Page 61 of The 7 Rules of Moving On
She nodded, taking a hesitant step toward him. “I’ve spent so much of my life trying to be someone I’m not. But I only realized that when I met you. Because with you, I’m just me. Just Kissie. And it’s enough. You make me feel like I’m enough. When I got home and started going through the pictures I’d taken of you and Mystic and Twin Hearts, I knew for the first time in my life what I wanted. Not just what I thought I was supposed to want, but what I really wanted. And what I wanted more than anything, more than success or order or a big, stupid life, was to be in those pictures with you, next to you.”
“Kissie,” he said, his breath shuddering out of him, his eyes stinging.
“I want to be with a person who believes in love at first sight, who believes in magic, who makes every room warmer just by being in it. I want to be with someone who knows how I sneeze and remembers what kind of vodka I like and that I have a peanut allergy. I want to be with someone who likes my songs so much he sets them as his ringtone. I want to be with you. Because you are everything I’ve always wanted. You are everything. And I am so sorry it took me so long to realize it. I was going to come back to tell you all of that, but then the storm—”
“The storm,” he said, stepping toward her, wanting her in his arms so badly they trembled at his sides, “that brought me here. Right to where you are.”
As a smile lit up her face, her eyes glistened, filling with tears. “Just like magic.” Holding up a hand, she let her room key dangle from her finger. “I took the last room. But I don’t want to sleep alone. Not tonight, not tomorrow night, not the night after that. I never want to sleep alone again. Will you stay with me?”
Relief washed over him in a tidal wave. Without a word, he rushed to her, lifting her into his arms while she wrapped her legs around him.
“I’m so sorry, Kiss. I never should have said those things to you.”
“I’m sorry too,” she said against his ear, making the hairs on the back of his neck stir, making him crush her even more tightly to him.
“I love you, Kissie.”
Pulling away, she ran her fingers through his beard, tears streaming down her cheeks. “I love you so much it hurts.”
When she kissed him, he kissed her back, carrying her down the hallway toward their room to the sound of Larry returning to his counter, humming happily to himself.
SIX MONTHS LATER
Trig hadn’t seen the bear again, although he searched the woods every time he went for a swim. At first, he told only Kissie what the bear had said to him. Her only response had been to check his forehead for a fever. Kathleen got it, though. She believed him.
With Kissie’s marketing campaign in full swing, and Lane’s still hard to believe benevolence, Mystic ended up having the best winter in its entire history. It was the first year settling into the slower summer rhythm had been a welcome change of pace instead of a stressful transition to pinching pennies and living lean.
Coming in from the pool, her hair still dripping, Kissie grinned at him. “Hey, baby.”
“Have a good swim?” he asked, walking out from behind the bar to her.
“Amazing. Even though it’s hot out, the water still feels good. How does that work?”
Trig’s gaze skimmed down the towel wrapped around her body. He’d had her over a hundred times by now, but every time he saw her, he wanted her again.
“Magic,” he replied, licking his lips.
She took a step back. “Don’t give me that look. I have to work today.”
She’d found a remote job for a startup tech company doing what she’d always wanted to do, writing music for video games. It was a contract position with inconsistent hours, but it was a start, and she loved it.
Some nights she stayed up to help him with the bar, some nights she sat at the piano playing for hours to entertain the guests. Every night she slept in his arms, his heart so full of love for her sometimes he couldn’t sleep, worried it might burst.
They were in the lag in between the lunch and dinner crowds, so the bar was empty. He prowled toward her, hooking a finger into the front of her towel and tugging, the same way she’d done to him the first night he’d gotten lucky enough to see her naked.
“You don’t have five minutes to spare?”
“Only five?” she said, her head tilting. “Is that all I’m worth these days?”
Sobering, he slid his hand up from where his finger had been dipping into her cleavage and cupped her chin. “Are you happy?” He always wondered. She’d given up so much to be with him. He’d offered to go anywhere with her, but she wanted to come back here.
Covering his hand with hers, she replied, “Happier than I’ve ever been.”
“No regrets?”
“Not a single one.” Letting her towel fall to the floor, she said, “Except for maybe that I actually do need to work today.”
“Ten minutes?” he said, grabbing her towel off the floor and scooping her up into his arms.
