The relief that sweeps over his face is so intense it steals my breath. But he only cups my jaw with incredible gentleness and says, “I’ve missed you too.”
I laugh shakily.
“What?” he murmurs.
“It’s just…you came all this way.” I lean into his touch.
He looks at me like I’m ridiculous. “Yeah.”
“You just could have called.”
A shake of his head. “No, I couldn’t have.”
“But…why?”
“Because I love you.”
Those words?—
They set my tears flowing and then I don’t have any hope of holding back. I lift up on tiptoe and kiss him.
And the second his mouth meets mine, all those hurts inside me give way.
To hope.
To joy.
To…love.
And when we finally break apart, he brushes his thumb over my cheek and says, very seriously, “I wasn’t leaving.”
“No?”
“No.” He grins and my heart swells. “I was just going to buy you some really good chocolate to bribe you with.”
Andthat’swhen he kisses me again.
Forty-Two
Rhodes
The hotel room is small.
European-small.
Which would probably be annoying if I were here for literally any other reason.
As it is, I barely notice.
Because Finn is here.
In my arms.
In my bed.
I kiss her slowly, kiss her with everything that I’m feeling—big and small, hopeful and fearful, needy and content.
It’s leisurely, exploratory, savoring everything I almost lost.
