One King's Way (On Dublin Street 6.5)

“Go home, Craig.”

“Not until you let me say what I came here to say.”

I looked down at the foot he now had wedged against my door so I couldn’t close it. “I could call the police.” I gestured to his foot. “Some might call this harassment.”

“And others might call it desperation.”

I narrowed my eyes on him. “Why are you here? I thought we said all we needed to say. You and I are not compatible.”

“Yes, we are. I’m just a clueless prick.” He pushed inside so I had no choice but to stumble back and let him in.

Even if he hadn’t pushed, his words might have done the trick. My pulse started to race even harder than it already was.

Was he here to try to win me back?

And why the hell did I suddenly feel so elated by that?

Flirting bastard, flirting bastard, flirting bastard, I chanted in reminder as I shut my door and followed him into the living room.

“I’ve missed you,” he said as soon as I entered the room.

“Craig—”

“And I know I was completely in the wrong.” He held up his hands in placation and took a tentative step toward me. “You were right. I shouldn’t have disrespected you like that by flirting with other women, even if it was just for my job. When I think about it, it seems like such a small, stupid thing, and I can’t lose you over something that idiotic. Something I can change. Because I can.”

Although his words soothed some of the hurt he’d caused me the other night, I found myself shaking my head. “You’re not all in the wrong, Craig. You’re right about me . . . I have issues and they would only become a problem between us. We’re too different. I’m a romantic, remember?”

“I am too.” He closed the gap between us and I felt his strong hands wrap around my biceps. I closed my eyes briefly, savoring his touch before pulling away. “Rain . . .”

“You’re not a romantic. You’re a realist. You tell me you want to be in a relationship with me but you can’t promise me the future. I’m not asking you to promise me the future—it’s impossible. But I want you to feel like I’m your future. And you obviously don’t.”

Craig gave a harsh bark of laughter, his expression incredulous. “You have no fucking clue, do you?”

Confused, I scowled at him. “What are you talking about?”

“The night we had sex in your hall . . . The morning after, actually. I realized I was in love with you. I watched you sleep for a couple of hours and I knew that you were it. My mum called that morning and the exact words I said were, ‘I’ve found her, Mum.’ So don’t stand there and tell me what I feel. Because, yes, I can’t promise you that this is forever but I can tell you that I hope to God it’s forever.” His eyes gleamed with emotion and I felt the answering burn of tears in my throat. I felt like my heart was going to smash out of my chest and my hands were shaking so hard. “I can’t imagine ever loving another woman the way that I love you.”

My tears escaped and I bit my lip to hold in a sob.

Craig closed the gap between us in less than a second and I found myself wrapped in his arms, holding on tight. I sucked in a breath, trying to collect myself, but I was overwhelmed with relief and a happiness I couldn’t remember ever feeling before. “I love you too,” I choked out, burying my nose against his neck. “I love you so much.”

“Thank God,” he whispered back, his hold on me tightening. “I don’t want to be without you ever. These last three days have been hell.”

“I know.” I pushed back a little so I could look into his handsome face. I clasped his cheeks in my hands and pressed my mouth to his. It started off as a gentle, loving kiss and then it turned desperate as he tasted the tears on my lips.

He broke away, voice hoarse as he said, “I’m going to try my hardest to never hurt you again.”

I nodded. “Me too.”

He ran his hands over my hair, then down my body, his touch just as desperate as his kiss had been. “I want to know everything about you. I want to love every little bit of you.”

My chest squeezed in a delicious ache at his romantic words. “Just get a couple of glasses of wine in me and I won’t shut up.”

He laughed at my teasing and suddenly swung me up into his arms. I gave a little squeal as I wrapped my arms around his neck, clinging onto him. “First I’m going to make love to you, then I’m going to fuck you, and then you can tell me everything there is to know about you.”

I grinned, feeling the familiar tingle of excited arousal between my legs. “Well the first two things will tell you a little something about me.”

“Oh darlin’, the first two things are going to last long enough to tell me a lot of something about you.”

I laughed happily, the moment feeling so surreal. This morning I’d felt heavy with despair and now I’d never felt lighter in life.

But then, I thought as Craig kissed me long and deep, the opposite extremes of emotion did make sense.

After all . . . I was in love.

Rain

“You look fantastic,” I said to my sister.

We were on an early morning Skype call for the first time since Darcy had gone out to Australia. Well, early morning for me, evening for her. We’d stayed in contact via phone calls and emails, but they’d been brief because when Darcy was depressed she went into herself. I’d noticed our last few phone calls had been better, however, and I began to hope that she was coming out of the dark place Angus’s betrayal had sent her into.