Page 112 of Kilt Trip

As much as he wanted her, as much as he might literally disintegrate into the pavement if she walked away again, he couldn’t be the man waiting for her in this port. He had to protect the little slice of his life he’d managed to get back since she left.

“Can I tell you a story? It’s not one I’ve told many people.”

“You can trust me with it.”

She nodded. “In days gone by,” her lips tipped up at the edges, teasing him, “a father showed his daughter how to be curious, to notice things other people overlooked, and turned their life into an adventure. Her mother taught her about the stars and the sandhill crane migration and—standing over a garden—that things only grow in the desert with a lot of love. One day, everything that girl knew was gone and she ran, never really knowing if she was running away or toward something better. Either way, the adventure eased the pain, and maybe, without realizing it, it helped keep her father’s spirit alive, too.”

Hands braced behind her on the bus, Addie rocked on her heels over the edge of the curb. Logan wanted to pull her into his arms.

But he needed her words.

“Years later, that girl got on an airplane like every other time before. And she stepped into an old city that captured her imagination like a lot of cities around the world. But this one was different. Because her mom had told her stories, and her heart recognized this place. And then she met a man.” Tears leaked out of Addie’s eyes, and she blinked them back. “A man who really wanted her to understand the difference between a fjord and an estuary and looked inexcusably sexy in a kilt.” Logan reached for her then, but she held up a hand to stop him.

“We’re getting to the good part now.” Addie swallowed and took a deep breath and Logan matched her, willing away his impatience, giving her the space she needed. “She met a friend who barged into her life and demanded her secrets—”

“Aye, she does have that way about her.” Elyse had done the same to him.

“And a roommate who shared his books.” Addie’s mouth tipped down into a frown, and her voice cracked, struggling to get out the next words. “And a family who welcomed her for no other reason than their kind hearts.”

“And because I was making an absolute fool of myself over you. Come here,” Logan said, tugging her into his embrace. She sniffled and burrowed into his arms. Her body melted into his, and he sank into the sensation. He would never push her away again. Couldn’t survive her absence from his life.

He tipped his nose into the crook of her neck, breathing in the smell of flowers, the smell of forever, and ran his hand over her hair.

“That’s not the end,” she said on a hiccup.

“No, I should hope not.”

Addie pulled back, giving him a watery smile and wiping away tears with the back of her hand. “I’ve spun so many stories for myself about what life could look like in every city I visit, I didn’t immediately recognize that home for me was in a potato shop and a bay window and a kitchen at Hogmanay.”

He stroked Addie’s cheek, following the path of her freckles.

“My life stopped when my mom died. And it restarted somewhere on the banks of Loch Ness. It might have even started that time you stepped back to reveal the skyline in the gloaming, and I recognized that feeling of in-between. You brought my heart back to life.”

“Lass,” he said on a quiet breath.

“I mean it. I wouldn’t have been brave enough without you. I know I pushed you away, that I shut people out. I’m sorry I hurt you. Not just by leaving but by keeping my stories to myself. But I was right there, feeling all the same things.”

He placed a kiss against her palm before folding it into his and tucking it against his heart.

“You gave me back pieces of my mom and that sense of belonging I’ve been searching for since I lost it. I will always want to explore new places, but I want to come home when I’m done. And for me, that’s not out on the moor or anywhere else she went.” Addie skimmed her hands down the lapels of his coat. “It’s with you.” When she looked back up, her eyes were as wide and alluring as the first time he saw her. “I love you, Logan.”

Happiness radiated out of every nerve ending in his body. The words he’d needed to hear for so long filled in the cracks between all the broken pieces of his shattered heart. His forehead bowed down to meet hers and he closed his eyes. With his lips nearly touching hers, he whispered, “I love you, too, lass.”

He wrapped his arms around her and lifted her from the ground. He kissed her with eyes open, unable to look away. The needy sounds she made and the way she tugged at his hair to deepen their kiss convinced him she was real. She was here.

She was staying.

After so many false starts and painful hopes, she’d come back to him.

He ran his thumb along her jaw. “That tour you planned...it’s going to take a long time to get to all those places.”

She smiled against his lips. “I’m counting on it,” she said, before her mouth molded against his and her tongue slipped inside.

He wasn’t sure how long he held her in the street, but long enough he could barely remember life before that kiss.

What started out sweet slowly turned heated and demanding. He backed her against the blue tour bus and sank his fingers into her soft hair. Despite the chilly wind, his body temperature spiked. Like they should get out of all these clothes.

Addie must have felt it, too, because she grabbed both his hands and pulled back. The smile she gave him could power the bus all the way to Skye.

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