Page 121 of The Bossy One

I swallowed. “I know it doesn’t change anything. Maybe I shouldn’t have said anything. I just needed you to know that…I see you. And you’re magnificent.”

Declan closed his eyes and pressed his forehead to mine. “God, I don’t deserve you.”

You could. You do,my heart whispered. But he’d made his choice, and I’d made mine.

He pulled back just far enough to see my face, but he didn’t let go of me. His hands slid down my arms, until he found my hands, and took them.

“I was working on this speech over in the bar. I wanted to get it perfect before I told you I was in town. But apparently you’re leaving town, so…” He laughed, rough and uncertain.

He’s nervous, I realized. I couldn’t remember ever seeing him nervous. Not even when he’d been chasing me to an airport and declaring he loved me.

He took a breath. “You were right, Oliva. I was holding onto the past two tightly. I was obsessed with a revenge plan made by a grieving teenager. You reminded me that Icouldchange my plans. And you gave me something worth changing my plans for.”

My heart was racing. I didn’t quite dare believe my ears. If he did the one thing I’d told him I needed him to do so we could be together…

“You were also right about Seamus being different from his father. So I leveraged the threat of destroying the mansion to get Mark to sign over his whole business to Seamus, permanently. Sinead’s going to help me to turn the mansion into a community center. We’ll still host the festival,” Declan assured me.

My breath felt uneven. Was I crying? I felt like I was on the verge of crying. He was giving me the thing I hadn’t dared hope for.

“I’m also trying to help Seamus learn how to run a fair, ethical,financially solventbusiness,” Declan said. “He was texting me questions on the plane. I swear, he’s dumb as an ox when it comes to numbers.”

That startled a laugh out of me.

“It’s up to Sinead whether she wants Seamus to be part of Catie’s life,” Declan added. “But I’m not going to stand in the way anymore.”

I nodded, my throat tight.

I’d asked him toconsidernot destroying a building. And he’d come up with a whole host of solutions, all of them so much better than anything I could have imagined.

I squeezed his hands fiercely. “I told you. You’re marvelous, Declan Byrne.”

He shook his head, stubborn, and in that instinctual obstinance I saw the grumpy, aggravating man I’d fallen for. And I loved that side of him just as much as the newer, more vulnerable one he’d flown across an ocean to show me.

“I only did any of this because of you. Not for you, butbecauseof you. You changed my life too, Olivia. Over and over again,” he said, affection and exasperation warring in his eyes, before settling into something that looked a lot like wonder. “You make me better. I was a mess, but now…it’s different. I feel different. I…” he hesitated, looked straight into my eyes, and smiled. “I love you so fucking much.”

“Poetic,” I teased.

He gestured to the bar with our joined hands. “There’s a stack full of napkins in there covered in terrible metaphors for what I feel for you. But the thing is, you’re beyond words, Olivia.”

Okay, I was definitely crying now.

He gently wiped my tears with his thumbs. “Give me another chance,a ghrá?”

“Yes. Yes. God, yes. As many as you want.” Our lips found each other, and it was more than simple sparks. It was a roaring bonfire, hot and strong and true. “Don’t ever send me away again.”

“Never,” he promised. His lips found my eyelids, my nose, my cheek, before brushing against my lips. “Don’t ask me not to follow you. That nearly killed me.”

“Never,” I agreed. “From now on, we both get as many chances as we need.”

“Good,” Declan agreed. The word was an ending, but it was a beginning to.

He kissed me one more time, only stopping when someone accidentally knocked over my suitcase. He grabbed the handle, smiling at me.

“Now, for the love of God—please let me change your ticket from whatever horrible place you’re headed off to, and let me take you home,” Declan ordered.

I smiled and showed him my ticket on the phone. “That was always the plan. I just didn’t know you were coming to escort me.”

Declan stared at the phone, stunned. “You really were coming to tell me you loved me. That’s… Jesus.” His throat worked, like he was struggling with his emotions.

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