Silence settled between them. Kelsey used the moment to study Alex. He certainly looked better than when she left. He’d gotten a haircut. The curls didn’t brush his collar anymore. And he was wearing a striped shirt she’d never seen before, the sleeves rolled to the elbow.
That’s when she realized. “You got your cast off.”
He wriggled the fingers on his right hand. “Yesterday. Dr. Cohen finally got tired of listening to me complain.”
“Must be nice to have two working hands again.”
“Feels a little weird actually. Driving here was an adventure. I’m not used to shifting gears again.”
“You should have waited till you had more practice.”
“But then I would have had to wait longer to see you.”
Kelsey grabbed her latte with both hands, steadying herself against the skip in her heart. Unfortunately she couldn’t steady her voice. “You wanted to see me?”
“You left this behind.” For the first time, she realized there was a plastic shopping bag by his feet. He must have carried it in with them, but she had been too stunned to notice. Reaching into it, he pulled out a bulky tissue-wrapped package.
Without unwrapping, she knew what the object was. Her mug. “Why’d you leave it?”
“I decided it was time to let some things go.”
“I see. What else did you let go of?”
Him. Fantasies. Kelsey kept the answers to herself, settling for running an index finger along the tissue and tape. “You didn’t have to drive all the way down here to return a coffee cup.”
“Ah, but this isn’t an ordinary cup is it? And I didn’t. I drove down here to see you.”
She closed her eyes. “Alex—”
“You left without saying goodbye.”
Is that what his trip was about? Closure? “You were asleep.” And didn’t want her.
“I wish you had.”
“Why?” To drag out the inevitable? So he could reject her face to face? “Didn’t Farley come check on you? I called and asked him.”
“He did.”
“Good.”
“I would have preferred it had been you.”
“I don’t know why. You made where you stood pretty clear the second you took off for the woods.” Leaving her.
Alex nodded, his Adam’s apple bobbing in his throat as he swallowed her words. “I was angry,” he said.
“No kidding.”
“When I saw that blog article, it was like being thrust back in time. Alyssa and all those articles—it all came rushing back and it hurt. It hurt so much I could barely breathe. I just wanted to be numb again. To find someplace to hide again.”
“I get that. Believe me, if anyone gets selfprotection, it’s me.”
“I know. I told you before, we’re a lot alike. Defensive and stubborn, among other things. It’s why I had to wait and see you in person, because I knew you wouldn’t take my calls.”
No, thought Kelsey. She wouldn’t have, however much she would have longed to.
He reached across the table and covered her hand with his. The warmth ran up her arm, igniting the familiar and painful heat. “When I woke up and you weren’t there… The house felt so big and empty. For the first time since I moved to Nuttingwood, I truly felt alone.”
Kelsey watched the fingers playing with hers. Her heart was afraid to believe what she was hearing. Surely she was misreading the situation. Again.
“I miss you.” With his free hand, he caught her chin, forcing her to meet his eyes. “I don’t want to be alone anymore.”
Before she could respond, he leaned in and kissed her. A slow, tender, toe-curling kiss right there in the window for all the world to see. When he finished, he pressed his forehead to hers. “God, I missed you.”
Me too. More than she thought possible. But as beautiful and perfect as the moment felt, could she trust it? “What about Alyssa? The past?” How did she know he wouldn’t decide to hide again, leaving her even more broken?
“You’re not Alyssa,” he replied. “What we have is completely different. Though if I had any doubts—” chuckling, he pulled a folded piece of paper from his breast pocket “—this would have convinced me.”
It was a printout of Tom’s blog, written the day after their encounter at Farley’s. She’d been too afraid to search for the article herself. As predicted, the story portrayed her as an out-of-control mad-woman, an image helped along by a camera-phone shot of her just after she slapped Tom’s face. The wild look in her eyes made her cheeks burn.
“Do you have any idea what I thought when I saw this?”
“I lost my temper. I’m sorry.”
