Her gaze narrows. “I don’t know what you’re getting at.”
“In Cold Hearted, Reed tells Ariana he loves her constantly, every chance he gets. I was wondering if Reed—the real Reed—ever told you he loved you?” I ask.
She doesn’t blink, she only stares straight ahead. The room is silent until she clears her throat.
“Never,” she says. “We never got to that point. I told him. Many times. He never said it back.”
“Is it possible,” I ask, “that Reed was in a bad place at the time? That maybe he loved you, but he didn’t know how to say it because it meant giving up control of the one thing in his life he could protect—his ice-cold heart?”
“Anything’s possible.” Ayla tucks her dark waves behind one ear.
“Have you spoken to him recently? Maybe he’s ready to tell you? Maybe he wants to apologize for being such an asshole? Maybe he’s ready to finally go deep with you.”
She tucks her chin against her chest.
“I love you, Ayla,” I say as she glances up. “I’m sorry. I messed up.”
All eyes are on me now. The woman in front of me is dabbing at her happy tears with a tissue and the one to my left is glaring like I’m some sort of monster.
“Kiss him!” someone yells from the back of the room, and suddenly everything blurs into the background.
I’m squeezing between aisles and rows and chairs and women, pushing my way to the front of the room where I climb onto the small stage and storm the podium where the love of my life stands motionless, paralyzed.
Cupping her cheek in my hand, I slide my fingers along the nape of her neck and guide her mouth to mine.
The readers whistle and clap and cheer, and I feel Ayla’s lips curve against mine.
“I love you,” I whisper into her ear. “It’s only going to be you for me.”
“I love you too.”
Fifty-One
Ayla
* * *
“Why’d you change your number?” Rhett asks as we slip into my hotel room after my final book signing. His hands circle my waist, and he kisses my neck.
“I needed to move on,” I say. “I was exhausted from running in circles with you.”
He frowns, lifting his eyes to mine. “You really think, for one second, that you’re capable of moving on from this?”
I sigh. “No. But I was determined to try.”
His hands snake up my sides, traveling beneath the hem of my shirt until he cups my breasts.
“No more running,” Rhett says.
“No more running.”
He kisses me again, his lips pressed against mine until he lifts my shirt above my head and we stumble into bed.
Rhett doesn’t ravish me. He doesn’t tear at my clothes, though I suspect we’ll get to that soon enough. He drinks me in, as if he’s content just to be with me.
“You know, after everything, and despite the fact that I’m wildly in love with you,” I say, “I still feel like I hardly know you.”
He smirks. “Likewise.”
“I don’t even know your parents’ names.”
“Barb and Chet. You want to meet them sometime?”
My mouth pulls up at one side, my stomach filling with butterflies. “Yeah. I do.”
“Locke had a kid,” he says.
“What?”
“Yeah. He has a daughter named Joa. She’s almost one.” Rhett’s face lights when he mentions his niece. “He’s doing the single dad thing.”
“Wow.”
“I know, right?”
“You like being an uncle?” I ask.
“Love it,” he says. “In a way, Joa’s kind of brought my family closer together.”
“Babies do that,” I say. “You like babies?”
His eyes flash. “Are you asking if I like babies or if I want babies?”
I playfully pat his chest. He sees right through me. “Both.”
“Yes,” he says. “I like babies. And I want babies—with you.”
“Can I be honest with you?” I ask.
“Of course.”
“I’m still kind of on the fence about having kids,” I say. “I like them, don’t get me wrong. But I just haven’t decided what I want to do yet. That said, if I picture myself having kids? I can totally see you in the picture. That’s how I know I love you. I’ve never felt that way with anyone else.”
Rhett rolls over on top of me, sliding his arms beneath my shoulders. “We’ve got plenty of time to decide. But until then, we’re probably going to have to practice. A lot.”
“You think?” I chuckle, feeling the outline of his hardened cock against my fabric-covered mound.
His mouth presses into a tender spot just below my left ear, and my body softens.
“I’m so glad you came back.” I sigh, staring up at the ceiling as he travels south.
His hands work the waistband of my leggings, fingers slipping beneath the elastic as he tugs them down and yanks them off me. I reach for his jeans, unfastening them at the fly and pushing them farther down his sides.
“I love you so fucking much, Ayla,” he breathes into my ear, grinding his hips against mine.
Rhett moves to my side, pressing his body against my backside and pulling my leg over his. A moment later, he guides the head of his cock into me, from behind, and slides his fingers up and down my slit as he pumps into me.
Our bodies mold to one another, rocking and thrusting and grinding as his thumb circles my clit and his free hand slides beneath my side, pulling me closer.
“I’m never going to let you go again,” he says.
“Good. Because I’ll never let you,” I say.
We’re bathed in peace, blanketed in contentment.
He is mine.
I am his.
No more, no less.
Epilogue
Ayla
* * *
One Year Later…
* * *
“Are you nervous?” Rhett asks me as I set the table.
“Nervous for what, Mr. Carson?” I love calling him that because it usually gets him to call me Mrs. Carson in return, and I’m obsessed with my new name. Ayla Caldwell still graces my book covers, but legally, I’m his. I’m Mrs. Rhett Carson.
“Our dinner guests, Mrs. Carson,” he says with a wink. I smile. “These two haven’t seen each other since our wedding, and we know how well that went.”
I laugh. “I wish they’d just screw and get it over with. One of these days they’re going to see how absolutely perfect they are for each other.”
“I doubt Bostyn wants a guy with baggage.”
“Joa is not baggage. She’s a gift with purchase.”
I place the last fork next to the last plate and grab Joa’s high chair from the pantry. We watch her every chance we get, giving Locke a break because we can always tell when he needs it.
The doorbell rings and our German Shepherd puppy, Gruber, barks and runs toward the door. We’re not quite ready to start a family, so we decided to start with a dog. So far so good. We take turns letting him out in the middle of the night when he whines, and we’re constantly making sure he’s clean and fed and played with.