From This Day Forward (The Wedding Belles 0.5)(22)
She pressed her lips together, not wanting to have to do this here. Not like this, when he was so mad at her, and she at him, and rightfully so on all sides. They’d both acted like fourteen-year-olds, not rational thirtysomething adults.
And yet, was there anything really rational about love? About the way that she wanted to fight for him, even though she wasn’t at all sure what he wanted from her, if anything?
She licked a salty tear from the corner of her mouth and lifted her chin.
It was time to be brave.
“I came here to tell you something,” she said, her voice a little too loud. Oh Lord, this was awkward.
“To tell me what?”
She swallowed and took a step forward. “To tell you. Um. To tell you why I switched to cinnamon toothpaste,” she said, the sentence coming out in a rush.
Okay, not what she’d meant to say, but at least he wasn’t moving away.
His eyes narrowed. “Yeah? Why’s that?”
Leah’s eyes locked on his. “Because it reminded me of you. Because even as I was dodging your calls, even as it was killing me to think of you with another woman, I missed you. Even when I was hating you, I was . . .”
She broke off, and Jason stepped closer, cupping her face as he searched her eyes urgently. “You were what, Leah?”
Leah squeezed her eyes shut and took the plunge. “Loving you. I loved you back then, and some foolish little part of me loved you this whole past year, even when the only thing that connected me to you was my freaking toothpaste. And then I saw you again, and I just . . . I knew. Knew that I had to tell you, even if you’d tell me that you’re still on the bachelor-for-life path, and—”
Jason’s mouth closed over hers, his kiss rough and hungry. “My beautiful idiot,” he murmured when he pulled back.
Her brain was still reeling from the unexpected kiss, and she blinked at him in confusion. “What—”
He kissed her again, quick and hard to shut her up. “Quiet. My turn. I chased you that day, did you know that? I ran my heart out for you, Red, but you were already on the train. And then I called and called, needing to hear your voice and explain, but when you didn’t pick up—when you decided I wasn’t worth picking up for—you broke me a little.”
She swallowed, wanting to make him stop, and yet knowing that they needed to do this to move forward.
He let out a slow breath, resting his forehead on hers for a moment before forcing himself to continue. “When I told you nobody believed in me, I meant nobody. Not until my sister showed up unexpectedly. I’ve always been everyone’s worst-case scenario, and I thought I was over that, but then you happened. And you mattered. You mattered so damn much, and—” Jason swallowed. “Fuck. I love you. I didn’t know it back then. I didn’t know what I was feeling, and I treated you—us—carelessly. But I know it now, Red, and I swear to God, I am not letting you go ever again. I will camp outside your apartment, I’ll follow you to every doctor’s appointment, and if you even think about going on a date with someone else, I will happily pull a fire alarm at the restaurant. I won’t stop. I won’t stop chasing you, and I sure as hell won’t stop loving you.”
Leah threw herself at him. Right there in the middle of the street, she launched herself at Jason, wrapping her arms around him as she buried her face in his neck. “I’m sorry for not believing in you. You’re the best man I know, and I should have trusted that.”
He cupped the back of her head and held her close. “Let’s start over. Start fresh, except this time we can cut straight to the good stuff.” He leaned down to her ear and nipped it lightly. “Since I already know how to play your body like a fiddle,” he murmured.
She laughed. “And I yours.”
“Too true.” Jason pulled back, smiling down at her as he held out a hand, which she happily took. “Come home with me. Come meet my sister and reassure her that you won’t go running every time you see her. And then you can talk to her belly and get to know the little critter who I have every intention of making your niece or nephew some day very soon . . .”
Leah skidded to a halt. “Mr. Rhodes. Are you telling me you believe in happily ever after?”
Jason hooked an arm around her neck and pulled her close, kissing her head. “From this day forward, I do, Red. I absolutely do.”
acknowledgments
I absolutely need to kick off my acknowledgments with a huge thank-you to my agent, Nicole, who when I nervously said, “I think I want to write a series about wedding planners, even though there won’t be hot guys on the cover,” she said, “Absolutely.” Which sometimes is exactly what we authors need to hear—that it’s okay to write the stories in our hearts, and the Wedding Belles series was and is firmly in my heart, demanding to be told!
Which leads me to the woman who made the whole thing possible: Elana Cohen. This is the first time Elana and I have worked together, and I just have to say, match made in heaven. The first time we spoke, it was totally a BFF situation, and then she had to go and take her Awesome a step further by being an absolutely amazing editor.
To the Pocket team, for being ridiculously good at what you do—from the cover designer to the production team to the publicity and marketing gurus, you’ve been amazing every step of the way. Thank you!