“She was flying on that bike, Adeline. It was beautiful, but also completely fucking terrifying.”
I chuckled and stroked my thumb across his knuckles. “She rode around for over an hour before she finally spotted you. Amber almost had a heart attack trying to keep up with her.”
“Over an hour?”
“She was determined to find you,” I admitted quietly. “I don’t think she’s ever been as excited to see anyone as she was when I told her we were going to your race today.”
He swallowed hard. “I’m trying really hard not to screw this up with them, but you’re right and so was Theo. I have been an idiot. All of this could’ve been avoided if I’d been honest.”
The vulnerability in his voice would’ve knocked me on my butt if I hadn’t already been sitting. “You’re the best thing that has ever happened to them, Zach. To me, too. We were both afraid and we had good reason to be. The only thing that matters is that we’ve worked it out and we’re okay now. Right?”
He looked back at me, disbelief crossing his face before he moved to lean toward me and suddenly groaned, abruptly stopping the movement. “I’d kiss you, but I genuinely think my whole body would become a cramp.”
I scooted a little closer, gently lifting a hand to his jaw and brushing the faint stubble there with my thumb. His breath caught, his eyelids fluttering shut. “I’m not a hundred percent convinced any of this is actually happening.”
My hand stilled on his face. “What are you talking about?”
“I’m afraid I’m going to wake up in the hospital after collapsing during the race, and this is all going to turn out to have been a coma dream.”
“It’s not a coma dream.” I leaned forward, brushing my lips gently across his. “I love you, Zachary Westwood. I’m right here and I’m never going anywhere again. What can I do to help you believe it?”
“The kissing seems to be working,” he murmured against my lips and I smiled. “Kiss me again, Adeline.”
I pressed my lips to his just as his hand slid up to my waist. “Just so you know, we’re not doing anything more than this tonight, Zach. Theo was right. You’re in no state for what I want to do to you.”
His eyes popped open immediately. “You can’t say those kinds of things to me if all you want to do is kiss,” he argued lightly, brushing his lips across mine again. “You might have to do most of the work, but if you’re okay with that…”
“I don’t want to hurt you.”
“You couldn’t.” He pulled me closer, deepening the kiss until my thoughts scattered and his breathing hitched again. “I really thought I’d lost you, Adeline. For so long, I thought you were gone.”
Tears filled my eyes, but I pressed my lips back to his and wrapped an arm around his neck. “I know. I thought the same thing, but we’re here, Zach. I was gone and so were you, but we found our way back together. We made it.”
“We made it,” he repeated after me, sounding as incredulous as I felt. “I love you.”
“I love you.” I smiled against his lips, letting the tears fall as we finally abandoned all pretense of talking.
His hand slid up my back, bringing me even closer. Although we moved slow, I lost myself in him entirely. Careful and reverent, I stripped him of the sweats he’d changed into after his shower earlier.
He stared at me like I was a dream come true when I slipped my sundress over my head and unhooked my bra, tossing them away without a care in the world. Right now, the only thing that mattered to me was him.
Zach kissed me with the intensity of a man possessed. His fingertips roamed over me as I straddled him and slowly sank down. Fully aware of every sound he made so I’d know if I accidentally hurt him, I rocked my hips carefully back and forth, my mouth never leaving his.
With the weight of his ring on my finger and finally, after all these years, the promise of a lifetime together, every little touch was electrifying, both of us completely absorbed in the other. I didn’t know what the future would bring, but I now knew for an absolute fact that no matter what, Zach and I would always face it together.
CHAPTER 45
ZACH
Westwood Manor was full again. It was family dinner night and even Dad had returned from the tropics to celebrate theun-unraveling of his very important deal with Clark Morris.
Adeline’s grandfather was also in attendance, both him and Dad appropriately grouchy over the noise levels in the house as they sat at one corner of the table, surrounded by laughter and shrieking kids.
Cameron and Emma were racing through the corridors like they were taking part in the Olympics, much to Alex’s delight and Nate’s visible frustration. Jesse and Jacque were loudly trying to convince Theo to start a conga line while Jane and Kate were at the buffet spread, picking out things they felt their children might actually eat.
Everyone was here except Will, Charlotte, and their families. Adeline, Lu, and Jennifer were the new additions to our personal brand of chaos, and while I still hadn’t fully adjusted to the fact that they were now my family, it felt damn good to have them with us.
I sat next to Adeline at the table, my hand on her thigh as I watched it all go down. Jennifer was in total social butterfly mode, currently performing what she called dance routines forDad and the elder Clark, loudly instructing them to clap every time it ended.
