Page 98 of After All

She pulled the door open.

“Hey.”

The low, sexy rumble, the way he was looking at her as if he was starving and she was every one of his favorite things, made everything in her clench and strain toward him. But he hadn’t called her Trouble. And she knew why. She’d told him she didn’t want to be trouble for him. But she wanted to behisTrouble.

“Hey.” Her voice sounded scratchy.

“So, I’ve been thinking about what you said about us needing time apart now that we did the two week thing and about me liking you because you have problems I can fix and well,…it’s bullshit.”

Okay, she hadn’t expected him to do the talking. At least not at first. She’d calledhim. “I’m sorry? Bullshit?”

“Yeah,” he told her with a nod. “It’s crap. This whole thing about me needing someone who I could fix? No, Peyton. That’s not it. If I just needed to clean gutters and fix cars to feel good about myself, there are about a dozen little old ladies in this town—and men for that matter, three or four divorcees, and a couple of single moms who I could have done that for. I wanted to do things foryoubecause I love you. And as for me not going back to the task force because of you? Also bullshit. Yes, I wanted to be here instead. Because I wanted to have a relationship with you. I couldn’t do that from another state. And honestly? I couldn’t go back to the task force until I had you solidly and permanently in my life. You want to know why? Because you make me believe in the happy, Peyton. The happy that Ineedthere to be in the world. The happy I want to fight for. The happy that makes me get up in the morning, put on my badge, and go to places like North Dakota.

You not only found it, you grabbed onto it with both hands and squeezed every ounce of it out of every situation. You could have let all of the crap around you take over and mute your voice and hide your light. But that didn’t happen. You made noise.” He shook his head with a slight laugh. “Damn, did you make noise. And you shone. Was it always super positive and impressive? Maybe not. But you’ve been out there doing your thing all along. And your thing is being you—being bright and beautiful and finding fun and laughter and bringing it to others,in spite ofall of the crap. And I need you to bring it tome. Every day.

And here’s what I can give you in return, besides clean gutters. A place where you don’t have to be loud and bright and crazy to be noticed. Because I notice everything. Iseeyou, Peyton. You are everything that I want and need to believe in.”

She felt the air whoosh out of her lungs. She swallowed hard and tried to blink the tears out of her eyes. “I had so many things I was going to say. I don’t remember any of them right now.”

“Well, here’s the deal,” he said, stepping closer to the threshold, but not yet coming inside. “I love you. That’s not going to change. You can move back to your house, you can do whatever you want, however you want or need to do it, but I’m going to be here, loving you, picking you up when you need a ride, checking on you when you take a trip, hauling your pretty butt…hell, wherever it needs to go. And on the nights when you just want to watch TV or make a meatloaf or just need someone to hold you, you know where to find me.”

She stared at him. “After everything, you’d go back to how it was before?”

“If that’s all I can have. Will I like it? No. But damn, girl, I’m yours. What else am I going to do?”

Her heart hurt. But now it wasn’t because of the loss or the fear. It was because there was so much love in it, it was filled far beyond its previous capacity. She wet her lips. “No matter what I do? No matter how long it’s been? No matter anything?”

“Yep, just like always.”

“Well, what if I don’t want it to be like always?” she asked.

“Too damned bad,” he told her firmly.

She smiled. “I mean, what if I want more? What if I want a relationship?”

He paused for a beat. “Wow, you said the R word without shuddering,” he said, hope lighting his eyes.

She nodded. “Turns out, I’m only allergic to them when they’re with people other than you.”

“Well…that is excellent news,” he said. He took a step over the threshold.

“And what if I quit nursing school? Or actually, never even officially started?”

He blinked. “Okay. If that’s what you want.”

“I wanted it because it was a way to take care of people, but turns out, I already do that.” She spread her arms so he could really see the front of her apron. “I make cakes. And I throw kickass parties. And I want to be known as the area Party Girl.”

He studied her apron. It was white with a huge caricature of her on the front with Party Girl underneath. Riley Ames had helped her with the logo last night at the Come Again after-hours.

He smiled, his expression partly amused and partly confused. “What’s this?”

“My new business. Or my part of the business. Party Girl Party Planning is now an official part of Scott’s Sweets. And I’m a partner.”

He seemed to be thinking about that. Then he finally nodded. “That’s perfect.”

“You think so?” She really wanted him to think so.

“There are lots of ways to make people better,” he said. He moved closer to her and completely into the shop. “You make people happy. You help them celebrate huge events in their lives. It’s not just cake. Remember what we talked about? How it’s important to celebrate things and make happiness a priority and work at being joyful in the face of all the bad stuff?”

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