by BK Rivers
“You’re here, you’re here, you’re here!” I squeal again as she climbs out of the car. We wrap each other in tight hugs and head inside the house. I quickly give her the tour and try to hide how sad I am about leaving this house and moving into a small apartment. Reggie makes herself comfortable in the guest room and I grab the outfit I plan to change into later. Once we have all our things collected, we jog downstairs just as the doorbell rings. I glance at Reggie and we both shrug our shoulders.
I open the door to see a man holding a vase of gorgeous flowers in an array of pinks, plums, and deep purples.
The man glances at the paper in his hand. “Stacey Goodwin?” he asks. I nod, unable to contain the smile on my face. “These are for you.” He hands me the vase and turns to leave. I close the door, rush them into the kitchen, and pull the card from the plastic holder.
Stacey,
I wanted to help you celebrate your birthday so please accept these flowers as my gift and apology. I miss you…always.
Yours,
Ace
Reggie reads over my shoulder and sags against me. “Oh, Stacey. He does love you,” she says, squeezing around my waist in a hug. A tear slips down my cheek but I swipe it away before one can turn into two.
“You’re wrong,” I argue. “Let’s get out of here.” I lay the card on the counter, steal one last glance at the beautiful flowers, and wonder for the millionth time if I’m the one who is wrong.
After four hours at the spa, I’m relaxed, thoroughly massaged, and ready to celebrate my birthday with renewed vigor. Taking a cue from Ellery, I had my stylist add some streaks of plum to my hair, giving it a rich, glossy sheen. I love it, and when I shimmy into my birthday dress, I feel amazing.
Take that, Ace Steele. Look what you are missing out on.
Reggie and I meet up with Lucy and Ellery at Giovanni’s and eat an amazing dinner of pastas and salads. Our waiter brings out a decadent slice of chocolate cake for my birthday and the four of us moan our way through the giant piece. Our cab arrives and takes us to the club where we dance and drink girly drinks until we’re all seeing double.
“This is the best birthday ever,” I say, hugging my three friends. I’m having the best time and haven’t thought of Ace since leaving the spa. Shit, except now I’m thinking about Ace. And his lips. On mine. Heat spreads through my body as the memories of his touch flood my mind. Shaking my head to clear my thoughts, the girls and I get another drink and hit the dance floor again. Two hours later, I’m sliding into a cab with Reggie, who is holding my head in her lap. I’m a sappy drunk and tonight is no exception. I keep telling her how much I love her and miss hanging out with her. She runs her fingers through my hair, letting me vent.
“I miss Ace, even being friends with him is better than nothing. But I love him and he doesn’t love me. He won’t ever love me and I hate being that girl who gets depressed over a guy. I don’t like myself like this.”
“Have you given him a chance to talk with you? Maybe he’s changed his mind,” Reggie says, patting my shoulder. “He sent you flowers for your birthday and said he was sorry.”
“Sorry for what, though? For leading me on? Breaking my heart? Sleeping with me?” The cab starts to spin and I make myself sit up before I lose my dinner. My phone buzzes in my purse, indicating a text. I pull out my phone and try to focus on the blurry words.
“It’s from Ace,” I say, feeling my heart plummet to my feet. “But I can’t read it. Will you read it for me?”
Reggie opens the text and gasps, but tries to hide it.
“What does it say? Is it bad?” I ask, biting the inside of my cheek.
“He’s selling the house and needs you out as soon as possible.” Reggie moves to return my phone but I shake my head. “You want me to reply?” I nod and tell her what to type.
Me: Okay. How long do I have?
Ace: A week.
“A week?” I say, groaning while laying my head against the back of the seat. “Where am I going to go? What am I going to do with all my stuff?”
“You can stay with us until your apartment is ready,” Reggie offers. I know I’m welcome, but after making the drive from her house to work for those days I did, I don’t want to do it again.
I shake my head and have her send my reply to Ace. If he wants me out in a week, I’ll be out. If I have to stay in a hotel for a week and a half, then so be it. He’s officially kicking me to the curb and it burns like the end of a red-hot poker being shoved through my chest.
Chapter 40
Ace
I’m a first-class jerk asking her to move out of the house so quickly, but I have ulterior motives. And I’m not sure I’ve ever been more nervous in my entire life. The butterflies in my stomach have butterflies and they’re performing a circus act.
What if she won’t talk to me?
What if I’ve hurt her too much and am too late?
No. I refuse to let her slip away from me, not after my head finally caught up to my heart. I need Stacey like the air I breathe. She’s the light in the darkness pulling me from self-destruction. She tore down my walls only to rebuild them with her inside, keeping me safe and showing me love.
And now I’m going to work my ass off to be worthy of her love, hopefully for the rest of our lives.
Knowing Stacey loves Thai food, I stop by the best place in Warner and order food to go. As I drive back toward the bookstore, my hands are sweating on the steering wheel and my heart is pounding heavily in my chest. It feels like each beat is followed by a bowling ball slamming against my ribs. I’m no longer afraid of my feelings for her, in fact, since visiting the cemetery, everything has become clearer, as if the fog has lifted and the sun now shines around me. I’ve lived in misery, guilt, and denial for so long that I now feel amazing and free.
