“No. I’m back here because I don’t want to live without you in my life. We have so much fun together. You make me laugh. You help me be the person I’m too scared to be by myself. You made me feel like one of the family.” She was not going to cry. She was not going to cry. “And you’re indecently hot, of course, and the sex is amazing, and— God, this is the worst speech I’ve ever made.” Hand shaking, she pushed her hair away from her face. “Yesterday, Christmas Day...that is the first family Christmas I’ve had since I was thirteen and when you all gave me gifts...” Tears clogged her throat.
Shit. So much for not crying.
Jackson frowned and stepped toward her. “Kayla—”
“No, let me finish.” She dug her hands into her pockets, knowing this wasn’t the time to hold back. “Work is important to me. I’m not pretending it isn’t. But I used work to avoid life. I used it to avoid relationships. And you’re right that when I get back to New York the work on Snow Crystal is going to be done by someone else. And I realized in the car that I don’t want that to happen, because it isn’t just an account to me anymore. And you’re not a client. I want to be here with my sleeves rolled up doing the work. I want to be with you.”
There was a long silence. “So does this mean I should cancel my flight to New York?”
She stared at him. “You booked a flight?”
“You wouldn’t stay with me here, so I decided to come to you. I shouldn’t have asked you to give up your job.” His voice was hoarse. “You love it, and you’re so damn good at it. I thought maybe we could find another way. Long-distance can work.”
“You’d do that for me?”
“I’ll do whatever it takes to have you in my life.”
She felt a burst of happiness. “I’m glad you feel that way because I called Brett and told him I don’t want the promotion. It was a long conversation, but basically I’m going to stay in my current job. That way I can be more involved with Snow Crystal. And I can work from here a few days a week and commute backward and forward. It might be complicated at first, but I’m willing to do whatever it takes.”
“Hell, Kayla—” there was a look of disbelief and uncertainty on his face “—you worked hard for that promotion. And there’s no corner office here.”
“But there are other things. There are trees, mountains, snow, moose—don’t forget the moose—and there’s your family—” Tears slid down her cheeks and she wiped them away with her palm. “And there’s you. You’re here. That makes it the only place I want to be.”
“Are you sure? I can’t believe you did that for me.” He closed the distance between them and pulled her into his arms. She clung to him, relief flooding through her.
“I did it for me. For us. I can’t believe you booked a flight to New York.”
“Good job I had to mend the trail first, otherwise we would have passed each other on the road.”
“When you didn’t answer the phone I was terrified you might have changed your mind.”
“I’m never going to change my mind.” He cupped her face in his hands. “You think it’s that easy to switch love on and off?”
“I don’t know anything about love, Jackson, except that it makes me do crazy things. And you. You’re doing crazy things, too. You’ve known me a week. That’s not long enough.”
“Do you really believe that?”
She gave a choked laugh. “No. The truth is you know me better after a week than anyone else has after years. I came here to avoid Christmas. I didn’t expect to enjoy it. I didn’t expect to be welcomed the way your family welcomed me. I didn’t expect to feel included. I’ve been the outsider for so long I had no idea how good it would feel to be on the inside. But it felt good. It feels good.”
“Kayla—”
“I love you, Jackson. I’ve never said that to anyone before, but I’m saying it now. I love you, and I want to live my life with you. I want you to be there to pick me up when I fall down and I want to be there to do the same for you.”
He hauled her against him and hugged her tightly. “I love you, too. All I want is for us to be together. The rest of it, we can work out.”
“I was thinking that in the long-
term I might think about starting my own business. You talked about it the other night, and I think it might be something I’d love.” She was stammering. “To be honest I have no idea how we’re going to do any of this, but I know we’ll work it out somehow.”
“Are you sure this is what you want? I can spend time in New York, too. If you want that promotion, you should take it.”
“Everything I want is right here. You’re right here.”
“Are you sure? You’re a city girl.”
“Turns out I’m not as much of a city girl as I thought. And if I stay, I can wear these gorgeous warm boots I bought and the gloves you gave me. I can drink hot chocolate and learn to ski without landing on my face. I can see what summer looks like from your bed.” She hugged him tightly. “I love you, Jackson O’Neil, and if you’re still carrying that diamond ring in your pocket, now would be a good time to give it to me and ask the question you asked yesterday.”
He pulled out the box and slid the ring onto her finger.