Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 84000 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84000 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
I pick up my speed, desperate to get to the corner of his street so I can let go and… miss him.
I scrub my hands over my face and start to run toward the park. I need space. The tears are threatening to fall, and I just need to be far enough away so I don’t crumble where he might see me.
“Sophia!”
I stop and swallow, not daring to turn around.
“Sophia,” Worth says, quieter now that he’s only a few feet away.
I press my gloved hands over my face, willing myself not to cry. Deep breath in, deep breath out. I lower my arms and turn to face him. “Hi.” I’m trying to sound breezy, but I know my voice sounds like splintered glass. I’m about to fall apart and I don’t want him to witness it because I know he’ll feel bad. That’s the last thing I want.
He looks panicked. “Sophia,” he says again. His voice is ragged and desperate. “Why did you come?”
“I… I… I… To wish you merry Christmas Eve.”
He shakes his head. “No, you didn’t.” His gaze locks on to mine and I’m helpless. I can’t run from him anymore. I don’t want to.
“I wanted to see you,” I confess.
He nods, encouraging me to say more.
“Who was the woman at the door?” I ask. I have no right to expect Worth to be alone, but that doesn’t stop me hoping.
He frowns and I hold my breath, steeling myself for his reply. “Who? Eira?”
Something in my expression—maybe the jealousy oozing out of my pores—must give me away, because he continues, “The one asking whether you were a graffiti artist was Efa’s sister. She’s over for the holidays. With her husband, Dax. They’re both here. Efa wanted to throw a Christmas Eve dinner at the brownstone.” He takes a step toward me. “Of course there’s no other woman, Sophia.”
Relief washes over me.
“There’ll never be anyone but you for me.”
My eyes flutter shut as I take in his words.
“You never have to concern yourself with that. I’m yours. Forever.”
I swallow past the lump of hope and exhaustion gathered in my throat. “Worth,” I say. I try and blink away the tears in my eyes. “I know you’re not my father. I know I can trust you.”
He groans out a sigh. “Yes,” he says. “Always.”
I nod and take a step toward him. “I shouldn’t have walked out on you.”
“I understand why you did. I get it, Sophia.”
I shake my head. “You can understand—because that’s the man you are—but it’s still not okay. I can’t run when things get scary. That’s not what trust is. That’s not what love is.”
“Love?” he asks.
“I love you,” I whisper. He closes his eyes for one second, then two, like he’s feeling the words trail over his body. “I won’t do it again.”
He fixes me with his gaze. “I won’t survive if you do.”
My chest tightens. I can see the hurt in his eyes, the pain in his expression.
“I’m sorry.” I step forward and press my palm to his chest. He feels solid, like one of the trees standing tall and steady in the Catskills. He feels like shelter. Like home. “I’m truly sorry.”
He circles me with his strong arms and pulls me closer. I sink into his warm body and let myself go. Being here with him, anywhere with him, feels like exactly where I should be. Cincinnati isn’t home—not anymore. It’s only a place I used to live. It’s my history. My present and future are with Worth, wherever that might be.
“So you’re back for good,” he says, like he’s turning the words over on his tongue to see how they taste.
I tilt my chin up to look at him. “If you’ll have me,” I say. “For as long as you’ll be my husband and my hero.”
“That’s forever, then.” A smile curls at the edge of his mouth.
“I want it to be forever with you, Worth. You’re an incredible man and I’m lucky just to know you. I’m the luckiest person alive to be married to you.” I gasp. “I signed those papers.” I look up, searching his face.
“I sent them to my lawyer,” he says. “We’ll figure it out.”
“But what if we’re not married?” I ask.
“Then we’ll do it all over again. I’d marry you every day for the rest of my life if I could.”
I pull off my gloves, lift up on tiptoes and cup his face in my hands, pulling him down to meet me in a kiss. It’s like the Fourth of July inside my body as his touch lights up every part of me.
His hands hold the back of my neck and he deepens the kiss. My knees weaken and my heart lifts in my chest like it might float away at any moment. It feels as if we’re in a bubble, just the two of us. It doesn’t matter where we are; if I’m with Worth, I’m where I’m meant to be.