* * *
KYLE TOSSED AND TURNED, trying to sleep. With the lawsuit no longer hanging over his head, he should have felt somewhat more relaxed. But Mel had walked out on him, and that had given him insomnia. Not only had he lost the girl, but now he was going to go crazy from lack of sleep. Hardly a fair trade.
He wanted to be mad at Mel. Wanted to call hernames and tell himself that the best thing that had ever happened to him was that she’d left him.
He couldn’t, though. He didn’t believe any of that. He loved her, and he’d lost her, and he didn’t have a plan for getting her back.
He would figure it out, though. He’d been stuck at the office working with the police for the past two days, but he’d tried to call her every chance he got. She hadn’t taken his calls, and he hadn’t been able to camp out on her doorstep.
Tomorrow, though, was a different story. Brent was being arraigned in the morning, and after that, Kyle was going over to Mel’s house, and hewasgoing to talk to her. And if she wouldn’t see him, he was going to talk to her grandfather.
Exhausted, he flipped over in bed again and lay there, his eyes closed as he soaked in the sounds of the house. Just breathing and relaxing. Doing absolutely nothing except wanting her and imagining that she was right there beside him.
“Kyle?”
Hell, he was even imagining her voice.
“Kyle?” A subtle pressure on the bed, and his heart swelled. Shewasright there beside him. He opened his eyes, smiled when he saw her sitting next to him.
“Do I need to grab you? Or are you going to run away from me?”
“I’m not running away,” she said. “But I’d definitely like you to grab me.”
He did, pulling her on top of him and then rolling them both over until they were lying in bed facing each other. He reached out, stroked her cheek. He wanted to savor this moment even as much as he wanted to cover her in kisses.
“Why are you here?” He almost didn’t want to ask the question, too afraid he wouldn’t get the answer he wanted.
She eased closer, her body pressing close to his. “Because I love you. And because I screwed up. And because I want to be with you if you don’t want to kick me out.”
He couldn’t even answer her. Could only pull her close and cover her mouth with his. She was his. His love. His life. And she was right there in his arms.
Right there…?
He pulled back, fighting a smile as he looked down at her. “The chain’s on the door and the alarm is armed. How’d you get in here, anyway?”
Her grin was wide and open. “How do you think?”
He lifted his brows. “I’m afraid to guess. The lasttime I suggested that you might be skilled at breaking and entering, you walked out on me.”
Her gaze dropped. “Sorry. I—”
He pressed a finger over her lips. “It doesn’t matter. I love you,” he said.
“I love you, too.”
He folded her in his arms and held her there, the rhythm of her heart mixing with his own.
“Kyle?” Her lips were pressed against his neck, her voice soft, almost hesitant.
“Hmm?”
“I think I want that job. Is it still open?”
“For you? You bet.”
“Kyle?”
“Hmm?”
