“She called you?” Claire wrenched herself free of David’s arm and faced him in horror. Even in her wickedest of dreams, she would never be able to imagine the tirade of threats Nik had probably leashed upon him. At least she’d only had David’s number and not Jake’s as well. “When? What did she say?”
Chuckling he coaxed Claire back down and wrapped his arms around her. “She said, and I quote, ‘David ‘shit-for-brains’ Hunter, who the hell do you think you are, asking Claire to move to Seattle with you?’ She followed that nice introduction with something largely inarticulate about Mr. Holland and his ‘home-wrecking’ marriage proposal, the Con Edison Tower, and Wednesday at noon, and I, of course, knew you had flown to Texas, so I came here to…” David paused, holding Claire with one hand so that he could rub his eyebrows. “Well, I came here to stop you from running off with him, and when I saw you looking so forlorn on this bench I assumed… I don’t know what I assumed. I let myself lose sight of why I was here to begin with. I’m sorry.”
“I’m glad you’re here. But I wish you would have trusted me to make the right choice, even if it took me a little while to get my heart together.”
David kissed her forehead and squeezed her against him. “Forgive me, Claire. You are right. It will never happen again.”
A few days later, Claire watched from her first-class window seat as the Seattle Space Needle came into view, its sharp tip pointing high into the Seattle skyline. From the seat beside her, David leaned against her shoulder, raising their clasped hands to press a gentle kiss against her folded fingers. “Welcome home, love,” he whispered, hiding a smile behind their hands.
Claire turned to him, letting her eyes wander over the dark unkempt waves of his hair that matched the eyebrows that arched over his deep, sinking eyes. She’d convinced him not to shave for the last few days in New York, and the careless shadow of stubble covered the lower half of his face. He’d even relented and worn a pair of blue jeans and a handsome black sweater for their trip back to the west coast. Between his bristly chin and the wide grin that spread across his face as he looked at her, David looked positively carefree and joyful in the seat next to her, so much changed though still the same. She supposed they both were.
Claire threw her arms around his neck. She kissed him with everything she had. Love did feel like home and inside Davie’s arms was the home she’d been waiting for all along.
About the Author
Alyse Miller is an award-winning author of contemporary and new adult romance. She lives in New York and can often be found writing in dimly lit coffee shops while drinking chai tea. Member RWA.
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