, but Korbin caught my hand and did it himself, warm skin soothing me in such a way that only he ever could.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I’m sorry that I put you through hell and back. I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you when you needed me the most. And I’m sorry Ieverchose my job over you, Peyton, because I can’t live without you, and I’ve always known that. Always. I was just too frightened to admit it to myself.” He straightened up and removed the glistening diamond ring from the box, the very one he’d given me so many years before. He took my hand and slipped the ring on, then brought the back of my hand up to his lips to kiss it.
“I love you,” I said quietly, falling into his arms for another warm embrace. “I always have, Korbin, even when I hated you.”
“I love you too,” he said, brushing his lips against mine, teasing me. “I think you should come home, Peyton. Will you move back to Eagle River to be with me?”
I grinned, bringing one hand up to touch the side of his face, feeling the stubble under my fingers.
“What if I asked you to move here?”
“You know I would.”
“Even if that meant you had to leave the department?” I asked softly, and Korbin looked away, just briefly, but his expression didn’t change.
“Yes,” he said. “Even then. Is that what you want?”
I pretended to ponder this, making it a point to admire the ring glistening on my finger. “No,” I said finally. “I want to be home, too. For you and my mother. And I want you to work, because I know that it’s what you love.”
“I don’t have to,” Korbin said softly, and I smiled.
“Yes, you do. And I think you should.”
Korbin pulled me into him, and for a moment that I never wanted to end, we just held each other, cocooned in our own little world.
Chapter25
Korbin
I woke the next morning with Peyton still curled against my body, her soft hair tickling my chin, silky smooth skin warm and familiar against my own. Through the bedroom window sunlight shined in, basking the room in a soft, yellow glow. I pressed my lips against Peyton’s cheek and kissed it, letting my lips linger on her skin, enjoying this moment that I never thought I’d get again.
“Good morning,” Peyton murmured, rolling over to face me. Her cheeks were flushed from a good night’s sleep, and small specks of mascara stained the lids just below her eyes. It was adorable. Perfection.
“Hi,” I whispered, going in for a kiss that she returned with longing. Peyton’s hands tangled with my hair as she kissed me back, teasing me, pressing her body against mine.
The sound of the front door opening made us both freeze, and I felt Peyton tense up beneath me as the traumatic memories with Jake from the night before likely popped into the forefront of her mind.
