Page 70 of Scorched Secrets

“I was only trying to offer an alternate place for you to stay. There’s plenty of room at the homestead too. I know Rhy, Devon, Quinn, Sami, Aiden, and Elly won’t mind putting you up for a while. Whatever you’re most comfortable with works for me.”

She took a step closer to him. “Given my options, I’d rather stay with you, Colin.” She rested her hand above his chest wound near his heart. “I know things have been rough, but I care about you, very much. To be honest, I had a crush on you in high school.”

“You did?” He was shocked by her admission. “Why didn’t I know that? I wanted to ask you to prom, but you took the wind out of my sails when you graduated at the end of December so you could attend college.”

She smiled. “Attending college early seemed like a good idea at the time. I was anxious to get out of the house. But, Colin? If you had asked me to the prom, I would have said yes.”

“Ah, Faye.” He pulled her closer, gently so as not to put undue pressure on his injury. “I’ve spent the last ten minutes trying to tell you how much I love you. I know we’ll need to take things slow, your family has to come first. But I want to be there for you.”

“I love you too, Colin.” She lifted up on her tiptoes to kiss him. “If I had known what real love felt like, I never would have married Rory.”

“It’s not up to us to question God’s plan,” he murmured. “I guess we both had to go through some difficult times in order to be here together.”

“I hadn’t considered that. I spent too much time wondering why God let me make such a foolish mistake.”

“I love you, Faye. Let’s not worry about the past. Not when we have a bright future ahead of us.” He kissed her again, glad they’d finally had a few minutes to themselves. Even if they were standing outside a very busy emergency department.

“There you are,” Aiden said from behind them. “Oops. My bad. Am I interrupting?”

Colin broke off the kiss and rested his forehead against Faye’s for a moment before turning to glare at his brother. “Yeah. You are. Beat it, kid.”

“Good one. You used to tell me that all the time when we were young.” Aiden snickered and shook his head. “I didn’t listen then, what makes you think I’ll listen now?”

“Be nice,” Faye whispered. “We need him to drive us home.”

He stifled a groan. “Fine. Aiden, will you please drive us home?”

“Sure.” His younger brother flashed a grin. “Who’s home exactly?”

“Mine.” Colin lifted a hand. “Don’t give Faye any grief. Her house is nothing but a burned shell. She needs a place to stay, and my guest room is as good as any.”

“Me? Give you grief? I wouldn’t dream of it.” The teasing glint in his brother’s eyes gave him away. “I’m sure you’ll hear from Rhy and Tarin soon enough.”

Of course, he would. Faye stepped back, so he caught her hand in his. “Aiden, why don’t you go get the car? We’ll wait here.”

“What, you’re an invalid now?” Aiden snorted, then pulled the keys from his pocket. “Fine. I’ll be here shortly.”

When his brother jogged across to the grassy area toward the parking structure, he pulled Faye in close again. “I love you, Faye. I hope you don’t let my family scare you off. I know they can be overbearing at times. They’re pretty much professionals at sticking their noses in where they don’t belong.”

“I love your family, Colin.” She smiled up at him. “Almost as much as I love you.”

“Good.” He kissed her again, basking in her love. He wasn’t sure what he’d ever done to deserve her, but now that he had Faye as a part of his life?

He’d never let her go.

Epilogue

Four weeks later...

Faye stood beside Colin, gazing at the demolition in progress. Her house had been so badly damaged that her insurance company had suggested pulling down what was left and starting over. They had given her a very fair settlement, more than enough to rebuild.

Or put a nice down payment on another property. She could sell the lot once the debris of her old house had been removed. She was leaning toward buying something else. A fresh start sounded good.

“Are you sorry to see it go?” Colin asked.

“No.” She tried to find the words to explain. “I don’t miss the house. It feels as if that was part of my old life. I have a new life now with you.”

“Aw, Faye. You say the sweetest things.” He gave her a quick kiss, then turned her toward his SUV. “Let’s go. We have another stop to make before we head home.”

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