By the Book (Meant to Be #2)(93)

He hadn’t told her he wanted her to stay, because he didn’t want to hold her back. That might be the most romantic thing she’d ever heard.

As she reached her desk, Gavin disappeared into Marta’s office and the door closed again. Marta was having a whole lot of closed-door meetings today.

Well, that was convenient, since whether Marta’s door was open or closed, she was just going to leave again. There was no way she could make this call from her desk.

As she walked away, she heard raised voices from Marta’s office. At any other time, she would have lingered to see what was going on, but not now.

She went outside. She couldn’t go back to the park, that was too far away; she couldn’t wait that long. She walked around the corner, just to get some distance from the building, and finally called Beau.

The phone rang, and anticipation built up in her chest. Where was he? she wondered. In his bedroom? In the kitchen? In the library? She hoped he was in the library.

The phone rang again and again. And then it went to voicemail.

Voicemail? Was he kidding her with this? He’d sent her this emotional grenade of a notebook with just a Post-it note on top and then let her call go to voicemail? He probably hadn’t even turned his ringer on that day, or he’d left his phone on the other side of the house, or something.

She couldn’t wait to yell at him for this.

“Hi, Beau, it’s Izzy. I got the notebook. I read it. Call me. As soon as you get this.”

She hung up and then stared at her phone for a few minutes, willing him to call her back. Now, right away. But five minutes went by, and her phone was still silent.

She’d pushed her luck as much as she could on her first day back. She had to get to her desk.

She walked into the TAOAT building and toward the elevators, her mind in a daze. How could she possibly get any work done today until she’d talked to him?

She was almost at the elevator when she heard her name. She turned and stared at the security desk, as if in a dream.

“Yes, Isabelle Marlowe. No, I don’t have an appointment. I know you said she’s not answering her phone, can you try it again? She should be there.”

“She’s here,” Izzy said. And Beau turned to face her.

He’d gotten a haircut, he had a bouquet of roses in one hand, he looked like he hadn’t slept in days, but Izzy didn’t notice any of that at first. All she could see was that it was Beau, it was really him, he was here, in New York. And he was here for her.

They walked toward each other. Beau’s eyes were locked on hers. He had that nervous, uncertain look on his face that she remembered from that first time he’d asked her to read his work.

“Hi,” he said. “I…” He stopped. “Did you—”

Someone jostled his arm, and he looked around. At the same moment, Izzy realized they were in the lobby of her office building, with lots of people—lots of people she knew—walking in and out.

“Let’s go outside,” she said.

Once they got outside and around the corner, she turned to face him.

“Beau,” she said. “You’re here.”

He smiled at her. God, she’d thought she’d never see that smile again. “Yeah,” he said. “I’m here. I sent you—”

Before he could finish the sentence, she pulled the notebook out of her bag. “I read it,” she said. “I read it all.”

He swallowed. “There’s something I realized I didn’t say in there.” He took a step closer to her. “I love you.”

She let herself smile just as big as she wanted to. “I love you, too,” she said.

She’d barely gotten the words out when she was in his arms. He crushed her against him, and she held on to him, just as hard. She felt his warm chest, his breath on her ear, his lips in her hair. The fragrance of the roses, still clutched in one of his hands, surrounded them.

“I wanted to tell you, before you left,” he said. “But I kept putting it off. I was scared, I think. But my God, Izzy. I love you so much.”

Then it wasn’t enough to just hold him, be held by him, and she pulled his face down to hers and kissed him. She felt him smile against his lips as he kissed her back. They stood there kissing for a long time, with the sounds of New York around them, her hands in his hair, his arms holding her tight against him.

When they finally stopped kissing, Izzy laughed against his chest.

“I really hate to say this, but I have got to go back to work,” she said.

He looked down at her and smiled. “I’ll be here waiting, when you get off. I’m staying at some hotel nearby.” He started to let go of her, then stopped. “Oh! I turned in my book today, did you know?”

She pulled him down to her and kissed him again. “I know. I’m so happy. I’m so proud of you.” She made herself pull away, and they turned back toward the building. “Marta told me she started reading it on the subway on the way to work and that it’s great.”

He beamed at her. “Really? Oh wow. Oh! How was the interview? I should have texted, I’m sorry, I was just—”

She grinned. “That’s okay. I have so much to tell you. The interview was good, really good. Wait, but did you—”

Izzy heard a commotion behind her and turned.