Page 92 of Bay of Plenty

“Congratulations. So… to get this straight.” I took a deep breath. “You left undercover? For me?” Wow, that felt like a lot of pressure, a heavy mantle.

He smiled. “And for me. I get to be the dad who’s around to see my daughter grow up. The uncle who sees his nieces and nephews give their mothers, my sisters, heaps. And the man who’s with the woman who’s meant for him.”

He stepped toward me with a different energy. “All that’s to say, I’m madly in love with you, and I’m a fucking idiot for letting you go. Will you give me another chance?”

I gasped. My heart floated in my chest. He was in love with me. Not calmly, as he usually did things, but madly. I held his eyes. I wanted to show every spike of emotion, laying bare my excitement, being vulnerable. I was done living in the past.

“I love you.” I took a step toward him. “I’ve missed you. So much it hurts. Can I kiss you?”

“God, yes.” He closed the rest of the distance between us, pulled me into his arms, and we kissed, for real this time, a tender, aching kiss that tried to make up for every hour that we’d been apart.

Standing on tiptoes, I sifted my hands through his hair. “I’m so happy you’re here,” I said.

I pressed my hips into his. A sexy growl sounded in his chest, and he deepened the kiss. He hoisted me up, and as I tightened my legs around his waist, locking my feet together, he backed me against the wall.

His face slanted to kiss me again. “And I’ve had two whole months to think about ways to make you even happier.”