Page 64 of Unconventionally, Elle

Now

A few months later, I was in New York for my meeting with Jordan, and we were planning to review the various proposals for my manuscript since multiple publishers were bidding on it.

Louie was spending the week with his guncles Finn and Jackson, and I was spending mine with Jude.

Emma also texted me a few weeks ago to tell me Barrett had welcomed his baby boy.

Emma: I hope you don't mind me filling you in, but I thought you should know.

Me: Thanks, Em. Seriously. I'm happy for him, and if he wants to be a dad as badly as he said he did, then I'm over-the-moon excited he gets to do that.

Emma: He never deserved you, Elle. I'm so happy we are still friends.

As much as I loved Boston, I loved New York too. A part of me had always wanted to come home, even if August in New York was a bit steamy.

I walked by the Bethesda Fountain and embraced the present moment. The wind was delicate against my face, and I felt like there was only one person in my life who I wanted to be with at this very moment. I called Jude.

"Hey, I'm in the park. The fountain. Can you meet me?"

"Be right there."

His office wasn't far, and he'd been grabbing a quick bite from a hot dog stand when I called. We hadn't made anything official, but it was late August and we'd been dating each other for a few months now. I was standing on the edge of the fountain when he strolled up to me.

"Elle, what the hell are you doing?" he teased. He was wearing navy-blue slacks and the Hugo Boss shoes I'd bought for him at Canal Place in New Orleans. His forest-green polo was slim fit and made the golden flecks in his amber eyes stand out.

"I choose me, Jude. I've had to choose me to become a better version of myself and to discover what it was I truly wanted out of my life."

His head tilted. I could see his mind working, and he shook his head and ran his hand through the back of his sun-kissed hair. "Elle, what is this? I..."

I raised my voice. "But I also choose you."

He stopped talking, his eyes went wide, and his head shot right back up. "What did you say?"

"I said, 'I also choose you,' Jude. I choose us. If you'll have me." I was holding my breath, praying I hadn't read him--us--wrong.

A little crowd had started to form around us--some tourists, a few runners--and people had taken out their phones to record.

This is going to be embarrassing as fuck if he rejects me , I thought while holding my smile.

He hadn't responded yet, and I could hear murmuring. His ears began to turn red as he looked around at all the bystanders.

Jude was a body length away from me; he was close. I could smell the citrus from his cologne. I could feel his attention now directed only at me. I saw his upper lip slowly rise, and I knew he had me.

I was very aware that I was standing on the edge of the fountain and that his arms were slowly opening. I barely whispered it, but he heard me. "Will you catch me?" I said as I leaned forward.

It was us. Back on that balcony, back in that moment. Except this time, I wasn't lost and it wasn't dark. Pure light radiated around me. My Jude. He opened his arms wider. "Let me catch you."

This time I didn't fall, I jumped right into his outstretched arms.

The crowd broke out into applause. While slightly embarrassing, it was also endearing. They were rooting for us too.

Jude placed me down in front of him, our bodies vibrating with adrenaline and happiness.

"It was always you and me, wasn't it?" I asked, placing both my hands on his chest and leaning into his body. "At least, it's what I've come to think," I said as I lifted my face and he tilted his chin.

Our noses touched and both of us smiled, our lips almost brushing.

His breath went shallow. "Are you mine?" he asked, closing his eyes and pressing his forehead to mine.

"I'm finally yours," I whispered and pulled him into a deep, tender kiss.