“Look,” I said, my voice a little stronger. “I’ve thought a lot about my fears about making my own path. I was so wary of deferring to you I wasn’t willing to concede anything. But I’m here in Stockholm because I’m ready to—”
Before I could finish my sentence, he opened the door. He stepped forward and closed his arms around me, pulling me in. I drew in a long, deep breath, taking in his warmth, his scent, the familiar, hard muscles under my hands. He nuzzled my neck, and his chest expanded and contracted against me.
“Caroline,” Niklas murmured, followed by a slur of Swedish words, his breath warm against my skin. “What did your parents say when you told them you were leaving again?”
I smiled. “They thought I was crazy not to run after you in the first place.”
He squeezed me tighter and picked me up, whirling me around. “You were.”
I pulled back a little. “You’re sure you’re okay with this? When you opened the door, you didn’t look too excited.”
Niklas frowned. “I was trying not to have a heart attack.”
“I’m glad you didn’t,” I said. “That would be a long flight for such a short relationship.”
He chuckled and shook his head.
“I wasn’t sure you’d let me in,” I whispered. “You wouldn’t answer my calls.”
He ran his large hands up and down my back. “Just hearing your voice on my phone hurt too much. I was worried I’d beg you to move here with me. Or quit the team and come to find you. And you would push me away again. I couldn’t put myself through that.”
I heard the echoes of my own words in his statement, the reasons I had given him for not discussing our post-trip plans so long ago.
“Were you angry at me?” he asked softly.
I frowned. “Yes, for a while. For not bringing up your father until it was too late. But I was also scared. Scared that I had pushed you too far.”
His forehead creased, and he looked at me with wonder. “And you still came. I—I didn’t think you would, no matter how you felt.”
“But here I am,” I said, kissing his bare shoulders.My God, how I missed this man. “I’m a little surprised to be here as well.”
I felt his chest rumble with laughter. Then he scooped me off the ground, holding me as if he were carrying his new bride over the threshold.
“Come inside with me,” he whispered as he bent down to kiss me. He smiled down at me as he fumbled to pick up my suitcase. “Watch your head.”
He carried me past the kitchen and down the narrow hallway toward his bedroom.
“Put me down before I hit a doorframe, Niklas,” I laughed.
He gave me a heated gaze. “You don’t trust me?”
“I do.”
A smile spread across his face again.
“Good,” he said. “But you’re probably right.”
He set me down and took a step closer, bringing his arms around me. He kissed me slowly, pressing me against the wall. I let go of my questions and welcomed the warmth of his mouth, the softness of his lips on mine as he coaxed them open with his tongue.
He smoothed my hair and held me close. The clear light of fall from the window lit up his face. The worry lines across his forehead were gone now, and his eyes crinkled with laughter. I wasn’t ready to let go.
“I love you, Niklas.”
He met my gaze and held it, his thick eyelashes dark against his bright blue eyes. He caught the back of my head in his hand as he leaned closer. His lips met mine for a soft, slow kiss. When he pulled back, a hint of lines appeared on his forehead.
“I’m so lucky you found your way across the Atlantic, into the apartment across the hall. I’m so lucky you locked yourself out that morning,” he said. “No matter how hot I thought you were, I never would have talked to you if everything hadn’t lined up for us the way it did.”
I laughed. “Lucky me.”
