When my phone buzzed on the desk, I practically jumped out of my skin and snatched it up from the spot where I had left it. I had tried to talk myself out of texting Autumn, but I figured one little message would be permissible—nothing too intense. But I didn’t realize until I got that response right back how overly invested I had been in hearing from her as I scrambled to open the reply she had sent me.

“Hey,” it read. “I miss you too. X”

My heart leaped when I saw it, and I couldn’t stop smiling. I knew I wasn’t exactly doing a breakup properly, but I didn’t care. I just wanted to hear from her, about her, anything like that—get the chance to talk to the woman I missed so much, there was a great big hole in my heart where she had once been.

“You want me to come and see you?” I shot back, knowing I was pushing my luck. Hunter was on spring break at the moment, and though I had offered to take him off for a trip somewhere, he had insisted on staying home, probably worried he was going to miss Autumn if he got out of there. I decided not to push my luck and let him hide out in his room while I got some work done. I knew how he felt. Sometimes, I wanted nothing more than to lock the door to my room and pretend the world at large couldn’t find me.

“Can’t really manage that,” she shot back. “I’m in Vegas.”

“Vegas?”

“Vegas. Zoe took me out here to cheer me up, but it’s not really working.”

“Cheer you up?”

“After what happened with us.”

I closed my eyes and ran my fingers through my hair. She was just being nice, that was all. Just sharing a little conversation. But to me, it felt like a lifeline, something to hook on to, something I could use to pull us back together where we belonged.

“I’ve been thinking about you so much,” I replied.

“Me too,” she agreed. “I wish I could see you right now.”

The words glared up at me from the screen, and an idea bounced into my brain—an idea I instantly recognized as totally mad, of course, but an idea nonetheless. I put my phone into my pocket and began to pace the office for a moment, trying to figure out if this really was the stupidest idea I’d ever had or if there was something in there worth chasing down for a change.

Fuck it. I loved this woman. I knew that for sure, and here she was texting me to tell me she missed me and she wanted to see me. Why would I run away from that? I had spent the last ten years trying to keep everyone but my son at arm’s length, and I was so done with that right now. I needed to see her, even if that meant flying all the way to Vegas to do it.

I tapped off a text to the company who ran my private jet. I didn’t use it often, but like the boat, it had been an indulgent purchase I couldn’t say no to when I’d gotten the money together to finally buy it. I thanked God for it right now because the thought of spending another second away from Autumn when I knew she wanted me was impossible to wrap my head around at that moment.

“Hunter?” I strode out of the office, and my son poked his head out from his room.

“Yes, Dad?”

“You want to grab some things?” I suggested. “I’m taking you down to stay with Raymond for a couple of days.”

“Why?” He furrowed his brow.

“Because it’s spring break, and you should be doing something,” I told him firmly, figuring it was for the best not to get his hopes up about Autumn. Hell, I wasn’t sure I should even be getting my hopes up yet, but here I was, letting them bubble over deep down inside of me to those places in my mind I had done my best to duck since she walked away from me.

I texted Raymond quickly and thanked God when my best friend agreed at once to take Hunter for a few days. That was the good thing about Raymond wanting to practice his parenting skills. He was always willing to take Hunter for me to squeeze in a little more rehearsal. Hunter grabbed his stuff and threw it into a bag, and I paced the hallway excitedly as I waited for him to come out.

“Ready to go?” I asked as soon as he joined me. He nodded.

“Awesome.” I grabbed his hand. “Let’s get out of here, shall we?”

“Where are you going to be?” Hunter asked as we climbed into the car. “Will you be visiting Raymond and me?”

“Of course I will,” I told him, ruffling his hair. “I’m going away on a business trip, Hunter, but I won’t be gone long. I’ll be back before you know it.”

“Okay.” He eyed me curiously, and I could tell he knew there was something else going on. I turned my eyes to the road and pulled out of the driveway. I didn’t want him to guess, and I certainly didn’t want him getting his hopes up about Autumn coming back to us before it was totally confirmed one way or another.

I arrived at Raymond’s place in record time, and Hunter hopped out of the car to head straight to the guest room to dump his stuff. Raymond leaned on the doorframe as I headed up the steps, and he raised his eyebrows at me.

