“I’ve missed you, Robyn. More than you know.”
Before she could figure out what was happening, he grabbed her by her upper arms and kissed her. On the mouth. Like really kissed her. He tried for a little tongue action, but by then she’d restarted her brain and pulled back.
“Jase? What are you doing here?”
“I couldn’t wait any longer.” His voice was low and intense. “I can’t let you go.”
He glanced around, as if just now realizing they weren’t alone. She assumed he would ask her to step outside, but apparently not, she thought, stunned when he kept talking.
“You’re on my mind all the time,” he continued. “I was such a fool. You’re the most amazing woman I’ve ever known.”
Then, right there, in front of God and everyone, he dropped to one knee. “Robyn Caldwell, you’re smart and funny and caring, and I’ve been an idiot. Please give me a chance to make it right. Please let me spend the rest of my life showing you how much I love you and how I want you to be happy. Robyn, will you marry me?”
Everything moved in slow motion. She would swear there were five or six seconds between every tick from the clock on the wall. She stared at Jase’s hopeful expression, at her children who were wide-eyed and openmouthed with shock and at Mason, whose face, once again, gave nothing away.
She opened her mouth, then closed it. What was she supposed to say? No didn’t seem strong enough. Hell, no was a little rude. How on earth could this be happening to her?
Just then, a black-and-white cat wandered into the kitchen and rubbed himself against Jase’s bent leg.
“Meow,” the cat stated loudly and with expectation.
Jase frowned. “Robyn?”
This couldn’t be happening. None of it. Not Lillian being gone, not the money, not everything with Harlow and not Jase showing up with no warning and proposing while kneeling on Lillian’s kitchen floor.
Robyn felt her lips twitch. Then she started to laugh. Harlow giggled a little, and Austin turned away to hide a smirk. Only Mason was expressionless.
Jase stood, looking annoyed and hurt.
“I fail to see what’s so funny. I came a long way, Robyn. I canceled appointments with patients to be here.”
Robyn nodded, trying to get herself under control, but she couldn’t seem to catch her breath. She wondered if hysterical sobs were just a heartbeat away. She seemed prone to them lately.
“Jase,” she managed, trying to stifle the laughter. “I’m sorry. I can’t—” She sucked in air, then realized she wasn’t trying to tell him she couldn’t talk. She was telling him the answer to his question.
“I won’t marry you,” she said at last. “I’m sorry you came all this way. I was clear the last time we spoke and the time before that and when we ended things back home. We’re finished. I don’t want to see you anymore, and you really need to stop showing up in my life.”
Austin patted him on the back. “Clear enough for you, bro?”
Harlow moved next to Robyn, arms folded across her chest. “Jase, seriously. This is bordering on stalking. We’re asking you to leave. Don’t make me get physical.”
Jase seemed more startled than threatened, but he didn’t protest. Instead he picked up his duffel and started for the back door. Once he got there, he faced her again.
“You’re going to regret letting me go,” he said stiffly. “Men like me don’t come along all that often.”
“I hope that’s true,” she said.
Jase glared at her, then walked outside, slamming the screen door behind him.
“He’s a serious dick,” Harlow said, flipping a switch on the blender. Instantly the sound of loud motors and blades crushing ice filled the room.
Austin joined his sister at the counter, and Robyn turned to Mason, hoping to see a flicker of amusement or something that told her he thought Jase showing up was a big, fat joke. Instead his eyes were hooded and his mouth a straight line. She had no idea what he was thinking, but he hadn’t found the situation funny.
“So, that was weird,” she said in a fake, hearty tone. “Now you’ve met my ex-husband and my ex-boyfriend. I’ll have to have lunch with one of your ex-wives to even the score.”
He looked at her with the cold, unwelcoming eyes of a stranger. “I have some things I need to see to. I’ll leave you to spend the evening with your children.”
And with that, he was gone.
* * *
Despite the fact that the house was over forty thousand square feet, Mason couldn’t find a single place to hide. He wasn’t worried about being found—that wasn’t the point. His problem was he couldn’t escape the memories he’d made in the damned place.
He couldn’t go to his bedroom. Not only had he and Robyn fucked on literally every surface, but her room was right next door, and they shared a balcony. The office was just as fraught. They’d talked there, laughed there, even cried there after losing Lillian.
There was no room in the entire house that wasn’t filled with her or her kids or the three of them. No matter where he went, she followed, blue eyes laughing, mouth smiling, hands pulling him close.
He couldn’t escape the sound of her voice, the way she was so damned honest, or how no matter what was happening around her, she got dinner on the table every day. She welcomed everyone in need, listened, spoke truth, and offered unconditional support. She was everything he’d ever wanted times a hundred million, and he knew, he just knew, it was all going to shit.
He took the stairs to the fourth floor and searched for one fucking room where he didn’t have any memories of her. Just one! But that room didn’t exist, and he was left to stand in the hallway, desperate for relief from the five-ton boulder that was about to squash him like a bug.
She could have anyone, so why would she want him? She’d had a damned cardiologist flying across the country and proposing in front of people he didn’t even know. Jase hadn’t cared about anyone but Robyn. He’d put it all on the line. A doctor. She could have had a doctor.
Mason was clear on his place in the universe, even if his recent inheritance was messing with his head a little. But he would get over that. He would pick out his plot, sell the house, and live out the rest of his days with a view of the Pacific. It was a whole lot more than he’d ever dreamed he would have.
As for Robyn—he had to be realistic. He’d aimed well above his pay grade, and it made sense he’d fallen on his ass. Why wouldn’t he? She was the moon and stars, and he was a grunt in the army. They’d had a great summer, and now it was time for them to face reality. Well, him anyway. He doubted Robyn had ever left reality behind.