In the parking lot beside the bookstore, I take a few deep breaths, will my heart to slow down, and my palms to stop sweating.
“It’s now or never,” I say to myself, gathering the to-go bag, and step out of the SUV into the brisk winter air. I called earlier to make sure Stacey was coming in since yesterday was her birthday and I had dropped the bomb on her about selling the house. I can only imagine how pissed she’s going to be when I show up out of the blue.
I blow out the breath I held from the SUV to the door and push it open. The jingling bell above the door alerts Stacey and the other girl working here of my arrival. Both heads turn my way and Stacey’s eyes widen in shock and her jaw drops, though it closes quickly. She steps around the counter, crossing to me quickly. Her steps are hurried and her arms are folded tightly across her chest.
A smile works its way over my face as I take in the sight of her. She’s wearing the outfit I first saw her in when we met in July—a simple pair of worn jeans with holes in the thighs revealing her creamy white skin and a white, relaxed peasant top. She’s added some deep purple streaks to her hair, adding even more edge to her already feisty self.
“You look…damn, you look good,” I say as she stands in front of me, peaches and lilies surrounding me like an embrace.
“What are you doing here, Ace?” she asks, cocking her leg in irritation.
I hold up the bag containing the Thai food. “I brought you lunch. I was hoping we could talk while we eat.” She glances at the to-go bag and then turns her focus back on me. “It’s Thai…your favorite.”
A flush washes over her cheeks, sparking a longing within me. Please let her still love me, because if she’s moved on, it’s going to crush me.
“I’m only agreeing to this because I have a hangover from hell and I’m starving,” she says, dragging me toward the rear of the building. She opens a door to reveal a small table and four chairs, a sink, and an ancient coffeemaker sitting on the small counter. “Did you come to ask me to be out sooner? Because I think a week is pushing it. You realize you’re forcing me to get a hotel room and put my things in storage for twelve days, right?”
Stacey sits on one of the metal
folding chairs and points to the one across the table, the one farthest from her. Ignoring her request, I take the seat right next to her and begin to pull out each container and the utensil packs.
“It’s time for me to sell the house and put the past behind me,” I say, handing her a fork. She takes it from me, careful to keep our fingers from touching. This distance between us is worse than actual miles because if she’d let me, I would brush the hair off her shoulder, trace the line of her jaw with my fingertips, and cover her lips with mine.
“What caused the sudden change of heart?” she asks, opening the container of beef panang. The rich scents of peanuts and coconut milk hover between us like an invisible wall I need to find a way to break through. Do I lead with the complete truth or will it scare her away? Hell, I’m all in and she needs to know.
“You did,” I say, my eyes never leaving hers. She doesn’t react in any way except to dump some sticky white rice into the panang and take a bite. Her eyes fall to the food and then close as she moans her appreciation of the meal.
“I needed this so much,” she says, and then takes another bite. I don’t know if she’s taking her time to consider my words or if she’s gearing up to let me have it. Either way, my stomach is knotted so tight there is no way I can eat anything.
“You wanted to talk, Ace. So talk. What more could you possibly have to say?” And there’s the fire I’ve come to love in her.
“I need you to listen,” I say, scooting my chair closer to hers. My knees connect with her thighs just like they did back on the airplane all those months ago. The connection I felt toward her then is still present now, however it’s magnified tenfold. I know what it’s like now to have her love, to touch her and to kiss her, and I don’t ever want another day to pass without being near her.
“Fine, I’ll listen.” She opens another container to find the order of chicken pad thai topped with extra crushed peanuts—just the way she likes it. “Why did you get all of my favorite foods?” She glances at my fork sitting on the table and the lack of food in front of me. “And why aren’t you eating?”
“Doesn’t matter,” I say, shrugging my shoulders. “What matters is that after five…no, six years, someone has finally broken through the shell I created around my heart. She found her way through the shield, loved me despite all my flaws and the guilt I was harboring. I can honestly say that this woman makes me a better man, and I don’t want to spend another day without her.”
Stacey hasn’t moved, not even a muscle. Her eyes are misty and wide, and her chin is trembling as though she’s on the verge of tears.
“Why are you here, Ace? I don’t want to know these things about you,” she says, taking her eyes off me. “About her,” she whispers as twin tears slip down her cheeks.
I slide off the chair and kneel in front of her, take her hands in mine, and press my lips to her forehead. “I love you, Stacey Goodwin. I was afraid of the feelings I had for you, and when I told you I wouldn’t love you…I lied. I already loved you but was ashamed and felt like I was betraying Marley.” She lifts her chin, pulls her bottom lip between her teeth, and closes her eyes, letting more tears glide across her smooth skin. I release her hands and brush the tears away with the pads of my thumbs, cupping her face in my hands.
