by Anne, Melody
So instead she looked toward the road as headlights turned the corner. When she saw the truck pulling up next to her car, her heart stalled. Noah wasn’t in town. That couldn’t be him. Was she so desperate for a glimpse of the man she was now hallucinating? The headlights went out, and she waited, not even realizing she was holding her breath.
The driver’s door opened, and a tall man stepped to the ground. She felt her eyes sting with tears as she saw Noah. He looked right at her. The sun was low in the sky, but there was enough light to see him, though she couldn’t tell what his expression was.
He moved toward her. She wanted to run and hide. It was too soon to see him. She wasn’t ready yet. He was supposed to be out of town. She was supposed to have had more time to gather herself.
He moved with purpose, and soon he was at the bottom of the steps, only about ten feet away. The sun sank a little lower in the sky.
“Hello, Sarah,” he said. He whispered her name almost reverently, and she wasn’t sure if she’d be able to talk. She swallowed the lump in her throat and tried to keep her expression blank. She didn’t want him to know how much she was hurting.
“When did you get back into town?” she asked. There was a slight scratch to her voice, but she was managing to keep herself pretty under control, considering how badly she was torn up inside.
“Today,” he told her. “I couldn’t be away any longer. I screwed up bad.”
Though she didn’t want to feel it, a glimmer of hope seeped into her heart. She was being foolish. This man had hurt her more than once. She’d be a fool to let it happen again.
“You do tend to screw up a lot,” she said. She couldn’t force a smile.
He climbed the steps, then knelt down in front of her. The sight of him there was too much, and she couldn’t hold back her tears any longer. She hated him a little for that.
“I don’t want to do this, Noah. Please go,” she said. “We’ve already said our goodbyes.”
He reached out and took her hand. She didn’t try to pull it away. It wouldn’t do any good. As soon as she was sure her knees would hold her, she’d stand up and be the one to leave. She wasn’t going to be able to stand around there very long.
“I’ve messed up a lot in my life, but never more so than when I let you leave that airport. I shouldn’t have accepted the job. I was miserable from the moment you walked away. I don’t know when it happened, but I fell hopelessly in love with you this past year. I fought it like a wild stallion fighting not to be tamed, but I finally realized that was foolish. We all search for our other half whether we know it or not, and what I failed to realize soon enough was that I’ve always been looking for you. I’m sorry I’ve ever made you cry. I’m sorry I made you feel like you didn’t matter. You’re my world, Sarah. I know it will be hard for you to trust me, but if you give me this one last chance, I promise to do all in my power to not ever hurt you again.”
Tears streamed down her face as he looked her deep in the eyes, apologizing. She could see he meant the words.
“I think you’re just lonely,” she told him. “But if I said I forgive you and jumped back into your bed, you’d get scared again and run away. And I can only be left so many times before I can’t bear the pain anymore,” she truthfully told him.
He pulled a box from his coat and opened it. A beautiful sparkling diamond shone in the setting sun. She glanced at it, then back at him.
“This isn’t for a night, Sarah. This is forever,” he told her. “I don’t want to spend a single day without you. I knew this long ago; I just didn’t know how to get out of my own way,” he said. “Marry me. Make me an honest man, and let me love you like you deserve to be loved for the rest of your life.”
His eyes grew suspiciously bright, and he didn’t even try to look away from her. She was shocked by how much vulnerability he was showing. She could try to fight this, could list a million reasons why it might not work, but sometimes a person just had to take a leap of faith. She was miserable without him.
“I love you, Noah,” she said. “You hurt me more than any other person ever has, but you’ve also brought me more joy than anyone else.”
He smiled at her as he pulled the ring from the box and held out his hand for hers. He was telling her the choice was hers. She shook as she gave him her hand, but he didn’t place the ring on it. He was waiting for her to say the word.
“Yes, Noah,” she whispered. She could barely get those two words past the lump in her throat.
He beamed before he slipped the diamond on her left hand. It was a perfect fit.
He stood and pulled her into his arms, and finally his lips pressed against hers. The second she was in his arms, she knew she was right where she’d belonged all along. There was no use fighting this. They were supposed to be together. They’d both made mistakes along the way, but none of that mattered. In the end all that counted was now they’d get their happily ever after.
“Let’s go home,” he said.
“Yes, home,” she agreed.
He picked her up and carried her to his truck. They’d get her car another time. Or maybe send someone for it, because she didn’t want to be apart from him for a single second for at least the next thirty days. They’d been apart long enough. But none of that mattered anymore. Now they had an eternity to make up for it all.
EPILOGUE
Brandon was a middle brother out of five obnoxious boys. That had made him work that much harder his entire life to stand out. He didn’t want to be forgotten in the shuffle, and he had a lot to live up to with four outstanding brothers.
But he felt he’d made his path in life, and he was happy where he was—most of the time. Watching two of his brothers fall in love had left him longing for something he’d never wanted before. He wasn’t amused by the feeling. But he couldn’t seem to shake it, either.
Currently he was at his brother Noah’s place, celebrating his engagement. Brandon was happy for Noah and Sarah. It hadn’t appeared as if the two of them were going to be able to work things out there for a while, but apparently it was true love, and true love always prevailed.
Brandon took a sip of his beer as he scanned the room, then locked eyes on the spirited woman who turned right at the moment his eyes were drifting to her appetizing cleavage. When his gaze met hers, she appeared less than amused. She said something to Brooke, who chuckled, then glanced over at him with sympathy.
