Page 154 of When Hearts Collide

“Millie,” he whispers my name reverently, his eyes warming with so much love, my chest actually hurts from being so close to him. “You look beautiful.”

“Ryland, you planned this?” I hold up the letter in my hand.

Another gust of wind blows by, and a few loose curls of hair fall over my face. Ryland reaches out and hesitates for a second before tucking the strands behind my ear. Then he lightly trails his fingers over my cheek.

My skin lights up. And all it took was a simple, fleeting touch.

“I read every single word you wrote in your letters, Millie. I don’t have a way with words, not like you, but I need you to know how much I want you, how much I need you. Please forgive me if I haven’t given you enough time.” His words are hurried, urgent, as if he’s afraid I’ll deny him.

He continues, “I want to show you I’m serious about us. I’m not going to hide our relationship from the world. I was lost in the maze inside my mind for the longest time, but you, Millie,” he gently clutches my hand, the one holding the pendant around my neck, and curls his palm around it, “you showed me the way out. You showed me how I’m not alone anymore and I have people to lean on, people who’ll never leave me.”

He cups my cheeks in his hands, his eyes taking on a wet sheen. “My heart has lived outside of me ever since I met you. I foolishly thought I could live without my heart, and I would save you from my prison…from me. But I was wrong, and I hurt you. I wish I could go back in time and take all the pain away, but I know I can’t. I can only ask you to let me make it up to you for the rest of my life, starting with today.”

My eyes well and my words are stuck in my throat. He looks so sincere, so desperate, so irrevocably in love with me. My heart teeters at the edge, wanting desperately to leap into his embrace once more.

As if sensing my hesitation, he presses a soft kiss on my forehead before gently interlacing his fingers with mine and tugging me up the steps toward the main entrance of the glass building.

“I would’ve brought you here sooner, but there was a lot of red tape to get through—permits, board meetings, designs, construction. I even tried to help with some of the manual labor. That was why I didn’t stop by your apartment the last two days—last minute issues to take care of here.” He stops in front of the large plaque covered in cloth.

Ryland glances at me, a pulse feathering his cheek, and he swallows nervously. He takes a deep breath and pulls the cloth away.

My heart flies to my mouth and my lips part in a gasp.

The Millie Callahan Exotic Botanical Greenhouse Conservatory.

“The admission will be free all year round, so people in all stages of life and all income levels can access beautiful flowers because…nature should be free.” His voice is thick, impassioned.

“The upkeep is funded by a new endowment set up by the Anderson family—specifically out of a portion of my funds. It’s perpetual. The funds will continue after my time on this earth. A press release is slated to be published tomorrow.”

He heard me that day at New Beginnings. My words—he remembered.

My lips tremble as I reread my name carved into the granite for the world to see. Then his words register in my mind.

“P-Press release? Then everyone will know you built a greenhouse for me. And what about what you said at the press conference this morning?”

His eyes widen. He’s clearly surprised at my mention of the press conference. He didn’t know I saw it.

I clutch his arm. “There’ll be gossip again. They’ll connect the dots with what you posted on social media and your responses to the reporters. What about your reputation, your fam—”

He presses his finger softly on my lips, his touch reverent. “I don’t care if the world knows. I want the world to know you’ve captured my heart and brought me back to life. You’ve freed me from the prison of myself. I want everyone to know how I’m desperately, madly, and irrevocably in love with you and that will never change, much like this building will be here forever.”

“Ryland.” I press a kiss on his finger, my arms looping around his neck automatically, my body no longer able to hold itself back from him. All the lingering doubts vanish from my mind and I don’t want to be separated from him any longer.

He groans and rasps, “Does this mean you’ll give me a chance? Does this mean you’ll forgive me for my idiocy?”

My lips tremble before splitting into a wide smile.

“Well,” I let out a shaky breath, “that was a very good grovel, I must admit.”

He laughs, his smile lighting up his entire face.

“Thank fuck,” he murmurs before swooping down and sealing his lips to mine.

Chapter 55

The moment our lips touch feels like the first rainfall on the parched desert. Electricity crackles between us and every atom in my body vibrates with intensity as his kisses turn heated, his lips licking and sucking mine like he’s desperate for me just as I am for him. He groans and hauls me closer, one hand clutching the nape of my neck, his fingers digging into my skin just the way I like it, the other hand curling around my waist.

“Ryland,” I moan as we part for air, our breaths mingling in the tiny slither of space between us.

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