Page 88 of One Sweet Day is Never Enough

Gia took each of his hands in hers and he squeezed them. She smelled so amazing. He’d missed her so badly, it hurt.

“I’m so sorry about your job, too. So what happened at work today?” He shot her a look of concern.

Gia smiled, her eyes wide. “Guess what? Noreen gave me a wedding. I get to plan and run it from start to finish. Noreen said if this had been a test, then I passed with flying colors. I’ll be getting more accounts of my own now!”

“Really? That’s so great!” So Abigail had come through for him.Whew.He gave her another hug.

Gia squeezed him tightly. “She also said that Abigail wants to use your winery space here too, sometime.”

He pulled back for a better look at her. Gia was so beautiful—it made his heart ache. “Really? That’s fantastic!” Seth wrapped his arms around her again and spoke softly. “Gia, I’m so sorry about everything. I want to fix things with you. I want to prove I can give you what you need. I want to pick up where we left off before Stacey showed up. Whatever it takes, I just… I just wantyou.”

Gia pulled back to gaze into his eyes then wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him passionately. After the kiss, she spoke softly into his ear. “That’s why I’m here,” she said. “I want that, too.”

Seth relaxed.

She pulled back again. “But listen, I have to take some of the blame. I knew what was going on with Stacey the other night, and I should’ve stayed out of the way. If I hadn’t been acting so needy, Ryan Trewet never would’ve seen that kiss between us and nothing would’ve happened. Stacey never would’ve been the wiser. Everything would’ve been fine.”

Seth shook his head. “You weren’t acting needy.” He ran a hand gently through her hair.

“Well, I felt like I was. When I saw you dancing with her—I just… I couldn’t get past it, and I needed reassurance.”

So that was it. He hadn’t realized it had bothered her so much. Of course it did, though—duh. Why hadn’t that occurred to him? It would’ve bothered him if the situation had been reversed. “No, you definitely weren’t acting needy, but whatever was going on, I’m glad it happened.”

* * *

Gia gazed at him.“What do you mean—you’re glad?” It worked out in the end, but she’d have been perfectly happy if the whole debacle had never happened.

“I’m sure that the whole thing was really difficult on you, and you barely knew what was going on—that it was all just an act for me, with her, all night. I felt awful, putting you through that. I was trying to keep her from ruining your big night, though. Mine, too.”

Gia cast her gaze to the ground. “I know. That’s why I feel bad. You were just doing what you had to do.”

“But it made me face what I needed to do, which was work things out with Stacey, give her some closure, and move past that relationship and the mistakes I made. I’m actually glad that Stacey knows about us now. It felt so much better to be honest with her. She left here on a good note. She won’t be hounding me anymore because she knows it wouldn’t have worked out for us now. As painful as it is sometimes, you’re right—honestyisbest.”

Gia’s mouth turned up on one side and she looked back up at him.He gets it now. He really gets it.She nodded and kissed him again.

Seth stepped back and held out his hand. “Hey, come over here,” he said sweetly. “We have some unfinished business to take care of.”

“We do? What unfinished business?” Gia followed him across the winery’s patio.

They reached the table where Seth’s phone sat and he dropped her hand gently. He picked up the phone and tapped at it for a few seconds before a popular love song began to play from it. Then he set the phone back down on the table and lit the citronella candle that he’d brought out earlier. He held out his hand again. “Will you dance with me?”

Gia’s face broke into a big smile. “I’d love to.” She took his hand.

He pulled her in close, and she wrapped her arms around his neck. He locked his hands behind her waist, and they swayed to the music.

Could any man be more perfect than Seth was? She doubted it.

The sun dropped behind the trees as Gia rested her head on his chest. She closed her eyes and felt the stillness all around them. Strength, compassion, the ability to admit and atone for his mistakes—Seth was truly everything she ever wanted in a man, and more.

She breathed him in and squeezed her arms tightly around him. He understood her, and she was beginning to understand him. She’d never get enough of him.

When the song ended, she pulled back and looked him in the eyes. “Seth, I want you, too. I wantthis. I want to pick up right where we left off, just like you said.”

Seth pulled her close again and she felt the intensity of whatever he was about to say. He looked into her eyes. “I’m going to do better this time. I’m going to tryeverydayto make you as happy as you’ve made me. I’m falling in love with you, Gia. I’m falling hard.”

She caught her breath and gazed at him. She felt the same way. Her heart was bursting. This was real and she wanted to give him everything. She placed her hand softly on his cheek. “I’m in love with you, too, Seth. Completely in love with you.”

The End

---