“I can’t believe it …” She looked up at him with those luminous eyes of hers. “Three months. What have you been doing?”
“A lot,” he said. “I told you about that shelter, right? Well, they had tons of books and a computer. Within a month I’d read every single book there and I became proficient at ‘Google-fu.’” She laughed. “The shelter was so run down, and they needed so many things. I guess you could say I put my business experience to use. I helped them get more donors, and then I invested that money for them so they could buy more beds, clothing, and food for the residents.”
“Wow,” she said. “You have been busy.”
He smiled. “I had to do something while I was waiting for you.” But truth be told, he enjoyed his time at the shelter. Helping other people instead of making himself rich brought out a different feeling in him. The director was so happy that he gave Reed a job managing their finances and his own apartment at the shelter since he refused a salary because the residents needed every bit of money they could scrounge up. “Are you disappointed that I’m just a ‘mister’ and not a duke anymore?”
She chuckled. “Like I care about that. I can’t believe you’re here!” Reaching up, she ran her fingers through his thick beard. “All this time …” Her expression changed.
“What is it, love?”
“It’s been three months,” she said. “And you’ve probably experienced so many things. Maybe you might even want to explore more about what this world has to offer—”
“I have.” He covered her hands with his. “This is a wonderful, crazy world, and I know I’ve only seen a small portion of it. But, don’t you know I’ve been waiting for you to come back to me? Do you know how hard it was not to approach you all this time?” He planted a kiss on each palm.
“You have changed,” she declared. “I thought I saw it earlier tonight. I couldn’t put my finger on it but … Reed, you seem happy. Really, genuinely happy.”
Her words struck him. “I am,” he realized. “I truly am happy. Happy you’re here, but also, happy with myself.” Being independent and having to start from scratch here had given him a purpose. “And I have you to thank for that. I think … I think I wanted to be better for you. To be worthy of you.” He planted a kiss on her mouth to stop her from protesting. “All this time, I’ve been so bitter and cold because of what happened with Joanna.”
“I overheard your grandmother talk about her,” she confessed. “I hope you don’t mind.”
His chest ached, thinking of Grandmama. Some nights, he allowed himself to grieve for the loss of his family, but he knew he couldn’t focus on that. They would have wanted him to be whole and happy for the time when Elise came back. “You were meant to be mine, Elise.”
“Reed,” she began. “I thought I wasn’t meant to be with anyone.” She told him about her former best friend, and his heart ached for her. How lonely and sad she must have been, not being able to touch anyone. “And then I met you and I fell in love … I came to you last night because I thought it was the last time I would see you.”
It was strange that for her, it was only last night, while it had been months for him. He held her tighter. “I’m here now, love. And I will love you and our pup.” he slid a hand down to her belly, where he was certain that life grew, one that was half her and half him. “I loved you two hundred years ago, I love you now, and I will love you two hundred years from now.”
She moved her head up to kiss him, her lips moving over his in a sensuous caress. “I love you, Reed. In any lifetime, I will love you.”
Despite the loss he had experienced, Reed’s heart had never felt fuller than at this moment. And he had this brave, beautiful woman who’d traveled through time to banish the darkness and numbness from his life to thank for that. Inside him, his wolf snorted haughtily, and for once, he conceded to the animal. You’re right, he told his inner wolf. All this time, you were right.
Epilogue
A few months later …
“Are you all right, love?” Elise asked as she slipped her fingers through Reed’s, her shiny white gold wedding ring a stark contrast to his tanned skin.
“I’m fine,” he said through gritted teeth. “This gets easier, doesn’t it?”
She chuckled. “Not until you’ve done it a few times. Have you changed your mind—”
“No, I—” He stopped when the lights dimmed. “Besides, it’s too late to call your father now to ask to borrow the jet.”
She patted his hand. “You’ll be fine. We’ll be fine.”
“Right.” He looked straight ahead at the back of the seat in front of him. “We’re only inside a metal tube that’s about to hurtle across the sky, ten thousand feet in the air. What could go wrong?”
Rolling her eyes, she reminded him, “You were the one who wanted to fly commercial.”
“I was told it was an experience.”
“You’ll do great.” She felt his fingers grip hers tighter as the airplane picked up speed for takeoff. “Just breathe.”
Most people would have laughed at Reed being so anxious at flying in an airplane, but this was only his second flight ever. The first was in her father’s company jet when he finally moved to San Francisco about a month after their reunion. Reed had been reluctant to leave New York because of his job at the shelter, but Elise lived in California. One of them had to move and he was the more flexible of them both. So, after
