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“Abigail, I wouldn’t mind if you didn’t cook a meal for me for the rest of your life. I’m not here for the food. I’m here because I’m miserable without you. I’m here to make up for what I did. I’m here to get on my knees and beg for your forgiveness, to beg you to let us start again.” I knelt down, keeping my gaze fixed on hers, praying, and hoping, and wishing she’d let me beg.

“Rex—”

“Let me finish.” I brought her hand up to my lips and kissed her sweet skin. “Abigail, I’ve been in love with you for so long. I don’t even know when it started. It took root inside me and grew and grew and grew. All I know is that at some point, I found myself at Sullivan’s every day for lunch, not to see Gabe, but to catch a glimpse of you. I looked forward to hearing your laugh. Your smile. The light in your eyes when you were about to close another sale. Those small moments in the periphery of your life were enough, until they weren’t anymore. Until I starteddreaming of something more. I just never thought I’d be good enough for you, Abigail?—”

“Rex, come on. Be real.”

“I am. How could I be good enough when you’re everything? Driven. Funny. Beautiful. Spontaneous. Brave. I could go on and on.”

She squeezed my hand in hers. “Well, don’t stop now.”

I laughed, rose to my feet, and hooked an arm around her waist. As I pulled her closer, my pulse settled. The weight of her against me was so right. The feel of her warmth all down my front felt like coming home. The way she wrapped her arms around my neck felt like the only place I wanted to be.

“I’m crazy about you, Abigail. And this stupid wedding scheme only made me fall for you more. You’re everything I wish I was.”

“Now you’re just being ridiculous. Rex Montgomery, the pillar of the community, wishes he were more like the town screwup?”

“You’re not a screwup. You’re incredible. Now everyone who sees that billboard will know it.” I pressed my forehead to hers. “And if anyone says otherwise, they’re getting a knuckle sandwich, Rex-style.”

She laughed, then snorted, then laughed harder. “I can’t believe this is real.”

“It is real. No more faking it.”

That made her lift her head. Her eyes were liquid, and something like hope and fear and hurt swirled in them. And I realized something new about Abigail. She’d been let down and abandoned by so many people. Myself included. I’d let herdown every time I didn’t show her off like I was proud of her. Every time I denied her, or chose her brother.

Never again.

“I’m sorry, Abigail,” I said quietly. “I’m sorry I hurt you. I’m sorry I didn’t give you what you needed.”

“What I needed?”

“Someone who’s in your corner, always, no matter what. Someone who sees how amazing you are and lifts you up any time you start doubting yourself. Someone who loves you unconditionally, day in and day out, rain or shine, no questions asked.”

She snorted. “I want to believe it, Rex. But life isn’t a fairytale.”

“And I’m no prince. I’m going to make mistakes. I already have. But I’ll keep showing up. And I’ll keep loving you—if you’ll let me.”

A tear spilled down her cheek. “I don’t deserve someone as good and selfless and responsible as you. I’ll ruin you, Rex. I ruin everything.”

I nudged her with my nose. “How can you ruin things when you always make everything better?”

She gulped. A breath trembled through her lips. “I’m scared.” She squeezed her eyes shut. “Every time I’ve trusted someone to care about me like this, it’s blown up in my face. I’m afraid to believe it. Afraid to want this so badly and have it taken away from me.”

I squeezed her close, heart aching. Inhaling the scent of her hair, I pressed a kiss to her temple and wondered how I could make her understand that I wasn’t running from her, ever.

Pulling away, I stroked Abigail’s cheeks with my thumbsand said the only thing I could. “I love you. I love you so much that these past few days have felt like a part of me died. Like my heart couldn’t beat quite right, like it might not find its rhythm ever again. I love all the things that make you reckless and impulsive and brave and spontaneous. I love that you prefer takeout over cooking, because so do I. After I took care of your standing order at Lotus Flower, I started one for myself at Famous Sal’s Fried Chicken.”

She laughed, the fear fading from her eyes. “If we’re going to be together, then I’m going to need to sell a lot of houses for this takeout budget.”

I pulled her closer, hands splaying on either side of her lower back. “Does that mean we’re going to be together? You and me?”

She swallowed something back. “Did you really mean everything you said?”

“Every word. I love you so much I can’t imagine a future without you in it. It’s you. It’s always been you.”

She let in a soft breath, ran her fingers through the hair at the nape of my neck, and pulled me closer. “Kiss me, Rex,” she whispered—and they were the best three words I’d ever heard.

Well, they were the second best. The best three came a moment later, when she mumbled against my lips, “I love you.”