Page 45 of Coming Undone

“She came by this morning to see how I was doing. And she – very tactfully – helped me understand that you had probably only acted out of concern for me.”

“That was nice of her.” He made a mental note to send his future sister-in-law a kick-ass Christmas present. “I’m sure you appreciated the tact after I went storming away like a bat out of hell.”

“It’s okay. Really.” She turned toward him, fixing him with those bright blue eyes. “I just want to know, where do we go from here?”

It was a question he thought he had the answer to a few days ago. Hell, he’d known since he’d seen her waiting for him at the naval station in Norfolk that he wanted more from her. Much, much more. He’d also known his career might not allow him to offer her the kind of everyday love she deserved.

Of course, given the argument they’d had this morning, he knew he ought to let her weigh in on the question. Something she couldn’t do until she had all the facts.

“Remember the letter I sent you a few years ago?” He figured he’d start there since he’d laid it all out neatly in a note he’d put a lot of thought into. “The one your admirer at the p.r. agency never passed along to you?”

She nodded.

“I renewed my bid for that Vegas wedding we talked about.” He’d laid it all on the line back then when she’d never even known about it. Why not give it a shot now? “I had no luck reaching you on the phone, so I declared my undying love in a note I thought might find you through the publishing house.”

“My God, Danny. You realize I had no idea-” She paled and he didn’t think that was a good sign.

When would he learn not be Mr. Intense around her?

“I’m sure the guy you dated was already crushing on you and didn’t care for the competition. Who knows what happened? Either way, I just figured you ought to know that my feelings for you haven’t changed since we met. And I didn’t totally fall of the map for five years. I did try. I should have tried harder. I see that now. But I need to make sure you realize, I wanted you then and I want you even more now.”

Stephanie guessed she looked like a blowfish, her mouth working even though no words were coming out. But she’d been tongue-tied earlier and regretted not pulling her head together sooner to say what she felt. No way was she going to rob them of this moment too.

So she blurted the first thing that came to mind.

“I love you.” She cupped his face in her hands, her heart full to overflowing. “I suspected it when I didn’t really connect with anyone else I dated. I mean, I blamed it on the abduction thing and went to counseling, but I always ended up talking about you.”

It had been embarrassing, actually. She felt like a teenager with a crush that she couldn’t forget.

“Why didn’t you look me up sooner?” He combed a strand of windblown hair from her face. His green eyes so serious.

Intent.

“Because I was confused about what I felt. I thought maybe I just sort of idolized what we had since it was so fun and it was the last real happy memory I had before I was thrust into a war zone. And since we never made any promises, I pictured you going on to big things and being really successful without me.” She swallowed hard and smoothed a hand over his jaw. “I tried to write my way to a happier place with the book, but that sort of pushed me in an even darker direction. I think I just needed to be in a better place emotionally before I tried my luck with you again.”

She’d let so much time go by. And even after she’d found him, she’d put up barriers without realizing it. How could she have feared giving him her heart when it had already belonged to him?

He let out a shuddering sigh and pulled her hard against his chest. Squeezed her tight.

Without a single word, she understood how much she meant to him. She felt his love for her in the way he held her, as if he’d never let her go.

He kissed her just above the temple, his lips soft on her sun-warmed hair. Then he kissed her a few more times, his hands stroking over her back.

When he pulled back, he gripped her shoulders and studied her, his expression still serious.

“You don’t know how much that means to me. You just have no… idea.” His hands roamed up and down her arms. “I’m ready to do whatever it takes to make it work so make sure we’re rock solid. I’m just so glad you’re talking to me. Confiding in me. It might not be easy being apart, but I’m willing to work at this.”

Her chest tightened at the concern in his voice and she vowed silently to bring some laughter and lightness back into his life. He needed her for that and for the first time in a long time, she didn’t feel even remotely like damaged goods. She felt like a woman with something very tangible to offer the man who she’d once imagined had everything.

“Not easy, maybe. But compared to pouring out our hearts just now, I think it’s going to get easier from here.” She couldn’t hold back a smile and he traced the corner of her lips with his fingertip. “We can figure this out.”

“We only have two and a half weeks together,” he reminded her, his brows lifting in unison.

As if he was somehow surprised they could pull it off?

“We fell in love in five days and were ready to hop a plane to Vegas to hit up a drive-in chapel. I can’t even imagine what we can accomplish with weeks together. Gosh, it feels like a lifetime.” She winked and finally teased a smile from him.

“True enough. But six months apart is a long time. After that, I should have a solid chunk of time at home though. It should balance out. Down the road, who knows? Maybe I could take a job on shore-”

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