“Looks like you’ll have more than enough cake to get you through for a while, huh?”
“I guess so.”
He stared at the boxes longer than was necessary, and when Sydney cleared her throat, he knew he needed to turn around.
And when he did, she was standing much closer than she was a minute ago.
Slowly, she reached out and touched the bandage on his head, her expression fierce. “Why didn’t you call for help?”
Gently, he grabbed her wrist and moved her hand away. “There wasn’t time.”
“But you didn’t know that when you got on the boat, Kyle. You should have let the rescue squad go and do their job.”
Shaking his head, he said, “C’mon. Let’s sit down.” Once they were on the couch, he explained. “It would have taken too long to explain everything to someone else and then it would have taken time for them to get their boats out and figure out her location. Hunter was with me and he knew exactly who to call and what to do once we found her.” With her hand still in his, he gently squeezed it. “The only thing that mattered was finding her as fast as possible.”
“But you got hurt! I mean…think about what could have happened to you?”
He gave her a careless shrug. “I’ve got a hard head, and again, Hunter was right there. I wasn’t out there alone, Syd.” It was obvious she was fighting tears and the last thing he wanted was for her to cry. “Who knows, maybe it knocked some sense into me, right?” He was going for light and teasing, but it just made her look even more miserable.
“Kyle…”
“Don’t you dare thank me again,” he said wearily. “I told you earlier, we’re good.”
“Are we?”
He wanted to say no—to tell her he wanted what they had before all this craziness with Haley started up.
That he wanted forever.
Instead, he nodded and said, “Yeah. We are.”
Slowly pulling her hand from his, she sighed. “Well, that’s just not going to do.”
“Um…what?”
“Do you have any idea how hard it was for me to come here right now?” she asked, sounding a little exasperated.
“Uh…”
“And for that matter, do you know how awful it was for me to send you away that night?” Now her voice was a little stronger and louder and there was no point in asking which night she was referring to.
Then she got up and started to pace.
“Believe it or not, I was a very organized and together woman up in Boston! I could multitask like nobody’s business! But move me back home to Magnolia and turn me into a full-time guardian and bring the love of my life back into the picture and suddenly I’m all thumbs and can’t seem to get a grip on anything!”
“Syd…”
“I’m serious, Kyle! All of a sudden, I was second-guessing everything I was doing, and nothing I did seemed right!” Then she paused. “No, that’s not true. Where you and I were concerned, it was right, dammit! And if you don’t think so, then you’re a liar!”
Eyes wide, he wondered why she would even think such a thing.
“I know it was right!” he yelled back as he came to his feet. “I was the one telling you that, but you still ended things!”
“There wasn’t a choice! I wanted to tell Haley that she couldn’t have her way or that she didn’t get to make the rules, but she had already lost so much! Giving in to what she wanted seemed like the only thing I could do! You have no idea how hard this parent—I mean, guardian thing is!”
With her back turned to him, he saw her shoulders sag and immediately went over and wrapped his arms around her. She was trembling and he simply held her until she was calmer. When she turned in his arms and wrapped hers around him, he felt the first glimmer of hope.
“You may not be her biological mother, Syd, but you are more than Haley’s guardian, and you know it. Don’t try to minimize who you are and what you’re doing.” Kissing her forehead, he continued. “I am blown away by everything you’ve done. I don’t know a single person who could handle everything you have and still be strong enough to take on more.”
She pulled back slightly. “The only reason I was able to handle as much as I did was because of you, Kyle. I need you. Please tell me I didn’t ruin everything.”
What he wanted was to lift her up and spin her around.
But he honestly didn’t feel strong enough.
Instead, he lowered his head and kissed her—softly at first, and then with more urgency. His arms tightened around her and it felt better than anything had in a long time. He knew he could go on kissing her like this forever, but…there were still some things they needed to deal with. Reluctantly, he lifted his head and couldn’t help but smile when she leaned in to kiss him again.
“Syd,” he began, “I need to ask you something before this goes any further.”
She looked at him curiously. “O-kay…”
“Are you here with me like this because you genuinely want to be, or are you here because you feel…I don’t know…obligated to?”
“Because I want to be,” she replied without hesitation. “There has never been anyone I wanted more than you, Kyle Jones, and there never will be. I love you. I hate what I put us through, but…”
“Don’t,” he interrupted. “No more looking back. From now on, we only look forward, okay?”
She nodded. “It’s still not going to be easy. Haley is going to be a handful no matter what. She’s almost a teenager, and I hear that’s a challenging time, and I’m already not looking forward to it. I mean, I have no idea how to handle everything that goes with it and…”
“The good thing about it all, Syd, is that you don’t have to do it alone.” His gaze met hers and he saw relief and love and everything he ever wanted staring back at him. “We’ll get through the teen years together.”
“I really like the sound of that.”
“Good.”
She still had her arms loosely draped over his shoulders while his were wrapped around her waist. “Are we done talking now?” she asked with a sexy grin.
“That depends.”
“On?”
“When do you have to get back home to Haley and your parents?”
Her smile grew. “Funny story. Apparently I’m not allowed to go home until tomorrow. So I was hoping…”
Then it didn’t matter how weak he felt. Picking her up, Kyle carried her to his room and tossed her down on his bed before crawling up over her. “That is the second-best news of the day.”
“Really? What was the first?”
“That you still love me.”
And then he was seriously done talking for a while.
They had lost time to make up for.
15
“How’s your head?”
“You know, it hurts.”
“What can I do to help?”
Grinning lecherously, he said, “I believe you just did a lot to help. But if you happen to have a sexy nurse costume anywhere, I think that would go a long way in making it all better.”