“Do you feel better?”
I frown down at her. “I didn’t feel bad before.”
“You looked so ... pensive when I found you. Like you have the weight of the world on your shoulders. But you don’t have to carry it by yourself, you know.”
Is it any wonder that I’m crazy about her?
“I’m sorry, Wills.”
She lifts her head. “For what?”
“That it took me so long to see you like this. Toreallysee you, and how good we’d be together. To fight for this.”
“Hey, our lives were very different for a long time, Ry.”
“I could have brought you and Aiden here, with me. We’ve lost a lot of time.”
She shakes her head and kisses me so softly, so tenderly, it’s as if she’s kissing my heart itself. “This is how it was supposed to be. We can’t change it now, so I don’t want you to beat yourself up anymore. Not for one more minute. I haven’t been unhappy, you know. We weren’t struggling. I’ve done okay for Aiden and me.”
“You’ve been amazing. I’m so proud of you.”
Her whole face lights up at that. “You are?”
“Hell yes. For how well you raised that kid, for your amazing career. I listen to all your audiobooks, you know.”
She narrows her eyes. “You do not.”
“Every single one. You’re so talented, and you have such a sexy voice. It always made me feel close to you to listen to your work.” I push her hair over her shoulder. “I love being close to you.”
“Same goes.” She nestles in against me. “We should go snuggle in the bed before we both fall asleep and Aiden finds us in here in the morning.”
Grinning, I kiss her on the head. “Are you ready to go home today?”
“Yeah. I am. I need to get back in the booth, and I want to go back to a routine. But I’ve loved every minute of this trip, and I know I said it before, butI’mproud ofyou, Ry. For a million reasons.”
I kiss her again, unable to hold back. Everything about today and tonight has felt so damn intimate with this woman. And now, here in my office, in the quiet, after some pretty intense sex, with both of us sated, I can’t keep the words to myself anymore.
“I love you, baby. More than anything.”
She blinks slowly, her eyes filling with tears. “I love you too.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Willow
“Hey, Shawn, how are you?”
I lean back in my chair and push my fingers through my hair, happy to hear from my friend. I loved being in Seattle for a few days, but the week that we’ve been home has beensoproductive, and I’m completely obsessed with my new workspace. Ry has to drag me out of here at dinnertime some days because I’m so absorbed in work I lose track of time.
“I’m great, thank you for asking,” Shawn replies with that swoony-as-all-get-out British accent that makes all the listeners lose their goddamn minds. “I haven’t talked to you in a long while, darling. What’s new in your corner of the world?”
“A lot, actually. Oh, let me show you my new booth. I’m putting you on speaker so I can send some photos over.”
I quickly tap the screen and then wait for Shawn to react.
“Fucking hell,” he says with surprise. “That’s brilliant. Did you move, or remodel your adorable house?”
“I sort of moved. For the summer, anyway.” I wince at the thought of moving back to Missoula at the end of the summer.
