Kate stood ankle deep in snow. She unfolded the heavy fleece-lined blanket she’d brought and laid it across the ground, allowing some of it to fold up against the side of the rock. After shaking the snow from her boots, she eased herself onto the blanket. From her bag, she pulled out an insulated cup from Olive’s. She leaned back and took a sip.

It was amazingly quiet. Peaceful. Beautiful. People walked and talked on the paths behind her, but no one ventured into the clearing to sit. She had the place to herself. She took another sip of her cappuccino and glanced at her watch. Three forty-five. Plenty of time.

Please let him come.

She shook the thought away. No sense worrying about what she couldn’t change. She hitched the scarf up over her cheeks. It was about thirty-five degrees outside. Cold, but not unpleasant inside all the layers she wore.

She pulled out her notebook and pen, crossed one leg over the other, and began to write.

I love you. I need you. I want you forever.

Our future together.

The lyrics poured forth.

A song grew from her ramblings, titled “Three Words.” In it, she verbalized her most intimate feelings for Josh. A light wind swirled around her, biting into her legs through the denim of her jeans. Her skin chilled. Her fingers, inside leather gloves, grew stiff.

Her watch ticked past four fifteen and kept going.

Josh was never late.

The chill seeped through her. It reached her heart and cooled the embers burning there. She closed the book and looked around. She sat on a green island here on her blanket, surrounded by an ocean of white. Above her head, trees sparkled as the sun filtered through their ice-covered branches.

Why hadn’t she ever come here in the winter before? Her gaze fell to the white expanse beyond her feet. Her eyes glazed. The cold had seeped into her core, chilling her to the bone.

She’d wait until five. To be sure.

Movement caught her eye, and her gaze sharpened. Josh walked toward her from the far side of the clearing, and the sight of him brought the spark sizzling back to life within her.

He came.

She drew her eyes up slowly, taking in worn jeans over lean hips, arms crossed over a black leather jacket. Her gaze swept up to lock on his, and her heart gave a funny little thud.

Even at a distance, his hazel eyes scalded her with heat. Her cheeks flushed, and her throat went dry. She gathered her feet beneath her and stood.

He crunched through the snow toward her. One step, then another, until only a few feet separated them.

“Josh.” She stepped forward and tripped over the blanket. She’d lost feeling in her toes.

His eyes blazed into hers. “Kate.”

His voice fed the part of her that had starved for him since she left New York. She felt herself smiling. Tears welled in her eyes. And I haven’t even started talking yet. Holy hell. “Thanks for coming. I…I needed to see you.”

“I’m glad. I had a few things to say too.”

She shook her head. “No, you don’t. It’s my turn.”

“Okay.”

She gulped a breath, clutching the notebook tighter in her hands. “Well, first…I wanted to apologize.”

He cocked his head. “Apologize?”

“For the things I said that night. For everything, really.” Her fingers shook.

Josh watched her, his eyes locked on hers with an intensity that made her knees tremble. He seemed to be waiting…for what, she wasn’t sure.

“I think, well, sometimes I see giants when they’re really just windmills. I panicked.” Her breath crystallized in the air, giving weight to her words. “And I’m sorry.”

He glanced away. A muscle in his cheek twitched.

She dropped her arms to her sides. Tears swam in her eyes. She didn’t dare blink for fear they would fall. Somehow, this didn’t seem to be going the way she had planned.

Josh stared at the snow-covered trees behind her.

She sucked in a shaky breath. “For God’s sake, say something.”

“Thank you,” he said.

“Thank you?” She held in a hysterical laugh. Real life was never as well scripted as the movies.

“For telling me.”

“You’re welcome,” she whispered.

Josh’s cell phone chimed. He slid it from his pocket and looked at the message he’d received. “I have somewhere I need to be.”

Her pulse roared in her ears. “Oh.”

“I thought that maybe…” He shook his head, his expression pained. “I can’t wait for you to decide how this is going to play out, like something from one of your movies. I thought we had something together, something special, something real. You threw it away, and then you call me out here today for what, to ease your guilty conscience?”

“No, I—” The words seemed to stick to her tongue.

“Then why are we here?” He turned away, staring out into the snow-covered field beyond, and the bottom dropped out of her stomach. She looked down at the notebook in her hands, picturing the words inside.

Three words.

Dammit, she was screwing this all up. Josh was waiting for her to ask for a second chance, to tell him that she loved him, and all she’d said was that she was sorry.

“I didn’t call you here just to apologize.” She stepped off the blanket. Her feet sank into the snow with a groaning crunch.

He turned his head, watching her.

She rushed forward, the notebook clutched against her chest. Three words. It was time to say them out loud. She dropped the notebook into the snow and stepped past. This close, she could see the shadows under his eyes. The stubble on his cheek. The sadness etched into his face. She reached out and touched his arm. Even through their winter clothes, she felt the connection. The current that had always run between them at the slightest touch.

