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We stared at each other for a long, charged moment. So much had been left unsaid between us. So many unresolved feelings and unanswered questions hanging in the air.
Part of me was terrified of breaking the silence, as if just opening my mouth might cause this fragile moment to shatter. But I had to know. “I…I thought you didn’t care about frogs?”
His lips quirked up in a half smile. “I don’t. I’m nowhere near noble enough for that. I’d need a complete personality transplant, in fact.”
“Why?” I finally managed to choke out, searching his face desperately. “Why did you do that in there?”
“Because I care about you, my girl. More than anything in the world.”
My heart stuttered at his words, at the implications behind them. Did this mean...? “Oh.”
Before I could find my voice again, Rhett closed the distance between us in two long strides. His large hands came up to cradle my face so tenderly, like I was something precious.
“I’m sorry, Scarlett,” he murmured, those intense eyes roving over my features, drinking me in. “I never should have run out on you and the babies like I did. You didn’t deserve that.”
Tears pricked at the corners of my eyes as a tidal wave of relief washed over me. “It’s okay,” I whispered, leaning into his touch. “I guess I understand why you did it, even if it hurt like hell.”
A muscle ticked in his chiseled jaw and his throat worked as he swallowed hard. “No, it’s not okay,” he insisted roughly. “I was a goddamn coward. I let my own fears get in the way of being there for you when you needed me most.”
His thumbs stroked over my cheekbones, swiping away the dampness there. “But I don’t want to run anymore.” His hand dropped to my belly. “All I want is you, and our babies, and a life together.”
A choked sob escaped my lips at his words. This was what I’d been longing for, hoping and praying he would say. That he was ready - ready to stop fighting his feelings and commit to me and our babies fully.
Unable to find the words to express the tidal wave of emotion crashing over me, I simply nodded. Then I stretched up on my tiptoes and pulled his head down, crushing my lips to his in a searing kiss.
Rhett groaned against my mouth, his arms banding around my waist and crushing me to his solid frame. I melted into him, into the warmth and safety I’d been craving for so long. When we finally broke apart, I was breathless and dizzy, clinging to the lapels of his suit jacket. He dropped his forehead to mine, his eyes shining with a fierce tenderness.
“God, I love you, Scarlett. So much,” he rasped, the words seeming to cost him a supreme effort. “I think I’ve loved you from the moment we first met. I just didn’t know how to handle it.”
“I love you, too.” Happy tears spilled down my cheeks as I laughed, giddy with joy. “And I gotta say, you sure as hell know how to make a grand romantic gesture.”
Rhett chuckled, brushing the pad of his thumb over my trembling lips. “I had to make sure you knew I was serious. That I’m not going anywhere this time.”
Leaning in, he brushed a soft kiss to the corner of my mouth, his voice dropping to a husky murmur. “You and those babies are my world now. I’m all in, for as long as you’ll have me.”
I shivered at the intensity in his words, at the promise behind them. Winding my arms around his neck, I pulled him close until our bodies were flush.
“Then I guess you’re stuck with me forever,” I whispered against his lips. “Because I’m never letting you go again.”
Epilogue
SCARLETT
“You got her?”
“Yeah, I got her. She sure is a lump these days.” I lifted Ava from the car capsule as carefully as I could so as not to wake her. Cradling my baby girl close, I walked toward where Rhett was waiting for me on the veranda, with Isabella in his arms.
The past several months had been a whirlwind of diapers, sleepless nights, and the kind of love that deepens with every shared challenge. But through it all, Rhett had been my rock, surprising himself with his ability to step up and be the kind of father our girls deserved. Not me, though. I knew exactly the quality of the man I was engaged to.
As we stepped inside, I noticed Rhett seemed a bit on edge, glancing around nervously.
Giving him a narrow-eyed look, I asked, “Everything okay?”
“Sure. Why wouldn’t it be?”
“Oh, I dunno. Maybe because it’s my birthday and I don’t believe that brunch with the girls is all you had planned for me, even though that’s all I said I wanted.”
“Well, Ms. Always Wright, how about you go check the pool? There might be a little something out there for you. You’ll want to put Ava in her bassinet first, though.”