He was officially confused.
That was until Chloe began marching straight toward him, fire in her eyes. She didn’t stop until she was clearly within his personal bubble. Her hands were on her hips, and her eyes lit up as she glared at him.
“How are you doing, Chloe?” he asked with a smirk before taking a slow pull from his bottle.
He always had carried a thing for petite blondes. And Chloe was full of fire and energy, and he wouldn’t mind being the one to show her some new adventures and maybe work on taming her a little. He had no doubt that if she could read his mind, he’d be dead within seconds.
She poked him hard in the chest, startling him. For such a small thing the jab had stung a little. He wasn’t admitting that even under the threat of death. His brothers would never let him live that one down.
“Let’s get one thing clear, Brandon Anderson,” she said in a low throaty voice that did funny things to his body. “Don’t be getting any ideas just because my two best friends have fallen under some crazy spell and have gotten all gooey. I’m not like them, and I won’t be following in their footsteps and having some fling with an Anderson.”
Brandon stared at her for a second, replaying her words. He realized she was dead serious. He knew it might be detrimental to laugh at the moment, so he kept his smile held back, though it wasn’t easy to do.
“Crazy spell?” he questioned.
“I don’t know what in the hell is going on in this town, but people seem to be falling into lust or love or whatever emotion they are feeling far too easily. So don’t you be ove
r there giving me that Anderson eye and checking me out.”
She was now tapping her foot, and he was more turned on than ever.
“Are you trying to warn me off?” he asked, unable to keep his lips from turning up a little. That made her eyes narrow even more.
“I’m stating a fact. There is nothing in this universe that will cast a spell on me. I’m not interested.” She seemed to have realized how close she was to him, and she took a step back. He moved forward. If she could invade his space, that gave him the right to invade hers.
“Now, darling, I think you’re being unreasonable,” he said with as much charm as he could muster.
“My name is Chloe,” she said with a huff.
“Come on, darling; Chloe is adorable, but I like pet names.”
“You’re a real pain in the ass, Brandon,” she said. “I’m finished with this conversation.” She turned but was stopped in her tracks by a massive wall of chest.
“You’re just the two I’ve been looking for,” Joseph Anderson said in his typical booming voice that had Chloe jumping a little. She was obviously on edge.
“Why are you looking for us, Mr. Anderson?” Chloe asked.
“Now Chloe, I’ve insisted you call me Joseph,” he said with a shake of his finger.
“I’m sorry, sir,” she said. She sure was humble with Joseph. Brandon wouldn’t mind a little bit of that humility directed toward him.
Joseph’s brows rose at the word sir, but he didn’t correct her again. Her cheeks still flushed a nice shade of pink, though.
“Noah and Sarah have finished the drawings for the rest of the outbuildings for the property, and Hudson is building as quickly as he can, but we’ve gotten the green light on the main building,” Joseph said with a huge grin.
“That’s wonderful,” Chloe said with a big smile. “Why aren’t you announcing it to the rest of the room?”
Brandon wasn’t sure what was going on here, so he just waited.
“Because now it’s time for the two of you to work together,” Joseph said as he eyed both her and Brandon.
“I don’t understand,” Chloe said. She didn’t look as if she wanted to argue with Joseph, but Brandon had to admit he wasn’t sure what Joseph was talking about, either.
“I want these soldiers to have the best of everything, including a top-notch building with a state-of-the-art kitchen. I wouldn’t have it designed by anyone other than you,” Joseph said, as if to do anything else would be foolish. “And since Brandon is our electrician, you’ll have to work closely together to get it right.”
Chloe looked as if she’d just been awarded a million-dollar lottery ticket and then had the thing shredded right in front of her. She opened her mouth to speak, then shut it again, then opened it . . . all without words coming out.
Brandon couldn’t have been more pleased. Maybe it was time for him to speak now.
“I’m honored to be working on this project,” he told Joseph. “And I agree with you that there’s no one better than Chloe to make sure it’s finished to perfection.”
“I only pick the best, boy,” Joseph said as he slapped Brandon hard enough on the shoulder to knock him off his feet. Luckily they’d been planted firmly, as he was very aware of Joseph’s congratulatory pats.
“Good. Good.” Joseph went into detail about his excitement for the center to open. But Noah was only half hearing him now. His full focus was on Chloe, and this was one project he wanted to stretch out as long as he could.
Because at the end of the day, he was going to see if he could make some sparks happen with the feisty blonde. He had a feeling they’d set the entire kitchen on fire by the time they were finished.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Photo © John Evanston
Melody Anne is the New York Times bestselling author of several popular series: Billionaire Bachelors, Surrender, Baby for the Billionaire, Unexpected Heroes, Billionaire Aviators, and Becoming Elena. She’s also written a young adult series and solo titles, including a thriller. Armed with a bachelor’s degree in business, Anne loves to write about powerful businessmen and the corporate world. She’s sold over seven million books to date and can be found on the world’s most distinguished bestseller lists. Beyond that, she loves getting to do what makes her happy—living in a fantasy world. When not writing, Anne spends time with family, friends, and her many pets. A country girl at heart, she loves her small, strong community and is involved in many projects.
Keep up with the latest news and subscribe to her newsletter at www.melodyanne.com. You can also join her on her official Facebook page, melodyanneauthor, or on Twitter @authmelodyanne and Instagram at MelodyAnneRomance.
