Page 152 of Engulfing Emma

“Yeah, I saw that, with all the dating you’ve been doing.”

She looks guilty. “I don’t know what to say. I was trying to get you out of my head. I didn’t do anything with them, I swear. When I was with them, I wanted them to be you. I was a fool.”

“I was trying to get you out of my head, too.”

She nods. “I know. I saw you with that pretty woman with the flowers.”

“I didn’t do anything with her,” I admit. “I couldn’t.”

“See? That proves it. We belong together.”

Part of me is jumping up and down in joy. She’s saying everything I’ve longed for her to say. But another part, the cautious part, is worried she’s going to break my heart again. Break Leo’s heart. Not to mention Evie’s.

I get up, thinking it’s just too easy for her to say she wants me back. I’m not convinced she means it. She’s sad that Jordan died. She wants to feel better. That’s all this is.

“I have a lot of thinking to do. I’m not about to jump into anything. I won’t be your doormat again.”

She sighs. “So that’s it? Just like that you’re tossing us aside?”

“About as easily as you did that day in the hospital.”

“Don’t do this, Brett. Please.”

“How do I know you won’t get spooked again? I can’t take that chance.”

“I won’t get spooked, I promise.”

“How can you make that promise after what you’ve already done?”

“I just know I can.”

“How, Emma? How do you know?”

“Because I’m ready.”

I run my hands through my hair in frustration. We’ve been through this before. “What are you ready for?”

She looks at me with tears in her eyes. “I’m ready to forgive my father.”

Suddenly, everything changes. “You are? Are you sure?”

“I’m sure. I was wrong about him and about you. All of it.”

I can’t believe what I’m hearing. She wants to forgive her father. It’s everything I’ve ever wanted for her. “Say it again.”

She looks up at me, confused.

I take her hand and lean closer. “Say it again, Emma.”

Her lips quiver. And then she says it. She says it, and my heart explodes. “I love you.”

I pull her up and into my arms. “I love you, too.”

I wipe away her tears, then I kiss her. I don’t care who sees. I kiss her the way I love her—hard and with passion.

“Come home with me,” she says. “I need you like I’ve never needed anyone.”

We start walking, and everything looks different. The sun is higher in the sky. The people on the sidewalk are happier. The trees lining the street are greener. I may be six-foot-one and two hundred and ten pounds of pure muscle, but I feel like leaping in the air and clicking my damn heels together.

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