Page 40 of Kiss Me, Mr. Bridge

“I checked the credit card records. Found your hotel. The coffee shops and restaurants you frequent. And hoped I’d find you at one of them before I went to the hotel later.” His eyes drop to my map. “Where are you going next?”

“Why are you here, Ronan?” I ask a question of my own.

He’s quiet for a long moment, studying me with those intense gray eyes. “Because I’ve been a fool. I told myself I wasn’t good enough for you. Too old. Too complicated.” His mouth twists. “Your best friend’s father, and a friend of your parents, of all things.”

My breath catches. “Did you come here behind Amelia’s back?”

“She knows I’m here. She told me to come and find you.”

“She did.” I gasp. “She tried to call me,” I whisper, and swallow.

“I want you, Lucia.” His voice is deep, gravelly, and I believe it’s full of honesty.

But…

“It won’t work,” I say, even though my resolve is weakening. “There’s too much—”

“Why not? Give me one reason that isn’t about what other people might think.”

“You were the one who was worried about other people. Not me. And I can’t let you railroad my life, Ronan. I gave you my trust, and you broke it.”

“And now you have all the power,” he breathes. “But Lucia, honestly, you always did. You know that.”

I stare at him, my heart pounding. “But you tried to fight it?”

He nods. “I admit I tried to get you out of my system. And I knew the moment I saw you in my office that day,” he continues, “that if I kissed you, I’d never be able to stop. I knew I’d fall in love with you. And I was terrified because that’s exactly what happened, and I couldn’t do a damn thing to stop it.”

I glance at a boat as it powers past us and at the tourists onboard who snap photos of Notre-Dame in the distance.

I turn back to Ronan. For a man who traveled across the world to find me, he looks surprisingly uncertain as he waits for my response.

“You’re in love with me?” My words are barely audible over the engines.

“I tried to fight it. I never thought I was good enough for you—” He glances skyward and sighs. “Still don’t. But—”

Maybe that’s what finally does it. Seeing this powerful man who’s always so sure of himself looking at me like I’m in charge.

“You’re good enough.”

“Good enough to love? Enough to be mine?”

I close my eyes and whisper, “Yes.”

Ronan rushes to me, holds me by the waist, and sweeps me into his arms. Blindly, I wrap my legs around him as his mouth claims mine.

My heart thunders as he lowers us both onto the café chair, and I settle my thighs on either side of his. Behind us, the Seine flows lazily past, and somewhere a street musician plays an accordion, the music drifting through the spring air like a scene from a movie I never thought I’d star in.

“Kiss me, Mr. Bridge.”

He smiles as his mouth captures mine again. Warm and demanding lips pressing against mine, the bittersweet hint of an espresso on his tongue.

When we pull away, he presses his forehead to mine, and I breathe him in. Not just his expensive cologne, but also the scent that is purely him. “Live with me.”

My eyes widen, and I search his face for any hint of doubt. “Is that a good idea?”

“It’s a brilliant idea.” His thumb brushes across my cheek, catching a tear I didn’t even know had fallen. “I want you with me all the time. And it gives you the freedom to do what you love.”

I tilt my head, confused by his words.

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