“Yes, you did,” Eve says. “But I don’t think you’ve lost her completely. Not yet.”
I shake my head. “I think you’re wrong. I sent her an apology tonight. It didn’t make any difference. She’s shut me out, and I don’t have anyone to blame but myself.”
Gabe frowns. “You really love her, don’t you?”
“Christ, yes. I didn’t realize how much I could need another person, but I need her. Melanie’s my light. She’s everything to me. I don’t know how I’m going to live another day without her in my life.”
My heart pounds as I let the words spill out of me. I don’t care if my friends think I’m a pathetic, lovesick idiot. Hell, that’s exactly what I am. I’ve been in a tailspin of misery for the past month. I don’t want to imagine how much worse I’ll be hurting in another month, another year. Or longer, for the rest of my days.
What’s more, I refuse to imagine that kind of pointless existence.
I can’t.
She may hate me. She may not want to see me, or hear anything I have to say, but if she thinks I’m going down without a fight, she has no clue how much she means to me.
Melanie is mine. She has been, right from the beginning. Now, I just need to convince her of that.
“I’ve gotta go.”
Eve and Avery both nod at me, their gazes soft with understanding and approval.
Nick cuffs me on the shoulder. “About time you figured that out, brother.”
Gabe nods and grins, then he glances past my shoulder and arches a brow. “Looks like you don’t have to go far.”
I wheel around and all the breath gusts out of my lungs.
It’s Melanie. She’s just arrived inside the gallery. Her hair, navy-blue T-shirt, and jeans are drenched from the rain. Her cheeks are flushed as though she just ran for a solid block. Her gorgeous blue-gray eyes are red-rimmed and puffy, as if she’s been crying.
I cut through the gathering with singular purpose, stopping just a few feet away from her. All I want to do is pull her into my embrace and never let her go.
She holds up a soggy letter, black ink dripping down her hand. “I got your note. I got your painting, too.”
Her gaze moves over the packed crowd inside the gallery, then to the wall where my paintings hang. Her eyes are already soft with emotion, but their color changes to something even more tender as she sees herself in my art.
“They’re amazing, Jared. I’m really happy for your new success.”
I take a step forward. “I’m only painting again because of you. I’ve found my true muse. The only one I need.”
She swallows. I can feel people starting to look at us. They’re looking at her, realizing she’s the mystery woman gracing these new portraits.
She stares at me, uncertainty in her gaze. “I should’ve changed into something more appropriate.”
“You look perfect.” She’s never looked more beautiful to me than she does now, soaked and breathless, just out of my reach. I take another step, removing the distance.
“I left in a hurry,” she says. “I was afraid you’d be gone soon, and I didn’t want to miss you. I wanted to thank you for my gift.”
Hope ignites inside me. My heart is banging in my chest, about to burst out of my rib cage. “I didn’t think you were coming. I thought maybe you didn’t like the painting, or what I had to say.”
“I love the painting.” Her eyes glisten, not with raindrops but with raw, tender emotion. “I loved your note. And I love you, too, Jared.”
“Thank God.”
I pull her into my arms, cupping her nape as I take her mouth in a kiss I’ve been dying to taste for four long weeks. She’s wet against my suit and open-collared shirt, her face and skin still dripping with rain. I hold her to me as if I’ve been starving for water. I truly have been starving for her, for the feeling of her in my arms.
I draw back from her lips on a groan. “I should’ve told you I loved you, even before that night. Melanie, I’m sorry. I should’ve told you everything right from the start. That I love you. That I need you in my life. It’s been fucking agony without you.”
“I know,” she whispers, bringing my face back to hers and kissing me again. Her salty tears blend with the raindrops on her lips. “It’s been awful for me, too. I’ve missed you so much. I love you, Jared.”
