In Your Dreams, Holden Rhodes (The Queen’s Cove Series Book 3)

SHE LOOKED LIKE A DREAM.

Her eyes went wide as she saw me and she stared at me like she didn’t believe I was real.

My heart thumped hard in my chest and I braced myself for rejection. I was taking a big swing and it might not go well. What if Willa was wrong, and she didn’t miss me?

Maybe she didn’t want me back.

My gorgeous angel stood and held my gaze as she slowly walked toward me until she stood right in front of me. Her eyes roamed my tux, my hands, my hair, my face coated in stubble because I hadn’t shaved in days. I needed a haircut and my hair was a mess. I hadn’t had a good night’s sleep since she left, and I looked like shit.

She stood in front of me, staring at me with an unreadable expression on her face, and it took every ounce of control not to pull her to me, kiss her, and never, ever let her go again.

“Hi,” she said, rolling her lips into a line. A crease formed between her eyebrows.

She burst into tears and my gut dropped.

“I hate it here.” She sniffed. “I want to come home and marry you.”

My mouth was already on hers, kissing her hard. One arm wrapped around her shoulders to pull her into my chest, one sunk into the hair at the base of her neck, ruining her sleek ponytail, but I didn’t care.

“Baby,” I breathed, coaxing her open and tasting her. Her hands were all over me, in my hair, on my chest, inside my jacket, cupping my jaw. Someone whistled at us. Her tongue was hot silk against mine and my chest burst open with relief, desire, and love for this woman.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered in between kisses. “I’m so sorry.”

“No. I’m the one who should be sorry. We’re not getting married.”

She pulled back with a confused expression. “What?”

My hands framed her face and I sighed, resting my forehead against hers, wiping the tears away with my thumbs. “Sadie.”

Ohhhhh, fuck, it was good to say her name out loud again. To look into her eyes and touch her and kiss her. It felt right. There was no doubt in my mind I had made the right decision.

“I don’t want to get married,” I told her. “We don’t need to get married to be in love. I trust you and I don’t want to push you into anything you don’t want to do. If you want to stay in Toronto, I’ll move here for you. I’ll move anywhere for you.”

When I looked into those mossy green eyes I missed so much, I couldn’t believe I almost never saw her again, because I couldn’t get over this one tiny thing. My chest ached at the close call.

I shook my head at her. “I never should have gotten that ring from my parents. That was the stupidest thing I’ve ever done. I wasn’t thinking.”

“No,” she breathed. “I freaked out because I was scared. Being without you sucks and I don’t want to do it anymore.” She took a deep breath and my heart squeezed. She was scared, but she was still doing this. “I trust you. I want to come home and live with you and be in love with you. I don’t want to live in Toronto. I love Queen’s Cove.”

“What changed your mind?”

“You,” she said. “Nothing is as good as my life with you.”

My heart beat with love and longing. When we kissed again, she melted into me, and I sighed with relief.

“I love you,” she told me, threading her fingers into my hair.

“Ten, nine, eight,” people around us chanted as midnight approached.

She smiled up at me and my heart expanded in my chest. I let my happiness show all over my face.

“I love you, too. I won’t spend the next year without you.”

“Three, two, one!”

Her eyes were soft and full of affection. “Fine by me. Happy New Year, Holden.”

“Happy New Year, Sadie.”