Jill Shalvis: Instant Gratification

“Yes,” Stone said, not politely. “Get the fuck out.”

TJ nodded and turned to Emma. “I can’t tell you how good it is to see you.”

“Same goes.” They hugged, and over her head TJ pointed at her. “Don’t let her get away again.”

In answer, Stone pointed to the door, and TJ went through it, leaving a very heavily weighted silence.

“So…” Emma smiled awkwardly and lifted a shoulder. “What’s up?”

Stone just stared at her. He hadn’t slept, hadn’t eaten, hadn’t been able to do anything since she walked out of his life, and she wanted to know what was up? “You bought this place.”

“Yeah.”

“You’re here to renovate it.”

“Yeah.”

Neither of which had a single thing to do with him, and yet…and yet she’d contacted him . She’d made sure he’d be here. “You hired me.”

“Yeah.” She flashed another nervous smile. “I have a problem. I thought I could just put a Band-Aid over it and be done, but as it turns out, a Band-Aid isn’t going to cover it.”

He blinked. “Was that in English?”

She let out a breath. “You don’t get it. I was trying to be poetic, mirroring our first Meet Cute.”

He just stared at her, and she laughed a little and shook her head. “It’s the way all the screwball romantic comedies start-the contrived encounter of the two leads, like when you first came to the Urgent Care, bleeding and hurting, and all you wanted was a damn Band-Aid.”

“I don’t remember that being cute.”

“No.” She spread out her arms. “And I’m not bleeding, not on the outside anyway, but I’m hurting like hell, and I thought a Band-Aid would do it. I thought going back to New York would be that Band-Aid, but I was wrong.”

For the first time in weeks, the fist around Stone’s heart loosened slightly. “Okay,” he said very calmly, when he wanted to snatch her in his arms and never let her go. “Okay, I think maybe we’re getting closer to speaking the same language. Keep going.”

“I first came here to save my father. That’s what I told myself, that it was for him. It took me a very long time to realize that I’d come for me. To ease the loneliness, the fear of truly being alone, and my seeming inability to have a long-term relationship with anyone other than my doctor’s license. But I did figure it out, Stone.”

“But you left.”

“I did.” She nodded in agreement of that. “And that was my mistake. When I found out the clinic had been closed, that my father wouldn’t have a place to go back to work when he wanted, I put a set of plans in motion and told myself that was for him, too.” She shook her head now. “Another mistake. Because this time I knew I wasn’t coming back to save him. I was coming back to save me.”

He couldn’t take his eyes off her, and even though she was only a foot away, it was too far. He put his hands on her hips and pulled her in so that they were toe to toe. “Tell me what you needed saving from.”

“My own stupidity,” she whispered, and finally, God, finally, touched him, reaching up to cup his face. “I thought I had it all figured out when I was here before. It was temporary, everything was temporary. But then my father turned out to be…well, wonderful. And the people here in Wishful let me become one of them. And I made friends. Annie, TJ, Harley…you.”

Friends. That’s not all he wanted.

She ran her thumbs along his jaw. “Only you…you turned to be much more. More than the ski bum I mistook you for, and much more than just a friend. Somehow…” She went up on tiptoe to look him in the eye. You looked right through me when no one else could.” She let out a small smile that wormed directly into his thudding heart. “With you, I found myself. You’re the one I was waiting for, when I didn’t even realize I was waiting. I fell in love with you, Stone. You completely snagged my heart when I wasn’t looking, and now I’m wondering…”

Anything, he thought, barely breathing. Anything you want .

“If I could possibly have snagged yours as well.” She offered a self-conscious smile.

He pulled her in hard, burying his face in the crook of her neck, just breathing her in, relief nearly buckling his knees. “Are you kidding?” He pulled back to meet her gaze. “Emma, you’ve had my heart in the palm of your hand since day one.”

“I have?”

He set his forehead to hers. “Jesus, Emma, I’m so in love with you I can’t even see straight. If you hadn’t come back, I was coming after you.”

“To New York?”

“Yes. To New York. To wherever you wanted to be.”

“But…you would have had to start all over there.”

“That would have been fine. It could have been Mongolia for all I care. Together, Emma, you and me. That’s all I care about.”

“I want to be together.” She smiled, her eyes shiny. “Here, with everyone at our side.”

“I can’t think of anything better.” Unable to hold back, he picked her up and headed toward the back room.

She laughed breathlessly at his purposeful stride and the look in his eyes. “Here, Stone? Now?”

“Here. Now. And forever.”

She curled into him. “And forever…”