She looked as if she expected him to say something, then, but he couldn’t speak. He was frozen solid in disbelief. He couldn’t believe that she was saying all the things he’d long since given up on ever hearing from her.
“Now I’ve seen all these different sides of you,” Jenny continued. “And I love them all. And Iamstaying in Australia, and I don’t give a toss if that doesn’t work for you, because this time your little speech didn’t work. I’m not going to wander off with a smile on my face like all those other girls. I’m going to stay right here. I’m going to do whatever it takes to prove to you that youcanfall in love with me, you really can—”
Her voice began to crack, her eyes had gone glossy, and Dylan couldn’t bear it a moment longer. The idea that she believed he couldn’t love her felt like it might rip him apart.
“Stop,” he ordered her.
In that voice he usually used when she was naked.
And then he smiled, because she gulped back whatever it was she was about to say.
Because she was perfect. And she was here. And when he took a breath, trying to get his heart rate to settle down, he noticed that she was no longer wearing that obnoxious rock on her left hand.
“Where’s your ring?” he asked.
“I gave it back to Conrad,” Jenny told him. She lifted her chin defiantly. “Then I rang my father and told him that I wasn’t going to be marrying with my head, thank you. That after all this time, I finally realized that my heart had been stolen away a long time ago.” Her chest heaved, as if there were sobs in there fighting to get out. “Because it was. Because I love you, Dylan. And I don’t understand why you think you can’t love me back, but I’m hoping I can convince you to try.”
“Jenny,” he said, because it was all he could say. Because her name had always been his favorite song.
He reached out and tugged her close, so he could look deep into her eyes. And get his hands on her, where they belonged.
“Just try,” she was saying urgently. “I promise, if you still can’t love me after a reasonable amount of time—let’s say six months—I’ll accept it.” When he didn’t speak, because he thought his chest was broken in half, she kept going. “Three months. Okay, a month. Just give me a chance.”
And then she fell silent, as if something on his face took her words away.
But that was just grand, because he finally found his voice.
“I told you I couldn’t fall in love with you,” Dylan said quietly.
He smoothed her hair back from her face and he still couldn’t believe that this was happening. That they were standing here, with the Australian sun beating down on them, a world away and all these years later—and it was still the same. It was still so strong.
Stronger, now, than he’d ever believed possible. “Jenny, I’ve been in love with you all along. I loved you at first sight. And I’ve loved you since. And I knew that I could never have you, so I had you in the only way I could. Every woman I’ve ever touched was you. Every woman I’ve ever seen was you. And yet none of them were truly you, and I’d resigned myself to it. I’ve been loving you from afar forever.”
“But...but...” And she was sobbing then, or maybe she was laughing at the same time, and her eyes were so wide with wonder it was like he fell off the edge of the world and lost himself there. “You walked away. You left me with Conrad. You would have come to my wedding!”
“With a smile on my face,” Dylan agreed. “I vowed a long time ago that I would be what you needed, always. It was the only way I got to love you.”
“Dylan...” she whispered, and it was like a thousand earthquakes ripped them both open, but only light poured forth.
Then she was in his arms, and she was touching his face.
He was kissing her, or she was kissing him.
And it wasn’t about sex. It wasn’t about friendship. It was both of those things, wrapped up tight, tangled up as only they could make it, and made new.
Made theirs.
They kept saying it.I love you.
Over and over again, as if they were remaking the world every time they said the words. Making all the dark years behind them light, because they’d ended up here.
Out in the light, bathed in love, at last.
That was how Dylan and his perfect Lady Jenny became one.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
HEDIDN’TGETany less bossy, Jenny reflected a year later, sitting out on that same deck.