Tag was right. Eli was in love. He knew because he wasn’t sure he’d be able to hold himself upright if Isa rejected him again—and she might.
“Why did you really come here tonight, Sable?” His heart was in his throat, half scared of her answer. She had the power to break him—he was hers through and through. No wonder he’d never wanted to admit as much. Not knowing if she felt anything for him was terrifying.
“You know me. I don’t run away from uncomfortable situations.” She thrust her chin out, but he noticed her pulse flutter to life in her neck. Nerves?
God. He hoped so. He hoped she was nervous for the same reasons he was—because she was uncertain about where he stood. But she didn’t have to worry.
“I do know you.” He took a step closer. “You tend to step into the lion’s den boldly, don’t you?”
Her gaze flitted to the side, but she held her ground. He loved her for it. This strong, beautiful, brave woman. She was everything he wasn’t—and some of what he was finding his way back to.
“Your beers, sir,” the bartender announced. Eli held up a hand signaling him to hang on.
“Tell me why you came, Sable.” He hadn’t dreamed she’d show up tonight, and until this very moment hadn’t realized how much he had needed her to. “Professional courtesy? Networking?”
Her nod was shaky.
“Or for personal reasons?” He lifted his hand to her face and cupped her jaw.
“Your note wasn’t clear.” Her breathy whisper was more of a plea. “What more do I deserve Eli?”
He caught the tail end of her sentence with his mouth, moving his lips softly, firmly over hers. She gave and gave, until their tongues tangled. Soon, his hands were spearing upward into her hair as he held her close—as Isa’s fists curled around his lapels and she anchored herself to him.
When her hand flattened over his heart, he felt every aching ounce of loss that had compounded over the last two weeks. When it hit him, the ferocity stopped his heart and throttled his brain. He pulled his mouth from hers.
“Isabella.” He swallowed thickly, feeling weak in the knees—not good for a guy who’d lost everything below one of them. “It’s a beautiful name.”
She shook her head on a soft laugh.
“You deserve better than a man like me,” he said. “That’s what I meant in the note.”
“So you lied,” she said, one eyebrow arched. He shook his head to argue, but she continued. “I gave you an ultimatum and I shouldn’t have. You asked for time and I didn’t honor that request. I should have.”
“No. You shouldn’t have.”
She blanched.
“I’ve had all the time I need, Sable.” She’d come to him. She’d sought him out, bravely and surely. She was here and he knew the reason why even if she hadn’t voiced it. She loved him. She had to. No way would she have poured herself into the dress he’d sent and stood before him like this unless she did.
He reached behind him for the nearest empty chair and collapsed into it, the weight of what this woman had done for him pushing him down. Hands on his knees, he struggled for air.
He loved her. She loved him. They were going to make this work.
Everything he’d been fighting had come to pass. She was exactly what he needed.
Isa came into view, concern in her whiskey-colored eyes as she knelt before him on the carpet, dress be damned.
“Eli.” Her hands covered his. “Are you in pain?”
He looked up, a smile on his face when he tipped her chin and told her the truth. “Not anymore.”
***
Eli’s face…
Isa’s heart slammed into her chest at full force. The lightness in his eyes, the tender grip he had on her jaw told her he was telling the truth. Eli wasn’t in pain.
Not anymore.