Epilogue
Evelyn
Night of the engagement party…
The rooftop terrace is quiet.
Blissfully so.
Below, the penthouse hums with laughter and clinking glasses as music pulses low and the celebration rolls on.
But up here?
It’s just me, the Chicago skyline, and the hush of an autumn breeze brushing against my skin. The night is unusually warm, a small gift this late in the season. One of the last, if I had to guess.
I move to the ledge that surrounds the rooftop, my heels clicking against the stone, and draw in a slow breath scented with the greenery that lines the terrace.
Potted trees, climbing ivy, and bursts of seasonal blooms. The city sprawls before me, a sea of shimmering lights that stretch endlessly into the distance.
It’s only in this stillness that the tension knotted within me begins to loosen.
When the elevator chimes behind me, my breath stalls. I don’t need to turn to know who it is. My spine goes rigid as my shoulders tighten instinctively. Hugh Landry steps out of the elevator and into my stolen peace.
No matter where I go, he finds me.
Lately, it feels more deliberate.
He doesn’t speak, just moves toward me with slow, measured steps until his presence looms at my back. Tall, broad, and unapologetically masculine. Living with him has been a test of willpower I never signed up for. Sharing a home with Hugh should be simple.
It’s turned out to be anything but.
Not when I’ve seen him barefoot, hair mussed from sleep, skin still damp from the shower with a towel slung low around his hips. I close my eyes, banishing the image before it can dig in deeper and do more damage.
There’s a shift of fabric as he stops behind me.
His low voice is dangerously close to my ear. “I thought I’d find you up here.”
I keep my lips pressed together, refusing to give him the satisfaction of a reply.
He edges close enough for his body heat to seep into my skin. Near enough that my breathing turns uneven despite my best efforts.
“Funny thing,” he says, voice laced with humor. “For a woman who claims she can’t stand me, you keep ending up in all the places I want to be.”
His nose grazes the curve of my cheek before tracing the line of my jaw.
I fight the shiver threatening to betray me, and lose.
“You said,” I whisper, “you wouldn’t touch me unless I begged you to.”
His chuckle is rich and warm as it slides down my spine like silk. “You’re right. I did.”
“That will never happen,” I add quickly, though it sounds more like a warning to myself than to him.
“That’s all right.” His voice is even closer now, pitched low. “I’ve waited years for this. If I have to wait a little longer, I will. You’re worth it.”
He steps closer, resting one large hand on the ledge, just an inch from mine.
My fingers curl in reflex, but I refuse to move.
Tension buzzes in the air as my gaze drops to the sliver of space between our hands.
“You still wear the same jasmine perfume,” he murmurs.
“Yes,” I reply tightly, surprised and a little unsettled that he would remember.
He leans in, his breath feathering across my neck. “It always takes me back to the summers at the lake and the first time you kissed me.”
“You were the one who kissed me first,” I fire back without thinking.
His laugh is low and rough. “You’re probably right about that. Even then, I couldn’t get you out of my head. That hasn’t changed in all these years.”
I freeze. “Hugh…”
“I remember every second we spent together, Evie,” he says. “I know mistakes were made, but it’s not too late for us to get our happily ever after.”
My pulse riots dangerously beneath my skin.
“I look at those kids in there,” he continues, “and I’m envious. They’re not afraid to put themselves out there or take a chance on love.”
“Love?” I swallow. “I think you might be delusional.”
“Not at all,” he says simply. “What I am, though, is patient.”
I steel myself before turning to face him. “If you’re hoping I’ve forgotten what happened after that summer—”
“There’s no forgetting,” he cuts in quietly, his gaze sharp and unyielding. “If I could go back and redo it all, I would in an instant. There were people who didn’t want us together, and I let them win. I let them take away the one pure thing in my life. That’s a regret I’ll carry with me forever.”
“No,” I agree quietly. “There’s no rewriting history. As much as either of us might wish it were possible.”
A hint of sadness pricks me unexpectedly, but I shove the emotion aside before it can take root.
“I know,” he says. “Trust me, I do.”
Just when I consider stepping away and leaving this dangerous closeness behind, he says, “If I could touch you, I’d start right here.”
His finger hovers above my bare shoulder, close enough for the heat of him to ghost across my skin. Even though he doesn’t make contact, my body reacts all the same.
“I’d trace every inch of you,” he continues, “until you forgot about everything except this very moment.”
I freeze, pulse stuttering, as his gaze falls to my parted lips. For one reckless, terrifying second, I want to close the distance between us. I want to feel his mouth on mine, coaxing me into forgetting the past. Every reason and every scar that once tore us apart.
Instead, I retreat, taking a shaky step back until the railing presses into my spine. “Don’t.”
“I didn’t break the rules,” he says after a beat. “As much as I wanted to.”
Every nerve ending sparks to life as I lift my chin. “Forcing me to move in with you was a disastrous idea.”
“Maybe,” he admits, eyes locked on mine. “But it was my call to make. And you’re running out of reasons to keep pretending you don’t still have feelings for me.”
I hate that he’s right.
Worse, I hate that my skin tingles where his breath touched it, and that I can still smell his cedar and warmed amber cologne. And that even now, I want more.
He steps back at last, giving me the space I desperately need but don’t actually want.
And then, just before he turns away, he says, “You need to understand something, Evie. I’m not going anywhere.”
I watch him walk away as my pulse continues to race and heat blooms under my skin. Every piece of me is at war with the only part that matters.
The one that still wants him.
Thank you so much for reading Hold Me Tight!