“Never again.”

We cling to each other like our lives depend on it. I didn’t realize it, but every day since I got on that plane and left the States has been leading to this. Every city, every adventure, every step forward, was to bring me back to him.

“I love you.” I kiss his neck. “I love you.” I kiss his cheek. “I love you.”

“I need to see you. Please, let me look at you.”

I let him set me on my feet. I hadn’t even realized I wrapped my legs around his waist. Somehow he managed to keep us from toppling over when I mauled him.

Looking him over I realize that in the last year he’s gotten even more muscular. His shoulders are bigger, his arms more muscular. His waist is tapered and from what I felt when he held me his abs are even more defined. His hair has grown a tad longer, more unkempt, but his scruff is the same, darkening his cheeks. The blue of his eyes is more vivid than I remember and it breaks my heart that my memories didn’t do them justice. It killed me when I realized we had no pictures together, but when your relationship is a secret there can’t be proof of your lies.

Even with the subtle changes he’s still my Lachlan.

“You’re so beautiful, Dani.”

His hands settle on the small of my waist and I rest my hands on his chest, staring up at him.

“Are you really here?”

A deep chuckle rumbles in his throat. “I’m really here.”

“You left me,” I accuse, lower lip trembling.

He wipes my tears away with his thumbs. “I had to, Dani. I’m so fucking sorry.”

I sniffle. “I know, but you could’ve told me.”

He shakes his head, his eyes somehow sad and happy at the same time. “I wouldn’t have been able to leave you if you asked me to stay, and you would have.”

I look away, more tears forming. “You broke my heart.”

“I didn’t want to.” He cups my cheek in one hand, pressing our foreheads together. “God, Dani, leaving you was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. But I knew I needed to give you room to grow. I was holding you together, but I wasn’t solving the problem. I had to let you do it on your own.”

“What if this year hasn’t been enough? What if I’m still too broken?”

“I have faith in you, and if you still need time then I’ll go away. But I’ll be waiting until you’re ready. And if you’re never ready for me, or if you want someone else, like your friend, then that’s okay too. I want what’s best for you. I can’t be selfish, not when your happiness means more to me than anything else.” A shadow falls over his face. His thumb rubs in soothing circles against my cheek. “And if you’ve already moved on—”

“I haven’t.” I shake my head roughly. “That last text I sent you … it was because I was mad. I didn’t even think you were reading them and if you were I wanted to make you jealous. Ansel and I … nothing ever happened.”

“It’s okay if it did.”

“It didn’t,” I say, more for my benefit than his. “I … I wanted to feel something for him, but you can’t force love, and a connection like ours…”

“It’s once in a lifetime,” he finishes for me, and then, blessedly, his lips are on mine.

My body melts into his, aching for his touch. We kiss like it’s the first and last time. It’s the kind of kiss everyone dreams of getting but doesn’t seem to happen in real life, only the movies.

His fingers tangle in my hair, gripping the back of my neck as he holds me to him. My hands tremble where I grasp his face, kissing him with all the love that was absent from me without him.

His mouth leaves mine, and he stares down at me, his lips now slightly swollen and pinker than normal. “I love you, Dandelion Meadows. I wasn’t expecting you. I sure as hell wasn’t searching for you. But then there you were, standing in the doorway of my office with your wary eyes, and something about you spoke to me. The more you talked, the more I got to know you, and I found myself saying to myself this girl is mine.”

“And you’re mine,” I nearly growl the last part, pulling his face back to mine because I need to feel his lips.

Our mouths move together in sync, anticipating one another with ease.

I should probably be embarrassed that we’re making out like two horny teenagers in front of the Seattle Space Needle, but I can’t bring myself to care.

I pull away from him suddenly with a gasp.

Tags: Micalea Smeltzer Romance
Source: readsnovelonline.net