Unbreak My Hart (The Notorious Harts 4)

‘You have no idea how much I wanted to hear those words,’ he says gently, running his thumb over my lower lip. ‘I didn’t come here with any agenda, and I sure as hell didn’t hold out any hope, but I wanted, with every fibre of my being, for it not to be the end for us.’

He weaves his fingers through mine, so we start walking towards my place once more. My heart is about a thousand times lighter now, though.

‘I couldn’t tell how you felt about me,’ I admit. ‘I didn’t know if you still loved me, or if you were angry at me—’

‘Angry at you? Are you kidding me? When I opened the door and you were on the other side it took all my willpower not to barrel you back into the elevator and whisk you away somewhere.’

‘I didn’t pick up on that.’

He shakes his head ruefully. ‘I felt it, Avery.’ He angles his face towards mine. ‘Why did you think I was there?’

‘Because you’re a great guy—kind and sweet and thoughtful—and you wanted to do the right thing by me?’

‘That’s true.’ He laughs. ‘The bit about me wanting to do right by you. I would always have come today, to try to support you, but every word you said was like sandpaper against my flesh because I wanted you to talk just to me! I wanted to be the only one in the room, hearing all your words and thoughts. I desperately wanted to be alone with you.’

‘You barely spoke to me at all.’

‘Yeah.’ He squeezes my hand. ‘I was afraid if I started I wouldn’t be able to stop. And I didn’t want to monopolise you. This night wasn’t about me.’

My heart spins inside me. ‘You really are a great guy.’

‘You’re not so bad yourself, Avery.’

But that sobers me. ‘The thing is, I’m not like you. I’m worried—’

‘What is it?’

‘Part of what scares me is that I might hurt you. That you...’

‘Go on.’

‘That you deserve someone better.’

He smiles, a dazzling smile, and begins to walk. We turn a corner and I see my home, just a block away.

‘Well, that’s an easy one to answer.’

‘Yeah?’

‘There is no one better. Not for me.’ He pulls me back into his arms. ‘You are my other half, Avery Maxwell, and I’m really hoping you’ll agree to be that for the rest of our lives.’

My jaw drops. ‘Are you—?’ Is he proposing?

He grins. ‘Not yet. I mean, unless you want me to.’

I’m silent—surprised by how much I do want that.

‘I’m saying you are everything I’ve ever wanted in life, and that one very long lifetime with you won’t ever feel like enough. We can work out where we live and how we make this work, but not making it work isn’t an option. I’m saying you’ve made me the happiest man on earth right now and I want to think of an appropriate way to thank you.’

My heart turns over in my chest. Tears fill my eyes. ‘I can definitely think of one way.’

‘Yeah?’

‘Come home with me?’

He grins, pulling me closer to him. ‘Really? You don’t want me to catch a cab back to my hotel after all?’

I punch his chest playfully. ‘I never did! That was all you.’