“Regret.” I force the word out, but my voice is barely louder than a whisper.

“Regret!” His is loud, too loud for the van, and I press my foot down on the accelerator, only to have to slam on the brakes at the last stoplight before we’re on the outskirts of Forestview. “Sorry,” he says, and out of the corner of my eye I see his sheepish expression.

“I never should have done that to you.”

My throat is instantly tight, tears pricking the corners of my eyes, and I set my jaw. I’m not going to burst into tears, not like this, not on the way to a job.

“Yeah, well…” I keep my voice as level as possible. “We were young and stupid.”

“No, I was an asshole. And you were too important for that kind of shit.”

I cut my eyes over to him and his blues are locked on my face. But I can’t keep looking. The light turns green and I press down gently on the accelerator, taking us out of Forestview proper.

“It broke my heart.”

“I know. And I am so, so sorry. I’m so sorry, Val. I’ve thought about you every day since then.”

I want to say something cutting, like “I could tell by all the phone calls,” but I’d blocked him on every channel I could, including my phone, so he couldn’t have apologized even if he wanted to.

“I tried calling.”

“I bet you did. That was…that was on purpose.”

“I know. I asked around and found out you had the same number, so eventually I gave up.” He sighs, runs a hand through his hair. “But something happened last week that made me think—” Adam’s voice trails off.

“Made you think of me?”

“You, and the fact that life if short, and if I never apologized to you it would haunt me for the rest of my days.”

My chest goes painfully hot. “So this is just a pity mission? That’s why you came here?”

“No.” Adam reaches over and tugs one hand from the steering wheel, threading our fingers together. My entire body sighs with relief, though I can’t let it show. It feels just like when— “No, Val, it’s not out of pity. It’s out of sorrow. It’s out of hope.”

“Hope for what? You broke my heart, Adam. You humiliated me. And we were so close—”

“So close to what I hope we can have now. I’ve never been able to get you out of my head. I’ve never stopped loving you.”

I’ve never stopped loving you. His words hit my ears with unbelievable force.

“Loving me?” I can’t help but crack a smile. I can’t stop it, not even for a second. “You love me? You don’t even know me.”

“I love you anyway.”

My heart swells against my rib cage, fingertips tingling. “I don’t want to believe this.”

“Why not?”

“Because I’ve spent the last nine years missing you, Adam. I’ve wanted you every day. And I—I thought it was all over.”

“It’s never going to be over between us.”

I can’t breathe. I can’t do anything but smile.

We’ve arrived at the country club, and I pull up next to the curb, right in front of the entrance. “I—I have a cake to deliver.”

Adam grins at me, his eyes shining. “Let’s do it.”

The next few minutes are a blur of walking, unboxing, setting up the cake, and then Penelope Chadbourne is sweeping into the room, a vision in lace, and her eyes light up when she sees the cake. “Oh, Valerie, this is so classy.”

“I’m glad you like it.”

Then her eyes dart from me to Adam and something flickers there. It hits me all at once—she used to be really, really into him. My heart thunders in my chest. I want to stand here and let Penny see us, see me with the man she always wanted, but I have to get out of here—I have to get my hands on his.

“Congratulations on your big day,” I say, and then I take Adam’s hand and tug him toward the door. I don’t care about her dress anymore. I don’t care about anything but him.

We move toward the exit at a jog and when we’re back in the cold I sprint toward the van, desperate to get somewhere where we can be alone, but Adam catches my elbow right there on the sidewalk and tugs me back, folds me into his muscular, tattooed arms and kisses me.

His mouth on mine feels as familiar as it ever did, crushed against mine, and I gasp as he envelops me in pure wintry warmth, and it all comes rushing back, the nights in the back of his car, the passionate kisses behind the gym, only he’s stronger now, more solid, and god, I want him more than anything. Anything. I will never let him go again. I will never—

The kiss deepens, becomes longer and softer, then harder, and I’m lost in him. I’m lost, and I never want to be found. I bury my fists in his shirt, then let go and run my fingertips down the muscles of his arms, then throw my arms around his neck. God, I can’t stop, I don’t want to stop, I won’t stop—

He finally breaks the kiss, cheeks pink. “Let’s get out of here.”