I tried to sort through all he’d just said, my mind grasping onto three in particular. “You…love me?” I asked, hope almost rendering me breathless.
I took a step toward him, but he held his hand up, halting me in my tracks. I blinked at him. And then tears sprung to my eyes when understanding dawned. He wants to come to me. He did so, halting just a few steps from where I stood.
A tremulous smile broke free.
“Yes,” he said, “I love you so much I feel like an empty shell without you.”
I bit my trembling lip. “And those things you said about wanting a variety of women…” My voice trailed off, the brutal pain of that moment coming back to me and stealing the words.
“No,” he rasped. “God, no. I said those things to hurt you like I thought you were hurting me.” He closed his eyes, a look of shame passing over his handsome features. “I have been and always will be faithful to you—body and also heart and soul. I made a vow and I intend to live by it.”
I smiled on a small, gasping breath, attempting to hold back a sob, suddenly weak with relief. “I’ve been faithful to you too. That day in Napa, I was only with Cooper because it was part of the plan, and he thought I still lived there. I had to find out what functions he’d be at. After that, I made excuses. I never went anywhere with him that night or any other.”
He squeezed his eyes shut for a moment. “I’m so sorry I ever doubted you.”
“It looked bad, I know. I would have explained, but—”
“I was awful. Beyond awful.”
I put my fingers to his lips, sniffling as I gazed at his face. “You were hurting.”
He nodded, his expression pained and guilt-ridden. “Hurting…but awful. I want to be better, Kira, like you said. I want to be strong enough to fill those empty spaces with love. I have a lot of it surrounding me, and I’ve been so busy focusing on the ones who didn’t love me that I forgot to notice the ones who always have. The ones who do.”
Oh, Grayson. This was a good start, but there was still more to address. “I thought for sure you’d serve me with divorce papers. You didn’t take my father’s deal?”
He shook his head. “No, I didn’t. I’d rather starve.”
“Well, that’s a convenient attitude because we both still might.” Whether separate or together. “I don’t know how long it will take to get the hold taken off my gram’s money, or even if my father will still pursue that. He might—”
“Turns out, Jessica Hawthorn was interested in investing in the family vineyard.”
I tilted my head, looking at him with confusion. “She did?” I’d only met with her so briefly. She’d agreed to give me the money to fund my plan, but she had been terse and dismissive.
“Yeah.” He smiled and there was a note of wonder in it. “And,” he continued, “I want you to know that I came to all the conclusions about my feelings for you and all the ways I’ve acted like a complete jackass before I found out what you did for me, for us.” He paused. “Outrageous and potentially dangerous as it was” he didn’t seem to be able to help adding.
I swallowed, my smile fading. “I schemed and plotted…” I looked up into his eyes. “I had to, Grayson. I didn’t know if you’d truly take my father’s deal or not, but if you did, he would have ruined your name and all the progress you’d made in fixing your reputation, and if you didn’t, you’d be penniless. And it was all my fault. I had to fix it. I had to try.” Tears sprung to my eyes.
He stepped toward me, a tender smile appearing on his face. “I know, little witch. And we have a lot to talk about on that subject. But first I want you to know that I was wrong when I said you were anything at all like your father or mine. You do plot, it’s true.” He smiled and ran a finger over my cheekbone. “But your ideas are filled with love and a joy for life, just like you. Nothing bad could come from you, Kira, because there’s nothing bad inside you.”
Relief and happiness shimmered through me unheeded. I shook my head. “I won’t plot anymore,” I insisted. “I mean…unless it’s something very, very important.” I shifted my eyes to the side. “Or, well, unless—”
His soft chuckle halted my words, his gaze filled with gentle amusement. “Okay,” he said quietly. “I love you, Kira. I’ll never stop saying it. I’m ready to brave the thorns. I’ll plunge myself on them for you.”
“That sounds painful,” I breathed.
He laughed. “I’m hoping it was a metaphor. Charlotte,” he said in explanation.
Ah. Yes, Charlotte. She’d been calling and checking on me every day, and although I hadn’t confided my most recent Very Bad Idea until it was over and the thumb drive had been sent to the news, she’d kept me going with her wise advice and words of comfort, and most of all offering her grandmotherly love. “The rose,” I said. “I got that one too.”
His lips tipped up in a boyish smile as he brushed a lock of hair away from my face. His expression became sadly contemplative. “I wish I had been truly ready to live by her advice. We might have avoided these past few weeks.”
Emotion overwhelmed me and a tear rolled down my cheek. Grayson used his thumb to swipe it away. I caught the glint of silver and looked more closely at his hand as it fell away. “You found the ring?”
“Yes,” he said. “And if it’s still mine to keep, I’ll never take it off.”
I allowed myself to crumble then, happily. “Yes, it’s yours,” I whispered. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry for keeping the secret about my father and your case from you. I never meant to hurt you. I love you too. I never stopped. I never will.”
Relief passed over his features before he asked hoarsely, “Can I hold you now?”
I nodded vigorously, stepping into his embrace. He smiled against my forehead, rubbing his rough jaw on my skin. “Come home with me, Kira,” he whispered. “Come back home. Please. Let me prove that I can be the husband you deserve.”
I nodded against his chest, breathing in the achingly delicious scent of fresh rain and my husband. My husband who loves me and wants me to come home with him. The misery and grief and fear of the past weeks suddenly overwhelmed me and I gasped out a sob, burrowing my head more firmly against him.
His arms came around me, and he nuzzled his cheek against the top of my head. “Please don’t cry, Kira,” he whispered. “I don’t ever want to be the cause of your tears again.”
I nodded, grasping his shirt and looking up into his expression, raw with love and tenderness.
He took my face in his hands, bending to kiss my mouth. I kissed him back hungrily, glorying in the taste of him, the feel of his lips on mine. I’d missed him so much. He leaned away, kissing the tears as they ran down my cheeks, his breath hot on my skin. Raising my mouth to his, I kissed him again and again, tasting the salty essence of my heartache on his lips, rejoicing in the way our kisses made it sweet again. Both of us were breathless as my tears finally abated.
When he pulled his mouth from mine, his eyes moved over my face as he whispered, “You could be pregnant.”