His Best Friend's Wife (Bachelor Best Friends 2)

She twisted her thawing fingers in front of her. “You have to admit my life isn’t exactly exciting. I mean, between an office manager job and two first graders and a dog and a live-in mother-in-law, I’m always taking care of someone.”

“You might not have noticed, but I’m hardly a party animal myself,” he said wryly. “And I happen to think you have a pretty good life.”

“So do I,” she admitted, “but—”

“Not all men find the idea of marriage and kids repetitive and restrictive,” he said gently.

At first she was too startled by his use of the word marriage to understand the significance of what he’d said. And then it struck her. “You heard me talking to Kim when we had dinner?”

“Unintentionally.” He ran a hand slowly up her arm. “Jason was very young, Renae. He’d have realized how lucky he was once the kids arrived and he got to spend time with them.”

Maybe he’d put a few clues together, or maybe Jason had said some things back then. She nodded. “I’m sure he would have. It’s just that we weren’t getting along in the months before he died. That was hard for me to live with afterward.”

This was the discussion she and Evan had been avoiding all these weeks. It was as difficult as she had expected—and yet, she felt a weight sliding slowly from her shoulders.

“He loved you, Renae. And I know you loved him. But he wouldn’t have expected you never to love anyone again. That’s not what he would have wanted.”

“I know,” she whispered, her gaze locking with Evan’s.

Without taking his eyes from her, Evan rested his hands on her shoulders. “He would have wanted you to be with someone who appreciates all you’ve accomplished in the past seven years. Someone who admires your courage and your competence, your compassion, your commitment. Someone who loves you beyond all reason, even after he did his best to keep himself from falling for you.”

Her throat was so tight now she could hardly breathe, much less speak. She blinked rapidly against a threatening film of tears, finally managing to force out a few words. “Yes. I think he would have wanted that.”

He brushed a kiss against the top of her head. “Then I think he would have approved of us.”

Her heart pounded against her ribs. Was he really saying—

“I love you, Renae.”

Her knees went weak. She managed to straighten them before she collapsed, though she steadied herself with her hands on his chest. “You do?”

“I do.”

Oh, wow. Something about the way he said those two words...

He continued to look at her, obviously waiting for her to say something.

“I love you, too,” she said, her voice husky. “Why else would I have risked my life driving through a blizzard to get to you?”

He chuckled in response to the exaggeration, even as he covered her mouth with his.

The kiss was filled with so much emotion that she could feel her heart weep and rejoice all at once. Wrapped in his arms, she felt heat seeping back into her, filling deep, hidden places that had been cold and empty for a very long time.

She had loved Jason with all the intensity and drama of youth, with a gaping longing for a home and family of her own, someone to love and to love her in return. She had few regrets. She’d been fortunate to know him, and had been left with two amazing children and a wonderful mother-in-law because of him.

She loved Evan with the maturity of a woman who’d had the security and responsibility of a home and family for almost a decade, who had learned that life did not come with guarantees and that happy endings required a great deal of work and commitment to maintain. There were obstacles ahead but they would work together to overcome them. She looked forward to the challenges, even as she acknowledged how daunting they would seem at times.

Evan’s hand slid down her back, tracing the dips and curves, cupping her bottom and pulling her closer. She felt his arousal and ached with her own, knowing the shivers that rippled through her now had nothing to do with the snow.

Snow.

She broke off the kiss with a low moan. “I have to get home. The kids—”

What might have been a sigh of regret escaped him, but he squared his shoulders and stepped back. “I’m driving you. There’s another good inch of snow on the ground since you arrived. Don’t worry—I won’t come in, but I don’t want you risking your neck in your car when I’ve got a four-wheel-drive truck.”

“You’d better bring snow gear,” she informed him. “Daniel’s expecting you to help him build a snowman. And you know how he is—he’s going to want a big one. Dinosaur-sized.”

Evan hesitated. “What about Lucy?”