Chapter 46
PAIGE
“Are you okay?” Warbled words rush through my ears as if I’m underwater. “Ms. Bradshaw?” Someone shakes me out of my daydream, adrenaline flooding my body.
“He loves me?” I ask on a gasp, my feet firmly glued to the floor.
“Did you not know?” Mrs. Parker counters, sounding amused.
“I… I… I didn’t.” I blink rapidly, fully coming out of the shock of his confession. “Can we reschedule?” I have somewhere I need to be.
“You should go after him,” Mr. Parker suggests.
“I should.”
“So, what are you waiting for?” Mrs. Parker’s hand lands firmly on my shoulder. “Go.”
A wide grin spreads across my face, causing my cheeks to ache from the stretch. “I’ll call you!” This may be unprofessional, but I don’t care. He loves me.
I’m already half-running in my heels, barely keeping my balance as I bolt out of the conference room, my heart pounding so hard, my body feels like it’s vibrating.
I frantically scan the corridor and realize he’s already gone. Panic shoots through me as adrenaline floods my veins, and I slam the elevator button on the wall, cursing when the display shows it’s stuck on the top floor.
“Screw it.” I slam through the fire escape door and take the stairs two at a time, my heels clattering, sounding like gunshots against the concrete.
As I burst onto the street, the warm San Francisco sun hits me, blinding my sight, and I have to use my hand to shade my eyes. Up and down the street, my eyes dart through the midday crowd, searching…
There.
That familiar head of hair, fingers combing through it the way he always does.
“Max, wait!” I call, my voice breaking, as I sprint after him through the thrumming chaos of Howard Street, weaving between suits and tourists, refusing to let him slip away. “Max!” I shout again, raising my voice even louder.
Through the crowd of bobbing heads, I catch a glimpse of him again, and to my shock, he turns around.
Then I’m running, shoving past annoyed people, ignoring their angry curse words at me as I desperately push my way through.
Max starts walking toward me, hesitant at first, then breaks into his own run, and we collide somewhere in the middle of the sidewalk, chest-to-chest, breathless.
I throw my arms around his neck, barely noticing his briefcase crashing down onto my foot. It doesn’t matter; none of it matters.
“I love you,” I blurt out, words tumbling over each other, unstoppable. “I love you so much.”
An irresistibly devastating grin curves his lips.
I cast my mind back to all the times he’s looked at me in the same way. He’s so devilishly handsome and flawless. He’s caring, tender, and generous. He’s the whole package.
“I’m not perfect,” I tell him. “I make mistakes, say things sometimes that I shouldn’t, I don’t listen when I should, but the biggest mistake I ever made was not telling you how I feel about you.”
“I’ve missed you.” His ocean eyes lock onto mine. Still smiling brightly, full of triumph, he says again, “I love you, Paige.”
I reach up and rake my fingers through his perfectly groomed locks that I will never get bored of touching as the city around us moves in a blur, like we are in our very own time tunnel.
“You are everything to me, Paige, and I love Alfie.” His hand cups my face.
My eyes fill with tears of happiness. “I know you do. I felt it and I saw it with my own eyes. The way you took care of him for me, and the adoption.” I shake my head in awe at what he did. “I will never be able to thank you.”
“I think I might have an idea.” He winks cheekily at me, making my heart fill with contentment and happiness.
There’s my beautiful man.
He dips his head and kisses me, softly at first, but it’s been weeks since we last kissed, and I’ve missed him. I’m done waiting. My tongue plunges into his mouth with shameless greed.
Our kiss is messy, frantic, downright filthy, desperate, and hungry. And God, it’s absolutely perfect. The way his rough beard tickles my chin has memories flooding my brain of every time we’ve done this.
Together we soar, reconnecting in the best way possible as our illicit kiss risks getting us arrested for indecent behavior.
He grins against my lips once more. “I love you, baby.”
“It’s Bunny to you, Mr. Fox.” I know he did that on purpose. But how I’ve missed that nickname and want to hear him repeat it.
“I think I’ve loved you since the first night at The Velvet Rooms,” he says, his voice steady and confident. “I never meant to hurt you, and every day I’ve regretted what I did.”
“It’s in the past, Max. I messed up too, and I’m sorry.”
“You have nothing to apologize for.”
I’m about to argue with him, then I remember my new rule. Listen.
“Every single day I hoped we’d find a way back to each other, Paige. I just didn’t know how. But I love you, so much. I can’t bear another day without you.”
With his hypnotizing mouth, he kisses me again. It’s even better than I remember, blowing every one of my brain cells into smithereens because the way he kisses me turns my mind to goo.
“What are you doing this afternoon?” I ask completely breathless, already canceling all my meetings for the rest of the day.
“You.”
That’s the most perfect answer I could ever hear.