“But I hurt you anyway.” He turned to look at her, and the raw emotion, the pain, in his eyes knocked the breath from her lungs.
She dabbed at the tears that streaked her cheeks. “We keep repeating the same cycle, Mark, and it’s just too painful for me…forbothof us, to go through it again.”
He nodded. He swiped at his eyes and then got to his feet. He started walking away, and the pain that rose up inside her was so strong that she pressed a hand to her chest.Don’t go, she wanted to scream. But he had to. There was no other way. She watched as he walked through the trees toward Off-the-Grid, his steps heavy as if walking away hurt him every bit as much as it was hurting her.
Gah.Life just sucked sometimes.
And then he stopped. He stood there for a few seconds with his back to her, and her breath caught in her throat. What was happening?
Then he was walking back toward her, each stride swallowing the distance between them. She stood, her heart thumping in her throat, her knees weak and shaky.
Thank God. Oh, thank God…
Nothing had ever felt more right than the sight of him coming back to her. He stopped in front of her, his face so full of emotion—of pain, and fear, and love—that she almost didn’t recognize him. “I can’t do it. I can’t walk away from you this time, Jess.”
And it was her turn to stare, speechless.
“I—” His voice broke. He cleared his throat and then reached out to take her hands in his. “I panicked last week when you asked me about my mother. I realized how badly I’d fucked up, and I was afraid you wouldn’t be able to forgive me so I acted like an ass and walked away. Biggest mistake of my life.”
Holy shit.Her heart tripped all over itself, thumping painfully against her ribs.
“I wish I could promise that I’ll never hurt you again, but I can’t. But I can promise you this…my eyes are open now, Jess. I get it. I see what I did wrong, and I promise you I’ll do my very damn best not to make the same mistakes again. If you’ll give me another chance, I think I can be a better man.”
“Mark—” More tears splashed over her cheeks. The truth was that he couldn’t possibly be a better man. He’d come here today and opened himself up, laid himself bare.He’d come back this time.And in doing so, he’d told her everything she’d needed to know.
“There’s never been anyone else for me, Jess, and there never will be. I think…I think I’ve been in love with you since I was seventeen.”
She gasped. “Did you just say…”
He smiled, and she could swear his eyes were damp too. “Yeah, I did. I love you, Jess. I’ve been all over the world, but I can’t forget you. You’re it for me, whether you give me another chance or not.”
She just stared at him for a moment in shock, and then she flung her arms around him, tears streaming down her cheeks. “I love you too. God, I love you so much.”
He kissed her, sliding one hand around to cup her head, so gentle, yet so fierce and protective. “Please say it again.”
There was something fragile in his tone. He hadn’t heard those words nearly enough in his life, but she could make up for it now. “I love you. I’ve always loved you, and I always will. And I promise I’ll help you work out this stuff with your mom. Whatever you decide to do, I’ll be here with you. And you have a new family here in Haven. Me, Ethan, Gabby, Ryan, Emma…we’re family now.”
“I like the sound of that.”
And this time she wasn’t imagining it. An honest-to-God tear ran down his cheek. She kissed it away, and then she kissed the scar beneath it.She loved this man so much, every perfectly imperfect inch of him…
“I love you.” He tugged her in for another kiss. “I’m not sure I’ve ever said those words out loud before today.”
“I’ll make sure you get lots of practice.”
“Good.” His arms tightened around her. “Because I don’t want to waste another minute.”
And neither did she.
