“Natalie and Liam seemed happy with her.”
“Of course. They’re ecstatic,” Colleen murmured. The last thing she wanted was to have a casual conversation with him, but she was having difficulty finding the words. She started when he reached out and touched her cheek. Their gazes met.
“I’m sorry,” he said.
“No. I’m sorry,” she said in a rush. “I’m the one who got so defensive.”
“I said it all wrong that afternoon.”
“You said it very right tonight, during the toast.”
“I meant it, every word. You, more than anything, changed my mind about the possibility of falling so hard and fast,” he murmured. He moved his hand and stroked her hair, making her scalp tingle with excitement. He stepped closer, and Colleen breathed in his scent. Tears burned her eyelids at the familiar, cherished smell of clean skin, spice and Eric.
“That day when I dropped you off, I was only trying to tell you that I felt guilty for my original intention, where you were concerned. The way I feel about you now is nothing like what I felt then. It’s true, I initially was interested in you for more…surface reasons, but that doesn’t mean a guy can’t change his mind, does it?”
“No. It doesn’t.”
He placed his hands on both sides of her jaw. “I would never hurt you,” he said with fervent solemnity. “I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I promise I’ll be faithful.”
She shook her head, and tears spilled out of her eyes. How had he known that this was at the very heart of her doubt and fear?
“I believe you,” she said, meaning it with all her heart.
“I love you,” he said intently next to her mouth. “I love your kids. I love the whole package. Tell me what you said in the car the other day was true.”
“I said a good many things I wish you’d forget,” Colleen said in a trembling voice, “but if you mean the part where I said I’d fallen in love with you, that part couldn’t have been truer.”
His grin managed to be tender and triumphant at once. Colleen sighed when he pressed his long, hard body against hers. “I’ve been falling in love with you ever since Brendan’s surgery. No…since Sunset Beach, even if I didn’t recognize the symptoms then. If you’d have let me near you, I probably would have begun this delicate procedure a long time ago.”
Colleen laughed, and more tears of happiness spilled down her cheeks, wetting his fingers. “That would have been far too easy.”
“Maybe so,” he said quietly, his mouth just inches from hers. “Our way of doing things was pretty damn perfect.”
“At least it wasn’t a boring romance,” she whispered, brushing her lips against his.
“Life with you is never going to be boring,” Eric muttered before he dipped his head, claiming Colleen utterly and completely with a searing kiss.
* * * * *