Judah stopped only long enough to gaze at her with darkened eyes before wrapping his arms around her waist and engulfing her in a sweeping hug that lifted her feet from the ground.
“I’ve missed you so much,” he whispered in her ear, setting her down but not releasing her.
Any doubt she’d fallen completely in love with him faded away as she looked into his eyes. “I’ve missed you, too.”
“There’s so much I want to tell you.” Reaching up, he brushed her cheek with the back of his hand, never taking his eyes from hers.
“We should talk.” At the scared expression appearing in his eyes, she covered his hand with hers, and she quickly clarified. “All good things.”
“Then we will talk. But first…” Sliding his hand to her neck, he gently guided her closer to him. His head lowered until their mouths were only a wisp away.
Her heart skipped a beat when his lips met hers, and she knew she’d found the one with whom her soul belonged.
When the kiss ended, he didn’t back away but rested his forehead on hers. “I’ve been dreaming of that all weekend.”
Heightened emotions spilled out in a nervous giggle. “I hope anticipation didn’t kill reality.”
Pressing a finger to her lips, he shook his head. “The dreams were great, but reality was infinitely better.”
“Oh,” she whispered breathlessly as he leaned in for another kiss that made her knees weak.
Too soon, he broke the physical connection with great reluctance echoing in his gaze. “We really should have that talk.”
She nodded in agreement. “Do you need help carrying anything inside?”
“I’ve got it, but thanks.” He went to his truck and grabbed his luggage from the back seat. Turning to her again, he flashed a smile. “Did I mention how much I missed you?”
There went her heart, fluttering away again.
“I think you might have,” she answered coyly.
Once they were inside, he dropped his keys on an end table. “Give me fifteen minutes to clean up, then we’ll talk?”
“I’ll be here.”
“The remote’s right there if you want to watch anything. There’s still tea from Thursday night in the fridge. It should still be good, but there’s also bottled water. Make yourself at home.” He disappeared down the hallway.
Collapsing on the couch after he’d left the room, Maegan sighed with complete joy and happiness. Judah’s return so far had been perfect. He might not be perfect- no one was- but he was perfect for her.
He came out thirteen minutes later with his hair damp. No longer wearing the casual business clothes he’d had on earlier, he was currently wearing a pair of jeans and a forest green t-shirt. “Hi.”
“Hi again.” She smiled shyly, still mentally adapting to the shift between them. “How was the conference?”
“Incredible.” He sat down on the other end of the sofa. “Remember that couple I told you about, Bethany and Blaine? The department they work for was so impressed with the information Blaine passed on just from the first two days that they’re already discussing hosting a conference in the Atlanta area.”
“That’s great. From everything you’ve told me, the conference was well run. I’m glad it’s already having an impact.”
“I’m excited to see where it leads.” He shifted positions so that he sat sideways to face her. “There is something that happened at the conference Saturday night that I didn’t tell you. I wanted to wait until we were face to face.”
Old Maegan would have immediately panicked and thought the worst-case scenario of cheating- even though he wouldn’thave been cheating since they weren’t a couple. New Maegan had complete faith in Judah and knew whatever it was wouldn’t be detrimental to her.
“What was it?”
“Of all people to also be at the conference, Grady was there.”
“Grady?” She didn’t recognize the name from any of their previous conversations.
“I tried to never speak his name. He’s the coworker Alyssa had an affair with.”