“You going to fill us in on what this is all about?” he asked teasingly.

“What do you mean?” I replied, not sure I wanted Raymond being able to guess the crazy shit I was about to pull. If he figured it out, he would tell me I was off my rocker and needed to calm the hell down before I scared her off for good.

“Dropping Hunter off here with such little notice?” he pointed out. “Come on, I know you well enough to remember that you don’t really do things spontaneously. Is everything okay?”

“Everything’s fine,” I assured him, and excitement flooded me at the thought of what I was going to do. “I’m actually—I’m going to see Autumn.”

“She’s right across town, isn’t she?” Raymond frowned. “Why do you need a sitter for Hunter?”

I shook my head. “She’s in Vegas right now.”

“Vegas?” Raymond exclaimed, and I gestured for him to keep his voice down.

“Hey, hey, Hunter doesn’t know about it yet,” I warned him. “And I don’t want him to. Not until I’m back at least.”

“You’re flying to Vegas to see her?” He looked skeptical, his eyes narrowed. “Is that a good idea?”

“Look, she was texting me earlier about how much she misses me and how much she wishes she could see me,” I told him. “I’m not pulling this out of my ass here. I want to see her so fucking much, and I’m not going to turn down the chance now, no matter how crazy it might seem, you know?”

“Fuck it.” Raymond shook his head, chuckling. “Sounds kind of wild to me, but you go get it, man. Just don’t have a shotgun wedding in Vegas, all right? At least without inviting us.”

“Who’s getting married?” Hunter appeared next to Raymond.

“Nobody,” I told him quickly, and I leaned down to give him a quick hug. “I’ll see you soon.”

“See you soon.” He smiled at me and then wandered back inside the house. Raymond wished me good luck one more time, and I turned back to the car to shoot over to the airport. I was so beyond ready for this. The thought of seeing her again and holding her in my arms was making the soles of my feet prickle with excitement.

I texted her after I arrived at the airport to ask what hotel she was staying in. She replied with the address and some curiosity.

“Why do you need to know?”

“You’ll see,” I told her.

“Can’t wait to find out. X”

I grinned at the kiss at the end of her message and slipped onto my private jet. Soon enough, I was shooting off across the country toward the woman I loved.

I arrived a few hours later after trying to get some work done on the plane but failing because I was so distracted by the notion of seeing her again. I got her room number and hopped a cab across the city to her hotel, my heart pounding in my chest the entire way. Please, let this be what she wanted. Please, let her be glad to see me.

I arrived at the hotel and began having second thoughts. What if it had been mild flirtation over text, a little bit of teasing to see how far I would go? The thought of that stung, and I pushed it to the back of my mind. No, no. She wasn’t like Karla. I was getting the two of them wrapped up in one another, and there was no good reason for that at all. They were utterly different people, and I was going to remind myself how utterly different they were once and for all.

I headed up to her hotel room, giving the front desk my name and letting them know who I was there to visit. I wasn’t sure they would let me through, but they must have seen the certainty in my eyes and understood there was no way in hell I was backing down, no matter what anyone said. I arrived outside her door and took a deep breath. I could do this. I had come all this way just to be close to her. And I was tired and jetlagged and nervous, but I wasn’t going to walk away from this now, no way in hell when I was finally so close to being with the woman I loved.

I knocked on the door, and she pulled it open almost at once like she had been waiting for me. She was wearing a large hotel robe, her hair wrapped up in a towel on her head, and her eyes practically bugged out of her face as soon as she saw me.

“Holden?” she exclaimed. “Holy shit, I didn’t think you would actually come.”

“I couldn’t wait to see you,” I told her, reaching out to clasp her face in my hands. I couldn’t believe how good it felt to be in her presence, to have her in my arms again. I had been sure I’d pushed things too far or freaked her out with my forwardness, but here she was with a smile spreading across her face.

“I missed you so much,” she breathed as she pulled me over the doorstep, yanking me inside the room and pushing the door shut behind me.

“You have no idea,” I agreed, as I leaned down to kiss her for the first time in what felt like forever.