She stares at me, her eyes shooting balls of fire in my direction as if she can will me away with her glare, but I’m not leaving this place without Vi. I’ll wait all night if I have to.
“I’ve scoured this store. Is she on a break?”
“She doesn’t want to see you. She’s moved on. You should do the same.” Yaz turns away from me, carrying on with her task, lifting the boxes two at a time and positioning them on the shelf.
My chest throbs, a dull ache where her love used to be. It’s only been a few weeks. How can she have moved on so quickly? My shoulders sag, and I drop the flowers to my waist, gripping them at the stem. Have I blown my only chance at happiness? I’m not leaving. She can tell me to go herself, but I’m not leaving until I’ve said my piece.
“Kane?” My name on her lips is like a butterfly’s kiss, coating my skin in a flurry of goosebumps.
The hairs lift on the back of my neck, and I turn around to her bright hair. “Violet.”
Her eyes dance with hope when I say her name. Her mouth parts open as it always did, ready to be claimed. “What are you doing here?”
“I’ve come to take you home.”
She wrings her hands around her work t-shirt and shuffles from foot to foot. “But you read the book.” Her eyebrows pinch, but her eyes widen, filling with emotion.
“I don’t care what it says in that damn book. To me, violet is the colour of your hair. It’s the tattoo I kiss on your stomach, and it’s the colour that blinds me when I come undone, crying out your name.” My breathing comes out fast and rugged, but I have to get it all out. She has to know how much I love her.
I step closer, desperate to hold her in my arms. “It’s a violet sky, a storm of two lovers colliding, becoming one. It’s you and me, I see. Vi, it’s always been you.”
Her cheeks flush pink. She closes the gap between us. “Say my name again. I need to hear you speak my name.”
“Violet.” The word rumbles from deep within. My fist clenches the stem of flowers. Every muscle in my body wants to wrap around her. “I say your name over and over in my dreams. Even when I wake and you’re not there, I still see your violet hair splayed on my pillow. I still smell the aroma of your blueberry pancakes when I walk down the stairs. I feel you everywhere, except in my arms where you belong. Come home, Vi. Come home for good. No more secrets.”
She wraps her hands around my neck. Her face burrows into my t-shirt, inhaling me and I wish I’d taken a shower. “Hmm, my favourite scent, log fires, wood shavings, engine oil, and you. Home.”
I lift her chin. “Does that mean you’ll come back with me?”
“I never wanted to leave.” Tears course down her cheeks, and I scoop them up with my finger.
“I’m sorry, Vi. I’m sorry it took me this long to come and bring you home. I couldn’t understand how you could still want me after reading that damn book, but I never stopped loving you.”
“You still love me?” Her eyes sparkle under the veil of tears.
“I’ve always loved you. Even before you were born, I loved you. But now I don’t just love you, I’m deeply, madly and insanelyinlove with you. I need you. You’re the missing pieces of my shattered heart and the glue that holds it all together. You’re woven into my soul. My salvation.”
“I love you, Kane. I loved you from when you first took me in. Not because you took care of me, but because of how you made me feel, how you looked at me and how you said my name. I love how you fought your want for me, trying to do what you thought was right. You’re a good man, and I always knew that in my heart. Mum never deserved you.”
“It’s taken me a few weeks to come to terms with everything, and I had to find it in myself to forgive Ali. You should too.”
“How can you forgive what she did?”
I cup her face in my palm, wiping her stained cheeks. “Because she gave me you, petal.” My head dips, meeting her lips. She’s the only thing I want to taste for the rest of the day. The rest of my life, even. I swirl my tongue around hers, licking up every unspoken word as she flicks and circles mine, telling me all I need to know. She still wants me.
Warmth spreads through my body as I deepen our kiss, taking what I need from her and sealing our fate once and for all, for the whole store to see. There will be no question in this town who she belongs to. My hand holds the flowers against her back, while my other caresses the skin on her neck. The feel of her in my arms again has my cock stirring to life. I need more from her. It’s been too long without her in my bed.
She breaks the kiss, pulling away, but I inch forward and bite her lip, not letting her out of my grasp. “Kane, people are watching us.” A hint of a smile plays on her lips as she wriggles from my embrace.
I open my eyes to an audience of shoppers who carry on with their day when I glance around. “Let them look. I want everyone in this town to know who you belong to.”
Her mouth parts as she sucks in a breath, then presses her lips to mine.
“Let’s get out of here.”
“I can’t. My shift doesn’t finish for another hour.”
“Fuck it. I can’t wait an hour. Go get your stuff before I haul you over my shoulder.”
