At Your Service (Silhouette Desire) (20 page)

She stopped. Tyler was walking toward her, pushing easily through a crowd that parted for him like mist, never breaking away from her eyes.

She wasn’t finished.

“I’ve made a lot of mistakes since the day you said that, Tyler. But it’s December thirty-first, New Year’s Eve, and if you still want me, I’m done hiding. I love you, and I couldn’t hide that if I tried.”

He was at her feet and she was trying to get off the damn stool, but she couldn’t see the floor and then she couldn’t see anything because she was crying as he kissed her and she was telling him she loved him, over and over again, fiercely, her hands fisted in his shirt as her mouth found his mouth, and his face, and any part of him she could reach. Touching him was coming home and loving him was what she’d been heading toward all her life.

Her face was framed in his hands and she saw her soul in his eyes as he held her. She didn’t even need the words when he said them.

“I love you, Grace Haley.”

The crowd exploded around them. Richard was ringing the bell as if the gates of heaven had just opened and Spencer was pouring champagne as if the world was ending tonight.

She found herself on the ground at last, surrounded by shouting friends who counted down the last seconds to midnight.

The space between them was a separate world. She threaded her hands through his damp hair and smiled up at him.

“I was coming to find you when you showed up at my door.”

“And I always knew I’d find you on the thirty-first, no matter where you’d gone.” His smile was soft and his hands moved on her as if he couldn’t get enough of touching her.

“Then we were both looking for each other.” Which felt right.

“You got it,” he answered, and kissed her while confetti rained down on them like drifting snow. When he lifted his head, his smile teased her. “So I’ve got my waitress back?”

“No way.” At his raised eyebrow, she grinned and stood on tiptoe to wrap her arms around his neck. “I’ve got a much bigger job in mind this time around.” She saw him anticipate her words and loved that he knew her so perfectly. “How do you feel about taking on a wife?”

The next moment she found out that he’d beaten her to the idea a long time ago. Reaching into his pants’ pocket, he pulled out a small velvet box and held it in front of her.

“I bought this the morning you left.”

She curled her fingers over his and leaned in to press her mouth softly to his.

“I’ll never leave again.”

The clock struck midnight. Horns blared and balloons fell around them. She whispered to her love the words that end all fairy tales.

“And they lived happily ever after.”

Tyler spun her around and laughed out loud.

“You bet your ass they did.”