The Singles Table (Marriage Game #3)(96)

The first time Jay was paged he thought the airport was looking for a different Jay Dayal. His name wasn’t that uncommon and it was an international airport. The second time they called his name, he noted they weren’t calling Jay Dayal for a flight, but to report to customer service. The third time, since the plane was delayed and he had nothing to do, he decided he might as well check to make sure it wasn’t him they were after.

He made his way down to the customer service desk and his breath caught in his chest. The last person he’d ever expected, and the only person he wanted to see, stood by the counter.

“Jay!” Dressed in a red and gold skirt with a matching top that left her midriff bare, her feet tucked into a pair of thick white running shoes, Zara raced toward him, heedless of the people in her way. She knocked over a paperback book stand, tipped a pile of luggage, and startled a man into dropping his ice cream cone. And still she came.

“Jay! Don’t go!”

Go? There was no going. His feet were firmly planted on the floor, his eyes locked on Zara as she flew through the airport toward him, dark hair streaming down her back. Had he ever seen a more beautiful sight?

For a moment, he thought she’d slow to a stop. They would look at each other, and she would say what she’d come to say, and he would have to respond that he was broken inside but on the mend, and he wanted her but only if she wanted him. But this was Zara. And she didn’t stop until she was in his arms.

It would have been romantic if her momentum hadn’t carried them back. He stumbled, hit a cart, and they went down in a pile of luggage and red silk.

“Are you okay?” Somehow, he had managed to keep her safe, holding her tight as he took the fall.

“Yes.” Still wrapped in his arms, she looked up. Her lips were close enough to kiss and he was tempted, so tempted to taste her once more. Was he a fool to want her even after she’d so brutally pushed him away?

After they’d stood and straightened their clothes, Jay drew Zara over to a quiet corner under the stairs.

“Why are you here?”

“You can’t go,” she said. “You can’t leave. Not until I explain.”

Hope flared in his chest and he crossed his arms to keep it in check. “I know about the lawsuit.”

“I know. That’s why I had to come. Client confidentiality meant I couldn’t even tell you Bob had come to see me. I took the case because I knew you weren’t negligent, and if I didn’t take it, Bob would have gone to someone else who wouldn’t care that there might be another culprit when there was a defendant with deep pockets right in front of them. I knew that would mean the end of your funding, the end of your dream. So I took the case to make it go away.”

His brain was struggling to keep up, but he got the key message. She’d been trying to help him.

“I figured it out,” she said. “There was a security camera in the restroom and it was hacked. It was an inside job. You’re in the clear.”

Her words took one layer of hurt away, but not the other. “That’s good to hear, but—”

“I did it for you, Jay.” She cut him off, her voice urgent. “I did it because I love you.”

I love you. Maybe he hadn’t heard her right, or maybe she was acting, or maybe she was just telling him what she knew he wanted to hear.

“I know I hurt you,” she said. “You made me feel things I’d never felt before. I didn’t know what to do with them. I was so wrapped up in the fact love could end, I didn’t realize when it was beginning.” She was hugging herself now, hands wrapped around her middle, shifting her weight on her enormous white shoes like she was expecting to be rejected all over again.

So he closed the distance between them and took her in his arms. She was as soft and warm as he remembered and she smelled of wildflowers and fresh ocean air.

“I wanted to be loved,” she murmured against his chest. “But the closer people got to me, the more terrified I was of getting hurt. I pushed people away because I didn’t know how to be loved. I didn’t think I could love you the way you deserved. But you just kept coming back.” She looked up, her eyes deep, dark, and dangerously intense. “I didn’t believe that anything could be forever, but this feeling, this love, I can’t imagine it ever going away.”

She loved him. She loved him and she wanted it to last. He wrapped one arm around her waist and cupped her nape with his other hand. He kissed her softly, gently, taking his time because he wasn’t worried he would lose her. This love wouldn’t end.

“Say it again.” He nuzzled her neck.

She knew exactly what he wanted. “I love you. I might still get scared sometimes and push you away, but—”

“I’ll still be here,” he said. “I’m not going anywhere.”

“Well, you are.” She looked around. “When is your flight?”

“It’s not my flight. I’m picking up Avi’s uncle. He’s flying in from Delhi and his plane was delayed.”

She shuddered in his arms. “You’re not leaving?”

“I already made arrangements for Elias to do most of the international travel. He and Brittany have hit it off. I just couldn’t leave my mom and I couldn’t stop hoping that we could work things out. I’m also seeing someone about my PTSD and I’m committed to seeing it through to the end. I want to be the best man I can be. The best Jay.”