“Clearly. And don’t apologize,” Alex said, slipping the paper from her fingers. “No one has ever fought for me when it came to the press. Used me, sold me out, but defend me? Never. Seeing the photo made me realize how lucky I was to have you by my side, and that only a fool would push you away.”
“Of course—” he tweaked the tip of her nose “—if someone had stuck around, I would have told her I’d figured that out while in the woods that night. Seems I’m not the only one with a habit of retreating.”
She had retreated. She’d hidden behind her temporary status the same way he used Nuttingwood. And what happened? She got hurt anyway. Alex got into her heart, and no amount of running would lodge him loose.
Now with his declaration, he was offering her a chance to stop hiding. If only she could find the strength to accept.
Please don’t let this be a dream. “Are you saying…”
“I’m saying I want you to come back.”
He wanted her. The words were more beautiful than any novel he could ever write. Still, she hesitated. It all sounded too good to be true. “You mean as your assistant.”
“I mean as a lot more than that. I want you. I need you.” He cradled her cheek with the palm of his hand, his eyes bright and moist. “That’s what I realized sitting out on those rocks all night long. I’ve needed you since the first time you knocked on my door.”
“Could have fooled me,” she said, lip trembling. Was this really happening? “If I recall you turned your back and walked away.”
“Because I was a jackass,” he said with a smile. Kelsey’s insides melted at the sight. “You scared the life out of me. You made me feel so much. I liked it. More than I wanted to admit.”
The smile grew serious. “But I’m not walking away anymore. Not from you or the feelings. I love you, Kelsey Albertelli.”
With those three words, the last of the fear in her heart faded away. No one had ever told her they loved her, and hearing the words come from Alex felt like a dream come true.
Covering his hand with hers, she gazed into his eyes. Eyes no longer stormy but shining like silver. Shining with love. For her.
“I love you too,” she whispered. She pulled him toward her for a soul-searing kiss, one that conveyed every ounce of emotion she felt and never dreamed she’d be able to share.
When the kiss finally ended, she opened her eyes and saw the same emotion pouring off of Alex’s expression. “What do you say, sweetheart? Ready to go home?”
“So what do you think?”
Kelsey wiped a stray tear from her cheek. “I think you’re brilliant,” she replied with a sniff.
“Thanks, but what about the story? Do you think it’s too schmaltzy?”
Alex paced around the bedroom where Kelsey had camped out to read his finished manuscript. Puddin’ lay sprawled by her side, holding down the pile of pages with his paw. Shortly after they returned to Nuttingwood, Alex had been gripped with a creative flash, spending hours scribbling away on his yellow pads. Kelsey didn’t mind. Alex in the throes of a creative frenzy was a sight to behold, all brilliance and distraction. The story poured out of him and within a week he had a completed first draft. A beautiful, poignant tale of lost and rediscovered love. “I know Stuart’s expecting the other book, but my writing reflects how I feel, and I just can’t write dark
right now.”
“I’m flattered.”
“You should be.” He flopped down on the bed beside her and planted a kiss on her nose. “My very beautiful muse.”
She kissed him back. “The story’s perfect,” she told him. “People are going to fall in love with your writing all over again.”
“I don’t care if readers love me, as long as you do.”
More than she ever thought possible. “I think you’re safe there.” Sometimes she thought she would burst, she loved him so much.
“Good, because I plan on loving you forever.”
Manuscript forgotten, they reached for each other. Later, as Kelsey lay sated and sleepy in Alex’s arms, she felt him nuzzle her forehead. “I was thinking,” he murmured. “Now that I’ve met my obligations to Stuart, why don’t we slip away?”
She smiled. “You mean like hide?”
“Kinda, though I was thinking more like a honey moon hideaway.” He fingered the wedding band on her finger. They’d gotten married in the local town hall, during a break in Alex’s writing. “What do you say? We could do Europe? Or is that too far from home for you?”
“I say—” she rolled over, and wrapped her arms around his neck “—that as long as I’m with you, I’m already home.”
ISBN: 978-1-4268-8814-4
BEAUTY AND THE BROODING BOSS
First North American Publication 2011
Copyright © 2011 by Barbara Wallace
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