Josh inhaled sharply, but he didn’t move.

She swallowed. The inside of her mouth felt like sandpaper. “I love you.” The words came out barely a whisper. Her teeth began to chatter uncontrollably.

He spun to face her, his eyes wide. “What did you say?”

She pressed her lips together to stop the shaking and lifted her chin. “I was a fool to walk away, because I’m in love with you.”

Say it back. Please say it back.

The moment seemed to stretch on forever. She heard her heart pounding in her ears and felt the icy wetness of snow melting into her socks. And then his arms were around her. He pulled her against him and held her tight, his chest heaving as if he battled tears of his own.

She threw her arms around his neck and clung to him.

Josh closed his lips over hers with a kiss that stole her breath and set her body on fire. For a sizzling instant, there was nothing but his mouth, hot and demanding against hers. Then he lifted his head.

She opened her eyes.

He was smiling, and his eyes glistened with unshed tears as he brushed a gloved finger over her cheek. “You have no idea how many times I’ve imagined you saying those words. Kate, I’m so in love with you, I can’t even see straight.”

She pressed her face against his shoulder as her throat choked with happy tears. Her chest felt warm and tight, as if she might burst from the joy inside her. “I’m sorry…I’m so sorry for walking away like I did. I guess I have some baggage where love is concerned.”

“You and me both. No more hiding our feelings, okay? From now on, we share everything. It was killing me all these months wondering where we stood.”

She nodded against his jacket. “Me too, and I promise I’ll try my best.”

“There’s something else I need to say.” He tugged at her chin, and she looked up. “What I had with Noelia was special, but Kate, you fulfill me in a way I never knew possible. I love you more than anything in the world, and I can’t imagine a future without you in it.”

His words lodged deep in her heart. “Really?”

“Oh yeah.” He brought his mouth to hers and kissed her until her toes curled and her heart swelled and she’d forgotten everything but the way it felt to be in his arms.

Her hat dropped into the snow as his fingers tangled in her hair. She ran her hands over the contours of his face, reveling in the familiar smell of him that made her want with every fiber of her being.

“I can’t believe this is happening.” She pressed her forehead against his, closing her eyes. Her heart tumbled in her chest.

Don’t let this moment end.

His arms tightened around her. “That makes two of us. I thought you were supposed to be living it up in sunny France right about now.”

“I gave it up…I backed out. For you, if you’ll have me.”

The hunger in his eyes made her weak in the knees. “Kate Hayes, I’m all yours. I’ve already told the whole world how I feel about you.”

She grinned through her tears. “I saw.”

“So we’re official now. No more hiding.”

She pressed a hand over her mouth, nodding. “I like the sound of that.”

“Maybe we should go to dinner at Bóheme to celebrate?”

She looked up and saw the humor in his eyes, and before she knew it, she was laughing like she hadn’t laughed in months. “I think that’s a must.”

He brushed a strand of hair from her face.

“I have so many things to tell you,” she whispered against his chest. “But can we take this inside? Because I’m freezing.”

Now it was his turn to laugh. The sound vibrated through her, filling a void deep inside. “I wasn’t kidding before. I really do have to go.”

Her face fell. “Oh.”

“Come with me.”

“Where?”

“To the hospital. My nephew is about to be born.”

Her eyes widened. “Oh! Yes, but can I put on dry shoes first?”

He glanced down at her soggy boots and chuckled. “Let’s go.”

He bent to collect her blanket while she retrieved her notebook from the snow. She placed it in her back pocket with a smile. Josh slid his hand in hers.

She leaned into him. “I’ve missed you so much.”

“Me too. And by the way, did you reference Don Quixote just now?”

“As a matter of fact, I did.”

“How?”

She shrugged, biting back a smile. “I had some spare time on my hands recently.”

“And Don Quixote happened to be on your reading list?”

“Apparently, you were on my mind.”

He stared at her for a long moment, then he stopped walking and pulled her against him for another kiss. And poof, she wasn’t cold anymore. Josh was hers. She’d been wrong about everything because this was by far the most incredible moment of her life.

No performance, no award would ever top it.

“These curls are so sexy,” he whispered as he brushed a hand through her newly shortened hair. “Kate…”

She looked up.

His eyes were serious. “I saw you on that talk show, and I’m so damn proud of you.”

Tears flooded her eyes. “Thank you.”

“I mean it. I know how hard it was for you to get up there and talk about what happened to you on national television. You’ve been through hell, and here you are, stronger than ever.”

“I love you,” she whispered, leaning in to give him another kiss.

“I love you too.” He tucked his arm around her waist. “My parents will be there at the hospital. Are you ready for this?”

She tilted her head up to meet his eyes. “Yeah, I am.”

“Then let’s go.”

Hand in hand, they left the snow behind and stepped onto the well-trodden path.