And the places still cold inside from Maddie’s unexpected meetings with her father, the psychiatrist and then Perry, warmed. “And I will watch out for Vik.”
Starting with taking him home and teaching him how to say three all-important words.
“I believe you. You have your mother’s loyalty and my stubbornness. He couldn’t be in better hands.”
Maddie surprised herself, accepting the compliment with the warmth it was intended. “Thank you.”
Vik slid his arm around her waist. “It’s time for us to go home, I think.”
“What about your afternoon meetings?” she asked, not really wanting him to go back to work.
But now that she knew he loved her, Maddie could wait for the evening to hear him say it. Maybe.
“I canceled everything after your phone call.”
“Because nothing is more important to you than I am,” she said with satisfaction.
Vik could have shrugged. He could have tried to deny it. He could have grimaced in unhappy acknowledgment.
He did none of those things.
What he did was turn his big body to face her, blocking out her view of her dad and his office.
Vik cupped Maddie’s cheeks, his hands trembling against her skin. “Exactly.”
Oh, man. She was going to melt right there.
“Take me home, please,” she said, her voice low with fervency.
Vik made a sound like something had broken inside him and then leaned down and kissed her. His mouth claimed hers with undeniable need. She gave in to it without hesitation.
Maddie didn’t know how long the kiss lasted, but when her father’s voice finally penetrated, she was pressed against Vik, his arms tight bands around her.
“Sheesh, you two need to go home.”
“Kicking us out?” Vik asked with no evidence of embarrassment at what they were doing.
Her dad, on the other hand, had a definite ruddy cast to his cheeks. “What’s coming next is not going to happen in my office.”
Maddie’s own cheeks heated at the implication of his words. He was absolutely right. It was time to leave.
The trip home happened in a haze for her and Maddie was glad Vik drove.
He surprised her by pulling her into the morning room, the shabby chic so like her former apartment and cheery lemon-yellow accents barely registering as he pulled her to sit with him on the deep sofa.
“I thought we were going upstairs.” To make love.
That’s certainly where their kiss in her father’s office had been leading.
“We’re going to talk.” Vik winced as if the words pained him. “About the emotional stuff.”
“Can’t we do that later?” Knowing he loved her was making her desire for the physical proof overwhelming.
“No.”
“Why not?” She wasn’t whining.
She wasn’t, but so far, her day had sort of sucked. Making love with her husband? Now, after learning he was in love with her, that would take this one into the “best days ever” category.
“Because maybe things would have been different for Helene and Jeremy if they had,” Vik said, quoting her own words back at her.
“That was them. We aren’t my parents.”
“No, we aren’t.” Vik took a deep breath and let it out, his complexion just a little green. “I love you, Madison.”
She didn’t tease him for nearly being sick with stress over the admission, though the temptation was great. But she appreciated how hard this had to be for her usually single-minded, alpha business tycoon.
“Maddie.”
“What?” he asked, like she’d strayed from the script.
“You love me. I love you. You call me Maddie, like Romi does.”
“Perry, too.” And Vik didn’t appear happy about that.
“Not anymore. Perry doesn’t get to call me anything. You saw to that.”
“The restraining order lasts two years, but we’ll renew it.”
She shook her head. “I don’t need the restraining order. Trust me, you’re enough, Vik.”
“He approached you.”
“So, I’ll stop going to that coffee shop.”
“That won’t be necessary. I’ll buy it and have him banned.”
“Can you say overkill here, Vik?”
“Nothing is too much to protect you.”
“Oh, man.” She saw a lifetime ahead of her of reining in Vik’s impulses to keep even the hint of harm from her and the children they would have.
Honestly? The image had a pretty rosy glow.
“Do you want me to leave AIH?” he asked.
“What? No!” It was her turn to reach out and cup his face, meeting his eyes with an expression as sincere as she could make it. “I do not need you to give up your dreams to believe you love me.”
Though knowing he was willing to heal wounds in her heart from twenty-four years as Jeremy Archer’s daughter.
“I do. I did six years ago, but...”
“You didn’t recognize what the feeling was,” she guessed.
“No. I’d never been in love.”
“I’m glad.” The thought she could have lost him before she ever had the chance to catch his eye sent cold tremors through her.
“I didn’t think I needed love.”
“We all need love.”
Vik frowned. “I’m not sure that is true.”
He sounded so uncertain, so very unlike the man she was used to. But this was not his area of expertise.
Emotions were almost as foreign to Vik as they were to her dad.
“It’s okay, Vik. We love each other and we are going to be very happy.”
“Aren’t we happy right now?”
Giving in to the urge, she threw herself into his arms with a laugh. “Yes, my darling, wonderful husband. We are very happy.”
He caught her to him, responding to her kiss and holding her tight.
Oh, yes, very happy.
They made love, right there on the sofa, and practiced saying those three little words to each other.
EPILOGUE
VIK AGREED WITH Maddie and Romi on the property they picked out for the charter school. Declaring it the perfect location, he insisted on putting an offer in on it immediately.
Afterward, he took her and Romi out for champagne to celebrate.
“Isn’t this a bit premature?” Romi asked as they clinked glasses. “The offer hasn’t been accepted yet.”
Maddie just laughed.
“The sellers could be a business consortium of questionable pedigree and they wouldn’t have a chance against Vik.”
“We’ll get the property,” Vik said as if there simply wasn’t another option.
Maddie was pretty sure with her tycoon on the case, there wasn’t.
Romi grinned, lifting her glass toward Vik. “To business shark negotiators and dreams coming true.”
They didn’t go straight home after, but Vik took Maddie back up to the overlook at Marin Headlands. She didn’t ask what they were doing there.
Maddie just held his hand as they traversed the path to what many considered the best place for viewing San Francisco’s skyline.
He stopped in the same spot he’d proposed. “We forgot some promises when we were here before.”
“Did we?”
He nodded. “You forgot to promise not to leave your security detail behind anymore.”
That wasn’t what she was expecting him to say, but it was so in line with Vik and his priorities that she grinned. “Duly noted.”
“Promise.”
She put her hand over her heart. “I promise to keep my security detail with me.”
“Your days of volunteering anonymously are over.” He leaned down and kissed her. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay. You’ll just have to find me a detail that likes children.”
“I think that can be arranged.”
Suddenly she realized why they were dealing with this now. “If my detail had been with me when I went to the coffee shop, Perry wouldn’t have gotten within ten feet of me.”
“If that.”
“Right.”
Vik shrugged. “Do you think Romi would allow me to assign a detail to her as well?”
“What? Why?”
“She is your sister-by-choice.”
“I didn’t know you were aware of that.”
“Your mother considered her another daughter.”
“She did.” Maddie smiled in memory. “But I’m not sure Romi needs security because I consider her my sister.”
“In a few weeks, she will own twelve and a half percent of a multibillion-dollar company.”
“No one but us will know that.”
“You know better than that.”
She did. “I don’t know if we can convince her.”
“Tell her security comes with the shares.”