Allie set her chin in her hand, studying me with a small smile. “You’d rather stay and have him take the fall for that, wouldn’t you?”
With a rough swallow, I thought of Adaline’s face. My sisters. My mom. My nieces. “Yes,” I said without hesitation.
She slid her hand over mine. “That’s why I’m doing this.”
“What do you mean?”
“I wasn’t lying when I said that was the only set of photos in my possession.”
My brow furrowed.
Her smile was devious. “My husband, however, has his own copies. And those will be going to the FBI—and the press—as soon as you sign the dotted line of whatever contract you accept.”
I sat back, mouth agape. But relief had my shoulders slumping, the iron knot in my stomach. “He’s not off the hook?”
“Hell no. Have you met me?”
I swiped a hand over my mouth, studying her with a newfound sense of awe. “No wonder you told me to trust you.”
“I know a thing or two about protective men who love the women in their life. They’d never want him to get away with it either.” Allie smiled. “Are you hungry? I’d be happy to have dinner with you, but if you’re ready to go home after this, I understand.”
“All I have waiting for me there is an empty house and SportsCenter,” I said. “But I’ll stay if you let me pay.”
“You’ve got yourself a deal.”
Two hours later, Allie’s driver dropped me off in front of my house, and before I left the car, I said my goodbyes, giving her my eternal thanks. Even though nothing was decided yet, and I still had to be patient to see what kind of offers might come in from someplace like Washington or Portland, I felt lighter than I had in months.
It was something, and I felt like the best part of my life was cueing up at the running block.
I tucked my hands into the pockets of my dress pants and looked up at the inky, bluish-black sky. More than anything, I wanted to call Adaline and tell her what happened. I grinned, striding toward the house, ready to do just that.
That was when she stood from the chair next to my front door.
Her dark hair was down around her shoulders, covering a worn Stanford T-shirt, her legs were bare underneath denim shorts. On her feet were white and gold sneakers.
I froze, hand settling immediately over my racing heart.
“Hi,” she said quietly.
“You’re … here?” I said. Like an idiot. I took a step toward her, unable to believe what I was seeing.
After the night I’d just had, it was almost more than my brain could handle. And that was nothing on what my heart was doing.
“I’m here.” She walked down the step, studying me with soft eyes and a sweet smile. “You look very, very handsome in that suit.”
“You’re here. At my house.”
Adaline grinned, coming to a halt just in front of me. My hands shook from the effort it took not to touch her, but I wanted to be very, very clear about why she was there.
But she didn’t make me ask. She didn’t make me wonder. Without any idea of what had unfolded just a couple of hours earlier, Adaline slowly slid her hands over my stomach, under my jacket, and around my back, where she burrowed against my chest with a deep sigh.
I wrapped my arms around her back and buried my nose in her hair.
Adaline’s head lifted from my chest, and she cupped the side of my face. “I love you. And I don’t care what we have to do, I don’t want to love you from far away anymore.”