His eyes softened as he looked at her. “Apparently not.”
She couldn’t help herself, and allowed a full smile. “You’re lucky Babs broke down. I’d have been really pissed off at you if I didn’t know you were coming back.”
“Well,” he said, tilting his head to one side as his arms snaked around her waist. “How could I stay away?”
He leaned down and kissed her lightly on the lips, then pulled back.
“No,” Tessa whined, leaning into him, “that was good. I was liking that.”
“Come on,” he said, taking her hand and leading her down the stairs. At the bottom, he cut to the right, toward her bedroom.
“I like the way you think,” she said. Then he opened the door and let her in.
“Finn,” she whispered as she looked around the room. She clasped her hand over her mouth and her eyes filled with tears as she felt his arms wrap around her waist from behind.
Daisies. Pink, orange, yellow, blue. Everywhere. On her dresser. Sprinkled over her bed. Sitting in a vase on her nightstand.
“I wanted a thousand of them,” he said, “but Margie could only get a hundred and fifty on such short notice.”
She twirled in his arms to face him, biting her lip to stop from crying.
“I love them,” she said.
He kissed her on the cheek and then held up one index finger. “But wait, there’s more.”
He ducked around her to the corner of the room, whisked some daisies off a drape cloth that he pulled back to reveal seven cans of wall paint.
“I got a lighter shade of yellow,” he said, “but if you want something brighter, we can go back.”
She swiped at her eyes and blinked hard. “It’s perfect,” she said, without looking at the paint.
Finn let out a sigh of relief. “Whew! If I had to fish that ring out of the paint—”
“What?” She raced past him to the paint cans. “You put the ring in the paint?”
She heard him laughing behind her and looked up to see him holding a small black velvet box.
“No,” he said. “I’m stupid, but I’m not that stupid.”
He held out his hand to her, and she took it, letting him pull her up. She was glad for the help because her legs suddenly felt very wobbly. She’d known it was coming. Babs had told her. But still, Dermot Finnegan was standing in front of her, promising forever. It took some getting used to.
She reached for the box and pulled it open and ...
“Oh my God,” she breathed. It was gorgeous. Platinum, with a beautiful round diamond sparkling in the center. Finn plucked it out of the box. He looked at her, and for once, his expression was completely sincere.
She liked that.
“I don’t know how to ask you this,” he said.
She smiled and felt her eyes tearing up. This is it, she thought. This is what I want, what I’ve always wanted. I’m finally going to have it.
“I know I don’t have a great track record,” he said finally. “And I know I’ve been a total idiot. But if you give me this one chance, I’ll spend the rest of my life making sure you don’t regret it.”
“I won’t regret it,” she said, feeling a tear plop down her face. He raised a finger to her cheek and whisked it away.
“Tessa Scuderi, will you—?”
“Oh, yeah,” she said, sniffing as she cut him off. “You bet I will.”
He smiled and slid the ring onto her finger. Gently, he leaned down and kissed her, and things were just beginning to get interesting when they were interrupted by a barking at the door. They broke the kiss and turned to see Wallace running toward them. The dog jumped up on Tessa’s legs, and she bent down and scratched his ears.
“Guess I should have warned you,” Finn said. “Wallace and I seem to be a package deal these days.”
“I can live with that,” she said, standing up. Finn wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her in to him, lowering her down into her bed of daisies.
Yep, she thought as his lips grazed her collarbone, I can definitely live with this.
The End
Hi, you!
Thanks for reading my book! If you enjoyed it, I have some others you might like:
Time Off For Good Behavior
Maybe Baby
Ex And The Single Girl
A Little Ray Of Sunshine
The Fortune Quilt
You can find them all on Amazon, or stop by my website at LaniDianeRich.com.
Thanks again!
- Lani
The Comeback Kiss Page 26