One side of her mouth curled into a smile. It was all he needed for the fear making his chest tight to loosen its grip.
“Vinegar on chips?” she asked, standing and moving a step closer.
“Already down with it.”
The urge to touch her again, to pull her close, to dip his head down and kiss her for everything he was worth was nearly overwhelming, but he fought it. This had to be Brooke’s call. He wouldn’t push. He’d beg, if need be, but nobody pushed Lady Lemons around.
She glanced around at the villagers watching and then turned back to him, the first flicker of hope in her eyes. “Naked people on regular TV?”
“The shock has worn off.” Almost. Puritan roots and all that.
“Beans on toast for breakfast?”
“Give me a few more years.” An American could only take so much in the beginning. “If there’s anyone who could bring me around, it’s you.”
She crossed her arms and gave him the same look she’d had on her face when he got off the flight. “I won’t be made a fool of.”
“That’s okay, because I’m more than willing to do that or anything else to show you just how much I love you, Brooke.” He rammed his fingers through his hair, tension twisting his stomach tight. He couldn’t turn back now, though. It was time to let go of his secrets, too. “I’ve spent my whole life sprinting away from people before they could leave me, but I’m done running. I’m finally home because anywhere you are is home.”
Then to prove his point about being willing to do just about anything, he hit play on his phone. The music filled the nearly silent pub, the song instantaneously recognizable. As soon as the lead singer got to the part about walking five hundred miles to be by his girl’s side, Nick began to sing along, his voice gaining strength with each word, each promise, each pledge of devotion. By the time it got to the final verse, the pub was pregnant with anticipation. With every set of eyes on them, Brooke’s chin trembled and her eyes grew watery as the final notes faded out.
Still, she didn’t say anything. Not a single word. His throat burned. His chest ached. “Brooke, I—”
She held up her hand, pressing it against his chest over his fast-beating heart. “Shut up.”
Panic at the thought of losing her roared in his ears. “If you’ll just listen to—”
Smiling, she closed the distance between them and wrapped her arms around his neck. “Shut up, you pushy American, and kiss me because I love you, too.”
Nick didn’t have to be told twice. He dipped his head down and took her mouth in a kiss that said everything he hadn’t been able to find the words for, all the tomorrows and the tomorrows after that as the villagers let out a rowdy cheer behind them.
“Bossy, aren’t you, Lady Lemons?” he asked after breaking the kiss.
She grinned. “Always and forever.”
And that sounded like the perfect ending to him.
Epilogue
Once upon a time in a land far, far away (okay, Yorkshire), there was an American heir to an earldom who wanted nothing more than to be left alone and an Englishwoman who insisted that she knew exactly what everyone should be doing to save her beloved village of Bowhaven. They fussed at each other and fought their attraction, but some things can’t be denied, so after a time they began to see they had more in common than either of them had ever realized. So while the villagers and the old earl watched on, they fell in love in between pints and fights and even a zombie or two. Their wedding was held in the ancestral home they’d restored together, and a few years later, a baby came along and then another and, finally, the twins.
And they all lived happily ever after because sometimes fairy tales do come true—just never exactly how you’d planned.