Her threatening smile wavered. “Nothing happened with Archer,” she said softly. “I mean, notnothing, but I didn’t sleep with him. Or anything else that involved him touching me in any way.”
Zane swallowed, not daring to hope. His heartbeat echoed in his ears. “You were still wearing your bridesmaid dress this morning.”
“Yeah, I was.”
“So you never made it home.” This was killing him. He clenched his jaw. “It didn’t look like he did either.”
A soft smile danced under the sadness on her face. “I don’t know where he was. After we left the wedding, we went for coffee. We talked. A lot. I apologized for leading him on then shutting him out. He apologized for being a clingy, presumptuous jackass.”
Zane couldn’t hide his disbelief, but he refused to give into the hint of amusement. “His words?”
Her smile grew. “My words, his meaning.”
“That took all night?”
“I walked away when he started droning on about how I made a mistake leaving him.”
“You shouldn’t have to put up with that.”
“I didn’t.” She stepped closer. “You have a pretty strong opinion about what I do and don’t deserve. Have you ever stopped to think nothing would make me happier than you?”
He stopped breathing for a moment, not sure he’d heard her right.
She kept going. “I saidgoodbyeto him after an hour or so, thanked him for everything, and drove around until I was too tired to do so safely. I was trying to convince myself to stay away from you, since you already pushed me out twice. Telling myself you didn’t love me the way I do you. You almost broke me in the coffee shop, but I managed to keep it all in until I got home.”
His heart leaped in his throat at the words. Jesus, she’d taken her time getting there, but he still loved the way it sounded. “What did you figure out?”
“I didn’t.” She reached for him then dropped her arm again. “My brain spun in on itself over and over again, until I thought I might pass out on my feet from exhaustion, and when you said it this morning—actually said,I love you—I thought I was hallucinating. Tell me you meant it?”
Relief surged through him. He wrapped his fingers in her hair, pulled her close, and kissed her hard, not breaking away until he couldn’t breathe. He gasped as they broke apart. He held her head in place, gaze locked on hers. “I love you more than anything. I don’t know what I’d do without you. Just thinking about waking up someplace that you’ll never be coming back to hurts more than I want to dwell on.”
It felt incredible to have the words out. Especially when she shifted her weight, pressing into him. “Me too.”
She kissed him again, hungry and desperate, digging her nails into his back. When she pulled away, he realized what he’d missed that morning. Her face looked almost exactly the same, except relief and joy danced in her eyes now instead of red-rimmed grief.
He spun and dropped into her chair, grabbed her hands in his, and tugged her to stand between his legs. “I should have said something sooner. I should have told you so many things sooner.”
She bent and silenced him with a quick kiss before stepping away. “It doesn’t matter. It’s out now. Whatever happened while you were gone doesn’t change how I feel about you. I’m not sure my acceptance matters, but I know why you made the decisions you did, and if you had any idea at all what they would lead to, you wouldn’t have done it.”
She had more faith in him than he did, but that went both ways when it came to them. He didn’t forgive himself, but he had a feeling he’d get there. “It means a lot. Thank you.”
“Beyond that, all I care about is that we stop hiding things from each other. Well, I care about other things, too. I mean, I’m pretty hardcore infatuated with you, and this whole artwork thing, and that I didn’t get laid after my sister’s wedding. Isn’t that like a bridesmaid’s right or something?”
He couldn’t hold back his laughter. “At least you have your priorities, and yes, if we’re to believe popular media—and really, why wouldn’t we?—you’re definitely owed that.”
She bit her bottom lip, hands shoved in her front pockets and tugging down the waistband of her jeans. “So are you volunteering?”
He made a show of looking around him. “Are you offering it to anyone else?”
“Nope. Just making sure.”
He hesitated. Should he do what he wanted? It hadn’t been a problem in the past, but so many significant things had changed.
She fiddled with the bottom of her T-shirt. “Your move.”
His pulse whirred into overdrive, and he smirked. The things that mattered were still the same. He needed to remember that. “You’re sure?”
She ducked her head, watching him through thick lashes, pink covering her cheeks. “I trust you.”