That left Lilly and Alec alone. She shook her head, trying to make sense of the last few minutes. “Where were you?” she asked, knowing she sounded dazed.
“Coming after you. I could hear the conversation between the two of you, but I couldn’t find you in this fucking maze.” He looked frustrated and ticked off and completely out of patience, but he ran a gentle hand down her back. “Are you hurt?”
“You didn’t keep your promise to me.”
He hesitated a moment. “No.”
Frowning, she gazed up at him. “A man should keep his promises.”
His expression turned hard. “Not this man, not that promise.”
“Then I can’t trust—”
“Lilly,” he grabbed her shoulders and spun her to face him. “You can damn well trust me. You can trust me on this. I will always follow you because I will always have your back. Here, home, wherever.”
“Baby steps—”
“There’s not going to be any baby steps either, sugar. I was wrong to suggest it and it was wrong for you, too. What’s going to win you is the truth.” He sucked in a breath, then pinned her with his gaze. “I want everything. I want it all. I want it now.”
Her head jerked back.
“Listen, Lilly,” he said urgently. “Hear me out all the way.”
The pulse in her throat beat so hard and fast she found it difficult to swallow. “What?”
“I want everything from you. And in return I’m giving you my total commitment,” he said, then paused. “That is how much you are worth to me.”
Pressure built behind her eyes, her throat closed up tight. I’m worthless for a man like you, she’d told him, but he didn’t believe it.
“Remember how I said I might figure out what it would take for you to fall in love? I have, and that’s it. My total commitment, for however long I’m here on earth to promise it.”
She sniffed, understanding he meant no one knew how long they had to commit, to promise, to love, but he wasn’t going to hold back. She’d told herself the rich were different, that life and risk were somehow easier for them, but that wasn’t true at all. The Thatchers weren’t blessed, they were survivors, determined to reach for happiness, despite their experience with death.
“What if I don’t know how—”
“I’ll show you,” he said instantly. “And not because of how I was raised or who did the raising. But because I have a vision of what we can have in my heart and I’m going to share it with you. I’m going to make you believe in it. In us.”
“Us,” she echoed.
“I’m in love with you, Lilly.”
No one had ever said that to her before.
His hands moved to stroke her hair. “God, it feels good to say it. I love you.”
He searched her face and he must have seen something he liked there, because his expression softened. “Sugar…”
Us. Her hands clutched his biceps as warmth unfurled inside her, something that had been locked away behind her barbed-wire heart. It felt like hope.
Total commitment.
I’m in love with you.
“What if I can’t—”
“Sh.” He placed a finger on her mouth. “Women are the strongest, smartest creatures I know. Absolutely, you can.”
“Absolutely, I can,” she repeated, wanting it to be true. Wanting to move beyond a lifetime of emotional insecurity.
He took her face in his hands and thumbed away tears that she swore she’d never shed until meeting him. His forehead pressed to hers. “So take pity on a poor guy and make his dreams come true, why don’t you?”
And all that barbed wire was nothing against the soft look in Alec’s eyes and the tender tone of his voice. It fell away, leaving her heart to beat raucously in her chest, as untamed as the feelings that this man generated inside her.
“No more this is how Durands love,” she murmured, looking into his beautiful face, making her own promise, her own total commitment. “This is how Lilly loves.”
And going on her tiptoes, she kissed Alec.
Making all his dreams come true—and of course, every one of her own that she’d forever hidden away. Now, exposed to air and light and a man’s loving touch, they would grow beyond her wildest imaginings.
Monday morning, approximately two weeks later. Carol’s Coffee.
The bells on the doors of Carol’s tiny place jingled as a pair of early morning patrons entered. He was in a suit and tie, she in something similar, but a more feminine version, obviously. They both looked ready for the day, even before their caffeine fix.
The woman lingered by the case of baked goods while he came straight to the order counter, stating what they wanted even though they hadn’t changed their choices in the two years since she’d opened. Of course, until very recently they hadn’t come in together, missing each other by only minutes.
Carol didn’t know how they’d finally made a connection.
But there was a diamond engagement ring on her left finger and he wore the easy air of a man who spent his nights with the right woman in his bed.
He looked over at that woman now, his expression amused. “Lilly. Baby. Are you going to pick something or just stare in longing?”
“Chocolate croissant. And for rushing me, Alec,” she said in a teasing tone, “there’ll be no sharing with you.”
His arm slipped around her waist as she strolled to his side and he drew her close. Pressing an absent kiss to her temple, he reached inside his pocket for his wallet.
“Doesn’t matter. I’ve already got the very best thing all to myself,” he said, and completely missed the way his Lilly’s expression turned warm and sweet as he dug out a card.
True love, Carol thought on an appreciative sigh. She wondered where they’d found it.
# # #
Dear Reader:
Thank you! I hope you enjoyed the first book in the Heartbreak Hotel series. Lilly and Alec have moved past their past hurts and fears and are facing life together from now on. Just
