Logan

Nothing had been the same since I’d come back from Connecticut nearly two weeks earlier. I’d lost the woman I loved, and I just didn’t know how to live with that. I wouldn’t give up, but hope was fading. I’d not heard anything from her and I wanted to go home. Mope. Feel sorry for myself. Business was the last thing on my mind.

“Cancel everything this afternoon. If anything urgent comes in, you can call me,” I told my assistant. There was plenty of urgent stuff sitting in my inbox, but nothing mattered anymore.

“No problem. I was about to come see you when you called me in. Apparently, there’s someone in reception for you without an appointment, but I’ll deal with them.”

I nodded and began to log off my computer. “Do you know who it is?”

She glanced down at her notes. “A Darcy Westbury? I’ve never heard of her. Don’t worry, I’ll get rid of her.” She reached for her phone.

Darcy? Darcy was here?

“No! Where is she?” My heart started to pound. Why would Darcy be here? Had something happened to my grandmother? Was she hurt? Or could I let myself hope that she was here to see me, that perhaps she’d changed her mind?

“In reception, I guess. You want me to see why she’s here?”

I’d already started across the office. Sure enough, I saw Darcy talking animatedly to one of the receptionists, her beautiful chestnut-brown hair loose and swaying down her back. I yanked open the glass door and our eyes locked. Without saying anything, Darcy silently followed me back to my office. Whatever she’d come here for didn’t need an audience.

My assistant said nothing as I led Darcy inside and closed the door behind us. “Is everything okay? Did something happen with my grandmother?”

She shook her head and frowned, two small ridges forming above the bridge of her nose. Had I never noticed that before, or was she wearing a facial expression I’d never experienced? Somehow, I felt cheated. There would be so much of Darcy that I would never know. I was such an idiot.

“What are you doing in London?”

She ignored my question and took a seat in one of the chairs in front of my desk. I wished she’d just tell me why she was here. My palms were sweating. I was fighting every instinct I had that told me to touch her, kiss her, hold her.

“Aurora and I went speed dating last night.”

I banged my fist against the door, trying to contain my anger into that one single movement. Dating? Fuck. What had I expected? I blew out a breath, then took a seat behind my desk. “Go on.”

“I stayed at the London house last night, not that I’ve slept,” she mumbled. “I’ve been doing nothing but thinking and missing you—it seems that’s all I do these days.”

I tried to control my breathing and listen carefully. Had she just admitted to missing me? “What did you say?”

“I can’t just turn these feelings off. I’ve tried, but I still love you.”

Her words slid over me like a cool shower on a muggy August day. I closed my eyes and took a breath. When I opened them, she was looking right at me. “So, I decided to come here this morning and tell you.”

“And what about the guy, or guys from last night?”

“From speed dating?” She shook her head. “Obviously, they were all awful. None of them were you.”

Was she prepared to give me another chance? I didn’t want to push her, but I needed to know more. “It’s good to see you. I mean, it always is, but I’ve missed you so much. I wondered if I’d ever lay eyes on you again.”

“You hurt me so badly. I’ve never known pain like that.”

Her agony wound around me in a mixture of guilt and shame. How could I have been so selfish? “I know, and I’m so sorry. I want to make it up to you, to prove to you that I’m worthy of your love.”

She trapped her bottom lip between her teeth. I rarely saw her look so unsure about anything. She was so capable and confident. Had I robbed her of that?

“What can I do? Please, Darcy. Anything. I’m miserable without you. I’m nothing without you.”

“Don’t say that. You’re everything I never realized I wanted in a man.”

My breath caught in my throat. The more she spoke, the more hope filled up my chest, my heart, my soul. Hope for a future. “If you give me a second chance, you’ll never regret it. I pledge to you right now that I will love you forever. My feelings took me by surprise, but I understand them now. I understand what you are to me. You’re everything, and I won’t make the same mistake twice. I love you, Darcy. I’ll always love you.”

“But you will make mistakes,” she replied and the fist around my heart tightened. “And so will I. We need to get better at working through them. Because I can’t lose you again.”

I couldn’t hold back any longer. I stood and rounded my desk. I had to be closer to her. “Do you mean…” I could barely form the words. “Have you come back to me?”

She stood and tipped her head back, her hand sliding over my chest. “I never left.”

I’d missed her warmth, her touch, her scent so much that it was almost overwhelming me. “I’ll never let you go again.”

“I don’t think I’d survive if you did.”

I wanted to ask her to marry me right then—I wanted to bond us together, make this permanent, but I knew ever-practical Darcy would think it was too soon. For now, I would settle for having her in my arms. I had some work to do to prove that I would be a worthy husband. But I was confident that I understood my priorities now and it wouldn’t be long before I made her my wife.