Staking His Claim (Line of Duty #5)(55)

“I went to the bench.” His voice sounded raw. “I’m sorry I was late, but I was there.”

Oh, she wanted to believe him, but with so much uncertainty dancing around them, how could she? “How can I know for sure?”

“Virginia and Frankie Mason Until the World Stops Spinning.” His gaze pled with hers.

Lucy’s heart leaped into her throat. She wanted to go to him, bury her face in his neck and hang on for dear life, but she needed more. Needed to know this thing between them was real. More than just a convenient itinerary with chemistry thrown into the mix. It had always been more on her end, but what about him?

Her turn at the gate was next. The flight attendant glanced warily at Matt, then reached for her boarding pass. Lucy took a bracing breath, starting to hand it over.

“Gigawatts.”

“What?” She and the flight attendant said at the same time, her boarding pass frozen in midair.

Matt shifted on his feet. “You asked me that night if I could go back in time and fix one thing, what would it be. I’m changing my answer.” He took a step in her direction, then stopped, as if afraid she might bolt. “I’d go back to the last night we were together and tell you that I’ve fallen in love with you. That I’ll never let you go.”

Lucy could barely see him through the blur of tears. The horrible pain she’d had in her stomach all morning faded a little more with every word he spoke. She demanded her feet to move, to go to him, but the intensity in his voice kept her rooted in place.

“You haven’t seen persistence, Lucy. You have no idea what it looks like until you’ve seen it on me. I’ve fought for my life before and I’m doing it again now. Do not doubt that I will be on the flight behind yours. I will haunt that museum until you give me the time of day. I will live there.”

Lucy’s throat felt so tight she could barely speak, so she ripped her boarding pass in half instead. Matt fell back a step, both hands resting on top of his head, relief evident in every line of his body. She couldn’t stand there a moment longer without feeling his arms around her. Leaving her suitcase behind, she covered the distance separating them in three steps and threw herself into arms that banded around her without hesitation. Applause erupted around them, passengers who had witnessed the scene, some of them recognizing Matt from the news.

“Holy hell, Matt.” Her voice wavered. “Have I mentioned that when you talk, you really make it count?”

One of his hands tunneled through her hair, turning her head so he could kiss her mouth. “I’m sorry. Christ, I’m so sorry.”

A shiver passed through her. “I almost got on a plane.”

Matt fell back into the nearest seat, taking her with him. “Don’t remind me. Ever again, please.”

Lucy held him tighter. “I love you, too. Let’s just focus on that.”

“You love me.” His breath shuddered out at her ear. “You love me?”

She nodded into his neck, inhaling his scent like a drug. How had she thought for one second that living without him was an option?

Matt shook her a little. “Baby, sometimes what I’m thinking doesn’t translate into words. You’re going to have to badger them out of me until I get better at this, okay?”

“I can badger.”

He tipped her face up for another slow kiss, then stood, lifting her in his arms. “I love you. I’ll never keep that to myself again. That’s a promise, Lucy.”

She swallowed a fresh wave of happy tears as he walked them toward the exit. “Give me a ride home for old time’s sake?”

Matt’s laughter rumbled through her, before he turned serious. “This time, every time from here on out, we go home together.”





Epilogue


Matt sat in the back of the stretch limousine, arm draped over the black leather seat, waiting for the door of his building to open and Lucy to emerge. She’d been asking for weeks what he wanted for his birthday and he knew she’d been frustrated by his vagueness. He didn’t like seeing her irritated, but appeased himself with the knowledge that she’d find out soon enough.

Matt’s mouth lifted into a smile, as it had been doing more and more frequently lately. Specifically, the last four months. Since Lucy. She’d taken the position they’d offered her at the Met and promptly been promoted when they saw how competent and dedicated she was to the job. His favorite part of the day had become picking her up from work. Watching her practically float down the endless steps, brimming with news about her day. He still felt the urge to pinch himself every time, in disbelief that this girl could be walking toward him. Then she would throw her arms around his neck and everything in his world righted itself.

She’d made a pretense of moving into her childhood home in Queens, but after spending one too many restless nights away from him, he’d gained her agreement to move into his apartment in Tribeca. It had baffled him, at first, that he’d ever been so comfortable in his solitude. Until he realized he’d just been waiting for Lucy. Then it made perfect sense.

Drumming his fingertips impatiently on the armrest, he thought back to their first week living together. She’d still been acting like a guest, refusing to touch or move his things. One morning after she’d left for work, he’d stood in the middle of the space, looked around and realized it had all the character of a morgue. White walls, gray furniture, black…everywhere. Sort of like his life before she’d come into it. At a total loss, he’d called Daniel’s girlfriend, Story, and asked for her help. His apartment was now painted bright-ass pink.