“I’m glad you came after me,” she says quietly. “I missed you so much.”
“I’m not even sure I deserve you,” I mutter, more to myself as I’m still a little confused that she’s accepting me back, which makes me ask as I loosen my hold so I can look at her. “Why? Why are you standing here letting me hold you?”
She doesn’t answer, just turns the tables quickly on me. “Why did you come track me down?”
The answer is absolutely crystal clear. “Because I love you.”
“Yes,” she agrees softly with a smile. “Because I love you.”
My fucking heart swells and expands, ripples with warmth, and I feel unbelievably light in my soul. Joy radiates through me, and it feels like a rebirth.
I feel new.
I feel immensely grateful for every possibility before me right now.
“I’m going to do this right,” I promise her as I let her slide down until her feet touch the floor.
“How so?” she murmurs.
I hook her by the back of the neck with my hand and give a slight squeeze of possession. “I am going to make you feel like the most precious thing in the world every day for the rest of your life, because what you’re giving me is beyond precious. You’ve given me another chance, and I’m never going to forget the value of that. Every day, I’m going to earn your love. Every fucking day for the rest of my life, I’m going to give you the very best I have to offer this world. It will all be for you.”
Jane lets out a quavering breath. “God, that was poetic, and I’m completely turned on.”
“I’m serious, Jane,” I say, giving her another squeeze. I know what I just said to her was really intense, but fuck… my feelings are really intense, and I need to get them out there. I also know she’s trying to make light of it so I don’t feel awkward, but fuck the awkward.
“Jane,” I say as I lower my face toward hers. “Tell me you get everything I just said to you and you know it’s from the bottom of my heart.”
Her eyes get shiny. I feel like shit because I didn’t want to make her cry, but then she smiles at me so brightly that I’m almost blinded. “I’m never going to forget a single word of what you just said because it was the most beautiful thing in the world.”
My lips find her in a searching kiss, both of us seeking to validate our words and our emotions now with touch and physical intimacy. My body comes alive at what this means as I kiss her more deeply.
Jane’s hands slide up my chest, and she gives a slight push that breaks our kiss. She gives a quick lick to her lower lip, which is sexy as hell, before she asks, “Are you going to move here to Boston?”
“I’ll move anywhere in the world you want to,” I assure her. “I quit the ATF, so I’m extremely mobile.”
“What about Misty Harbor?” she asks tentatively.
“They still need a light keeper?” I ask with a grin.
“Quite possibly,” she says with a laugh.
“Then Misty Harbor it is,” I tell her, the decision absolutely made.
But first…
I sweep Jane up into my arms and turn toward the hallway that I’m assuming leads to a bed. We have other things to do right now.
EPILOGUE
Jane
Two years later…
I walk in through the open bay doors of Tinker’s Garage, quickly scanning the area, but I don’t see Kyle or anyone else for that matter. There’s a car up on one of the lifts. I suspect that was Kyle’s project today, although he’s more than likely in the office doing paperwork.
Kyle has pretty much taken over Tink’s business, as the old man is finally considering retirement. He’s been spending more time in Pennsylvania with his daughter and grandkids, and I know he and Kyle are in talks for Kyle to buy him out so he can “officially” retire. I asked him if he would change the name of the garage to maybe “Kyle’s Garage” or even “Sommerville’s Garage,” but he just grinned and shook his head. “Baby… Tink’s is an establishment in this area. He’s had this business for over forty years in Misty Harbor. The man deserves his name on the garage for eternity.”
And that’s my man.
He’s completely settled into life here as if he’d been born here. It took him a while to figure out what he wanted to do for a living, but when he saw that Tink was looking for part-time help, it all just sort of made sense to him. He was a good mechanic, and he liked working with his hands.
Oh, dear Lord, did he like working with his hands. He was so good with them last night that he made me scream.