Carly Phillips - Cross My Heart

“Depends on your definition of okay. She threw me out, if you can believe that.” He set down his oversized duffle bag which Lacey eyed warily.

“What do you mean she threw you out?”

He grinned, that cocky, sexy grin she loved. “She said I was getting on her nerves and cramping her style. Then she told me to get the hell out.”

“She did not!”

He laughed. “Not in so many words, no. But her point was clear.”

She looked from his bag up into his eyes. Eyes that now looked light and free of excess baggage. She didn’t understand what was going on but she had a hunch she was going to like it. A lot.

She rolled forward onto the balls of her feet, then back again. “So did you move back into your apartment?” Lilly asked.

“Nope. I told Hunter to camp out there for a while.”

“Doesn’t he have his place in Albany?”

“It’ll be a long trip for him late at night when he fills in for me at Night Owl’s. Besides, he really hates that stuffy apartment he’s leasing. He only did it to make his point that he’s arrived and he’s past caring what people think anymore.”

“He’s hurting, isn’t he?” Lacey asked.

Ty nodded. “Molly did a real number on him. Did you know he offered to go with her wherever she was going?”

Although Lacey had been in touch with Hunter and she knew he’d withdrawn, he’d left out key parts of the story. “I had no idea,” she murmured. “She turned him down?”

“Flat.” Ty crossed his arms over his chest.

She winced. “Poor Hunter. But at least he had the courage to offer to go with her,” she said pointedly. She wasn’t only referring to the fact that Ty hadn’t offered the same, but neither had she.

“It didn’t get him very far, unfortunately.”

“But at least now he knows where he stands.”

Ty nodded. “Good point.”

They remained that way for a while, at a standstill, neither one of them knowing what to say next.

Lacey took the opportunity to look him over for the first time. He hadn’t shaved in a few days, his hair was as long as it’d been before, and his leather jacket appeared well-worn. He was her sexy rebel and she was so glad he was here.

“So your mother threw you out and you gave up not just your apartment but your part-time job at Night Owl’s,” she said, spelling things out when she couldn’t stand the tension any longer. “What about your P.I. business?”

“Handed that over to Derek.” He shrugged off his jacket, hanging it on a hook in her front hall. “Seeing as I’m licensed in New YorkState, it didn’t seem like a big deal to start over.”

Her mouth grew dry. “Start over where?”

“Here.” He ran his hand through his hair. “In New York, the city that doesn’t sleep. Seems like a good place for an out-of-work P.I. to start over.”

When she glanced at him this time, she didn’t see the cocky kid she’d fallen in love with at seventeen nor did she see the man with walls a mile high. Instead she saw a vulnerable guy who’d come here with his heart on his sleeve and no idea what kind of reception he’d receive.

She had just one question. “Why? Why leave your home and everything you love behind?”

“Because a smart, beautiful woman once told me home is about the people you’re with, not the place you choose to live. Besides,” he said, his eyes gleaming. “I wouldn’t say I left everything I love behind. I came to find the person I love most in the world and that’s you.”

“That’s all I needed to hear.” With a huge smile on her face, Lacey stepped forward and jumped into his arms, wrapping her legs around his waist and kissing him like there was no tomorrow.

“God, I missed you.” He ran his hand down the back of her head, sifting his fingers through her hair.

“Then what took you so long?” She peppered his cheek with kisses as she asked.

Ty let her slide down the length of his body, but kept her close as they headed for the couch in the other room. “I had some things to sort through,” he admitted.

“I thought I was the one who needed to come home, get some distance and think,” she said, teasing him.

He shrugged. “Turns out we both did. All the years you were gone, I held it against you that you didn’t come back. It wasn’t something I verbalized or even realized I thought about until I saw you again. But once I knew, it wasn’t something I could let go that quickly.”

“Because you were afraid I’d leave you again,” she said, catching on quickly and understanding him as she always did. “And what did I do? I turned around and came back home just like you thought I would.” She lifted their tightly held hands and placed them close to her heart. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. You had to be independent to have survived at all. I needed to get over my hang-ups.” He nearly choked on the word. “And I have. Because I love you too much not to be with you.”

“I love you, too. So much that I was making plans to leave New York and come back anyway.” She kissed his cheek, letting him know he didn’t have to worry that she’d ever let him go again. “One way or another, we were going to be together. I’m not going to leave you again. Cross my heart,” she said, her words a solemn vow.

As his gaze fell to the locket she’d never taken off, Ty knew for certain. When Lacey made a promise, she knew for sure never to break it.

“I’m never going to leave you, either,” he said. “Cross my heart,” he said and sealed their vow with a long, long, long kiss.

“What do you think about expanding Odd Jobs?” Lacey asked Ty. “The suburbs have an equal need for people to do things they can’t possibly fit into their day. Beyond housekeeping and dog walking, there’s food shopping and cooking…”

Her husband glanced at her over his morning newspaper.

They’d married soon after she claimed her trust fund in a small, private ceremony in his mother’s house, with just Flo and Dr. Andrew Sanford, Hunter and Lacey’s uncle Marc present. The unique group could have made for an awkward family unit but everyone had been on their best behavior. Only Molly had been missing. Though Lacey had received a postcard from California and knew the other woman was traveling-make that running-she hadn’t put down roots anywhere.

Poor Hunter had thrown himself into his work and women-too many women-to the exclusion of everything and everyone else.

“Are you suggesting we move out of the city?” Ty asked, bringing her focus back to him, not that it had strayed far.

She still loved looking at him every morning. His sexy razor stubble and sleepy-eyed grin never failed to stir her desire. Fate had brought them together again and she didn’t plan to take their second chance for granted.

“Wouldn’t you like more space and fresh air, not to mention room for another dog,” she said, teasing him and gauging his reaction at the same time.

“Somehow I don’t think Miss Smelly Breath would appreciate the competition.” He petted Digger’s head. The dog lay on his lap where she always happily perched herself, choosing Ty over Lacey given the choice.

Lacey laughed. “What about you? You could do detective work in WestchesterCounty or you could keep this apartment as your base and use it as an office and still work in the city. It’s an easy commute by train or by car.”

He laid the paper down on the table. “You’ve looked into this already, haven’t you?”

She grinned. “I thought it would make sense to have all the facts before I presented my case. I checked out all the possibilities and the fact is the traffic on Long Island is horrendous and would drive you insane. Of course you could take the train from there, too. In either case there are good schools and different cities we can look into. Of course if you’d rather-”