He tried to tamp down his amusement, but it came out in the form of a sheepish smile. “Yeah, maybe a little.”
Before he could react, she bounded toward him and launched herself into his arms. He held her close, breathing in the sweet scent of orange blossoms, rubbing his chin against the silky-smooth flesh of her neck. God, it felt good holding her again.
“I miss you too,” Annabelle said, pulling back. “I know it’s only been a day since you left, but it feels like forever.”
“I know,” he confessed with a sigh.
She searched his face, her eyes flickering with hesitation. “I just…what you said at the house…you didn’t mean any of it, did you?”
“None of it,” he said gruffly.
Relief flooded her beautiful face. “I thought so. Not at the time, but after I confronted my dad and found out what he tried to do, I figured you said all that stuff because you were…I don’t know, scared?”
As a rule, he hated to admit fear, but at the moment, he knew he had no choice. If he wanted this woman back—and God, how he did—then he had to be completely honest with her. “I felt like a loser,” he admitted. “I thought I wasn’t good enough for you, so I said whatever I could to convince you I didn’t want you.”
“And the thing about…um…Jane?”
He reached out and touched her cheek. “I don’t love her. I thought I did, a while ago, but I was wrong.” He swallowed hard. “But you…I’m in love with you, Annabelle, and I know I’m not wrong about that.”
A smile tugged at her lips. “You’re in love with me?”
He nodded earnestly.
The smile widened. “Good. Because I’m in love with you too.”
Pleasure burst in his chest. “You are?”
It was her turn to nod. “And I already decided I won’t do the long-distance thing. Those relationships never work out.”
He moistened his dry lips. “I can’t move to San Francisco, baby. I need to stay close to the base so—”
She interrupted him with a laugh. “Duh. I’m going to talk to my boss about transferring me to our San Diego office. She’s always talking about how that location is understaffed, so I think she might really go for it.”
Emotion clogged his throat. “You want to move here?”
She nodded.
“What about your family?”
Pain fluttered across her face. “I think it might be a good idea to be away from them for a while. God, Ryan, I’m so furious at my dad. I can’t believe he did that to you, and then he tried to do the same thing to Bryce.”
Ryan frowned. “What?”
“He threatened to fire him if he didn’t get back together with me,” Annabelle said darkly. “But I convinced him to let Bryce keep his job.”
“I hate that I might have done something to ruin your relationship with your father,” Ryan said roughly.
She sighed. “I’ll forgive him eventually. I hate staying mad at people. But like I said, I think some space from him and my mom will be for the best.”
Smiling, he drew her into his arms, then dipped his head to kiss her softly on the lips. “So do you want to move in here?”
Annabelle looked startled. “Here?”
“Duh,” he mimicked. “Eventually we’ll get a place alone, if you want, but I can’t abandon Matt just yet. We signed a one-year lease.”
She laughed. “Way to get ahead of yourself, Roger. I was thinking more along the lines of staying at Christina’s. She and Joe might end up finding a place together anyway, which means I could stay upstairs for good.”
Ryan couldn’t help but smile. For good. He liked the sound of that. “Well, my door’s always open, if you change your mind.”
Annabelle leaned in to kiss him again. “Okay, now that we’ve settled that…can we have make-up sex?”
He laughed too, his heart so full of joy he was scared it would explode. “Definitely.”
“We still have two more items on the list to check off,” she reminded him, arching one brow.
He struggled to remember the elusive two items, then grinned when he did. “Number ten,” he said with a decisive nod. “Let’s start with that one.”
Annabelle shook her head. “No way. I just took a shower before I boarded the flight. I’ll get all sticky if we do number ten.”
But he was already on his feet, heading for the kitchen to get a bottle of maple syrup. Glancing at her over his shoulder, he flashed a brilliant smile and said, “Trust me, it’ll be fun.”
About the Author
A RITA-award nominated author, Elle Kennedy grew up in the suburbs of Toronto, Ontario, and holds a B.A. in English from York University. From an early age, she knew she wanted to be a writer, and actively began pursuing that dream when she was a teenager. When she’s not writing, she’s reading. And when she’s not reading, she’s making music with her drummer boyfriend, oil painting or indulging her love for board games.
Elle loves to hear from her readers. Visit her Web site www.ellekennedy.com or send her a note at [email protected].
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