“Can you forgive me for being an idiot? I am serious when I say I don’t want to go another day…another second without being near you.”
“You were also a bit of an ass,” she says as a laugh tumbles from her soft lips.
I nod, agreeing with her wholeheartedly. “I was an ass,” I say, moving closer. “Do you forgive me?”
Stacey nods, moves to her knees in front of me, and wraps her arms around me in the warmest hug I’ve ever had. In her arms, the world falls away, my troubles…poof! are gone. The only thing I see, I feel, is Stacey and the way my heart is piecing itself back together one shattered fragment at a time.
“I love you, Stacey, and I really want to kiss you right now,” I say, pulling away from our hug. Her brown eyes darken as they find mine and when she leans in, covering my lips with hers, I find the release my soul has been searching for since the day Stacey waltzed into my life.
She’s mine and I plan on spending every day memorizing the landscape of her body, the depths of her eyes, and the expanse of her soul. She pieced a broken man back together and made me understand how deeply I love and how to let it heal the pain of my past.
Stacey is my everything and I’ll love her until she asks me to stop.
Epilogue
10 Months Later
Stacey
The house Ace and I bought has a massive kitchen. It was the first and only requirement I had when he asked me to go house hunting with him the day he told me he loved me. He sold the house he and Marley had lived in and the week after we moved into our new house, he asked me to marry him. Coincidentally, it was also the week Reggie told me that she was pregnant. I was over the moon excited for her because I knew how much she and Jordan wanted more kids.
Now here Ace and I sit in the hospital waiting room. His ring is on my left hand and I’ve never been happier. Our wedding day was beautiful, warm, and perfect. It was on Memorial weekend and in Reggie’s backyard. White lights were strung through the trees, looking like magical stars. And during our first dance as husband and wife, I fell even more in love with this man who was no longer filled with sadness. Each day, his love for me grows, and dancing with him was like dancing on a cloud.
Vic and a very pregnant Jemma, along with their two-year-old daughter, return with ear to ear grins on their faces.
“She’s beautiful,” Jemma says, rubbing her own swollen belly. Subconsciously, my hand moves over my flat stomach and my heart begins to race. “You can go on back now. She’s waiting for you.” I hug Jemma, who squeezes me tightly. Even though I don’t see her on a regular basis, we’ve become good friends.
“Thanks,” I say, pulling back, leaving my hands on her shoulders. “Not much longer for you either.” We laugh as she glances down at her belly.
“I am ready to send out an eviction notice to this little girl,” she says. Vic moves behind her, places a soft kiss on the side of her neck, and shakes Ace’s hand.
“This next one had better be a boy,” Vic says with a laugh. “If not, then you are cut off, permanently.” Jemma slaps his shoulder and we all say our goodbyes. My stomach churns as we walk toward Reggie’s room. From outside, I can hear Micah gushing over his new baby sister and it warms my heart.
After Ace and I bought the house and moved in together, he told me all about Marley and her miscarriages, which ultimately caused her depression to spike, which ended in her taking her own life. We haven’t talked about having children, but I’m hoping he wants them as much as I do.
I knock quietly on the light oak door of Reggie’s room and open it when I hear her tell us to come in. Jordan is sitting in the chair next to her bed, wearing a proud smile while holding his daughter. Tears spring to my eyes at the sight. I was the one with her when she had Micah all those years ago, and to see her and Jordan now married, and him holding their second child, is one of the best things I’ve ever seen.
“She’s amazing, Reggie,” I say, wiping the tears from my eyes as I move to stand beside her. “You look beautiful.”
“Thank you,” she says, and I lean down to hug her. “Jordan, can you let Stacey hold Annie?” Jordan stands and walks over to me, handing me his tiny daughter. Her little hands flail when he lays Annie in my arms, but she settles into my arms with no fuss. She has a full head of dark black hair, the cutest button nose, and full pink lips.
“Oh, Reggie, she’s perfect.” After a while I ask Ace if he wants to hold her. His eyes widen and he glances at Reggie, who smiles and nods, giving him permission. I transfer Annie into his arms and he holds her like she’s the most precious thing he’s ever seen. My heart swells at the sight and the nerves in my stomach begin to settle.
It’s going to be fine, we’re going to b
e fine.
Annie wakes up and cries for her momma, wanting to be fed. I hand her back to Reggie, give her a quick kiss on the forehead, and then hug Jordan. Ace and I say our goodbyes and then walk through the hospital hand in hand, out to the car. He opens the door for me, presses his lips against mine, and when my mouth parts to release a sigh, his tongue tangles with mine.
“Let’s make some of those,” he says against my lips. His hand travels from my shoulder, down over my breasts, and stops at my waist. Every ounce of fear, every worry, and every last nerve floats away on the breeze. My hands pull his face back to mine and I kiss him again, because kissing Ace is like igniting a fire. A small spark quickly turns into a raging inferno. I rest my head on his chest, look up into his pale blue eyes, and smile.
“We already did,” I say, feeling my heart grow with love for this man and for the life growing inside me.
The End
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