Page 140 of Dancing in the Rain

But this woman…Peyton…he loved beyond anything. He wanted to be the kind of man she deserved, and her eyes shining at him with admiration for how he’d handled this, assuring him he’d done the right thing when he’d been worried he’d screwed up…made him feel like a king. She had faith in him. He needed her stability, her fearlessness, her willingness to tell him when he’d fucked up but also her faith in him to do good.

But he wanted to be there for her, too…She’d been through as much hell as he had, and even though she was the strongest woman he knew, he wanted to lighten her load. He wanted to take care of her, protect her, and share her burdens.

“Peyton.”

Their eyes still locked on each other, he shifted forward on the edge of the couch, and at the same moment, they both opened their mouths and said, “I miss you.”

He closed his eyes briefly, his lips lifting into a smile, then he opened them to see her smiling, too. “Come here.”

“No, you come here.”

They both burst out laughing.

“For fuck’s sake, it’s not a competition,” he said. “We’re both so goddamn stubborn and that’s been our whole problem.”

“You’re right.” With a small smile, she rose from the chair, tossing the towel down.

He reached out a hand to take hers and draw her down to sit beside him. “I’m sorry.” He stroked her hair back with both hands, then cupped her face with the utmost gentleness. “I’m sorry I hurt you.”

“You were right. I needed to figure out my priorities.”

He shook his head. “I always knew Chloe was your priority.”

She gazed back at him, her eyes shining. “Yes,” she whispered. “But so are you.”

His chest filled with fizzing bubbles. Did she mean…?

“I love you.”

They both said it at the same time again. Drew choked on a laugh and leaned his forehead against hers. “Christ, Peyton. Let me do this.”

Her eyelashes fluttered. “I wanted to tell you…I’d decided today I had to tell you.”

“Yeah?”

She nodded, her beautiful face still framed by his hands.

He brushed his mouth over hers once, twice…The third time he lingered there in a tender kiss that made his heart pump faster, made his whole body burn.

“I just decided now,” he admitted, and rubbed his nose alongside hers. She smiled. “Even though I was scared as hell, I had to tell you. I had to take the chance. I couldn’t risk missing out on what we could have because I was too fucking stubborn to tell you how I feel. Too afraid to find out you don’t feel the same.”

“I love you so much. I’m so proud of you as a dad. And I’m so proud of you as a man, how you’re taking charge of your life and moving forward.”

“I wasn’t very proud of myself. I’m still working on it.”

“Drew.” She clasped his wrists and stared deep into his eyes. “You went through hell. You lost everything that was important to you. Your career. Your identity. Your wife. Anyone would have a hard time getting through that.”

“You called me on my bullshit. What did you say about the corner of Sack Up and Shut Up Streets?”

She choked. “Um, it wasn’t sack up, it was the corner of We All Have Problems and Suck It Up, Buttercup.”

“Yeah, that.” He smiled. “Anyway, you made me realize I needed to get my head out of my ass. And then Sara…the day she went into hospice care, I remember just being slammed with it…that life is short. Way too short to sit around crying about what we’ve lost. You and Sara…and Chloe, too—you all made me ashamed. The way you handled adversity.” He touched her cheek. “I’m proud of you, too. Of everything you are. The strongest person I know. The bravest. I’m even proud of your goddamn lists and spreadsheets and schedules.”

A tear glistened at the corner of her eye. “Thank you for making me realize that I can’t spend every minute of my life trying to get ahead.”

He gave a soft snort. “Yeah, and thank you for making me realize that I do need to have some goals and purpose in my life. And my biggest, most important purpose is making the two girls I love happy. Looking after you and supporting you and maybe playing hooky once in a while to have fun.”

The tear slipped down her cheek, followed by another one from the other eye.

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