I kissed her, enjoying the connection, needing to feel the livewire attraction that simmered between us. Once we were both breathless, I pulled back. “It’s okay. I mean, you’re young and reckless. You had to do something?—”
“If you compare me to Jeff, I’m going to take this ring off and get you tossed out,” Zaila said, her eyes narrowed.
I chuckled. “I’d never. But if the rookie shoe fits…”
Zaila shook her head, but I saw that sparkle in her eyes. “I acted like a dumbass. I should have told you how I was feeling instead of pulling away. I’m sorry.”
“So did I, and so am I.” I closed my eyes for a moment, letting the insecurity and hurt of the last week wash away. “I never want to go through something like that again, which is why I promise to talk to you—to be honest with you when you ask me a question. Like why I didn’t take you out on dates. I see how you could have gotten something twisted in your head, thinking I was hiding you or embarrassed to be seen with you.” I cupped her cheeks again, needing her to see my vulnerability. “Then, when you said you wanted us to remain professional, I just…I just thought…”
“That I’d changed my mind about being with you, and you’d be alone again, hurting more than before.” She wrapped her hand around my wrist, drawing us closer together. “I was so afraid about not fitting into your world. I worried you were right, and I was too young, too gauche.” She rolled her eyes, and I smirked and shook my head. “We’re a pair. So much anxiety and grief because we don’t know how to say what needs to be said.”
“I have to tell you, even at my age, baring my soul is terrifying.”
“Right there with you.” She blew out a breath, then smiled. “But now, I feel good—great. Like I share your burden and you share mine, and somehow everything is lighter.”
“Good way to put it.”
We say quietly for a while. A nurse came in to check Zaila’s incision and vitals. Twenty minutes later, the doctor spoke to us about Zaila’s condition. While both ovaries were intact, one fallopian tube had been removed after being damaged by the ectopic pregnancy. Zaila still had one fully functional ovary and fallopian tube, though, so she remained able to bear children. Now that Zaila was awake and her vitals looked good, she could be discharged tomorrow, as long as she continued to rest. I promised I’d make sure she did so.
Once we were alone again, I clasped her hand in mine. “So…I break you out of here tomorrow. Got any plans?”
She nodded, her eyes shining.
“I do. I have to answer the question you haven’t asked me.” She lifted her left hand and flashed the ring.
“I don’t want to ask you here, so if you want to take it off?—”
“Not a chance, Gunnar.” Zaila closed her hand into a fist and settled it on the far side of the bed. “You put a ring on it, and its staying.”
A flutter of serenity blossomed in my chest as I grinned. “All right. I’ll keep that in mind for when I get to propose.”
“I want to go back to Sweden.”
I smoothed her hair back and kissed her temple, contentment a warm blanket around me. “You got it.”
Epilogue
One Month Later
Zaila
“Only you would do something like this,” Gunnar grumbled.
But I could tell his opposition was all bark, kind of like the small, shaggy dog curled up in my lap. I shrugged, biting my cheek to keep from smiling. “Well, it wasn’t like I could organize the pet adoption day and not adopt a pet, Gunnar. That reflects poorly on the organization.”
His shoulders slumped. “Dammit. I’ve never had a dog. They’re messy. And needy. And?—”
“It’s high time you learned how to be a pet dad,” I cut in. “It’ll be good practice for…”
I frowned, my lips pressing together. We weren’t actively trying for a child, though Gunnar felt his age and a stronger need than I did. I knew this because he’d told me so. But I wasn’t positive I was ready for that much change yet. Still, I loved the idea of family, just not quite yet.
“My daddy was fifty when I came into his life,” I said. “He was a calming, soothing influence on me. I want that for our kids.”
“We’ll talk about kids and adding to our family later,” Gunnar said, rubbing a palm up and down my back. “After I get used to the fact you brought home a dog.”
“He’d been in the shelter for weeks, and the staff said he’d be put down.” I might have added to the wobble of my chin to sell my point.
“They knew you were a sucker for a dog,” Gunnar muttered, his eyes burning with glacial ice.
