If I Can't Have You (If You Come Back To Me #3) Page 21
He paused, and Colleen held her breath.
“But tonight I gladly admit I was the one who was a naive fool for doubting. Love comes in many ways, if the trusting heart only lets it in.” He raised his glass to the bride and groom. “Join me in toasting happiness and prosperity to a couple who taught this fool a measure of wisdom. To Natalie and Liam, may your brave, trusting hearts continue to beat strong and united for a lifetime.”
“To Natalie and Liam,” the guests murmured before they drank. Eric sat down to enthusiastic applause. The guests demanded a kiss by tinkling their goblets, which Liam and Natalie gladly provided.
“Great, how am I going to follow such a terrific toast?” Deidre grumbled. She did a double take when she glanced at Colleen’s face. She smiled fondly and dried off Colleen’s cheeks with her napkin. “I told you he wasn’t just interested in a challenge.”
Colleen sniffed and leaned forward, glancing down the table, only to see that Eric was doing the same toward her. While she hadn’t been able to read him at all earlier, currently he was an open book. His expression was a little pained, as though he entreated for her understanding.
Maybe it was just the lighting, or maybe it was wishful thinking, but there was something in his dark eyes that looked a lot like love. She recalled his speech.
Love comes in many ways, if the trusting heart only lets it in.
He smiled. She beamed back at him.
It really was amazing, the way they could read each other’s minds at times.
An hour and a half later, Colleen caught Eric’s gaze and he gave a small nod. She entered the restaurant again and found a quiet, deserted hallway. The entire party had gone out into the parking lot to witness Liam and Natalie’s reactions to Lucy. Eric, Brigit, Brendan and Jenny had done an amazing job. Lucy was perched on a trailer, awaiting her new owners, looking shiny and grand, and decked out in festive lights and a banner with Liam and Natalie’s names. Brendan and Jenny were practically bursting with pride. Luckily, the photographer caught some excellent photos of Liam’s and Natalie’s disbelieving, ecstatic expressions when they realized the beautiful antique speedboat was theirs.
Colleen paused in the dim hallway, her heart beating more rapidly by the second. It swelled against her breastbone when she caught sight of Eric approaching her a few seconds later.
“You outdid yourself with Lucy,” she said quietly when he approached and stood before her, looking somber.
“Natalie and Liam seemed happy with her.”
“Of course. They’re ecstatic,” Colleen murmured. The last thing she wanted was to have a casual conversation with him, but she was having difficulty finding the words. She started when he reached out and touched her cheek. Their gazes met.
“I’m sorry,” he said.
“No. I’m sorry,” she said in a rush. “I’m the one who got so defensive.”
“I said it all wrong that afternoon.”
“You said it very right tonight, during the toast.”
“I meant it, every word. You, more than anything, changed my mind about the possibility of falling so hard and fast,” he murmured. He moved his hand and stroked her hair, making her scalp tingle with excitement. He stepped closer, and Colleen breathed in his scent. Tears burned her eyelids at the familiar, cherished smell of clean skin, spice and Eric.
“That day when I dropped you off, I was only trying to tell you that I felt guilty for my original intention, where you were concerned. The way I feel about you now is nothing like what I felt then. It’s true, I initially was interested in you for more…surface reasons, but that doesn’t mean a guy can’t change his mind, does it?”
“No. It doesn’t.”
He placed his hands on both sides of her jaw. “I would never hurt you,” he said with fervent solemnity. “I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I promise I’ll be faithful.”
She shook her head, and tears spilled out of her eyes. How had he known that this was at the very heart of her doubt and fear?
“I believe you,” she said, meaning it with all her heart.
“I love you,” he said intently next to her mouth. “I love your kids. I love the whole package. Tell me what you said in the car the other day was true.”
“I said a good many things I wish you’d forget,” Colleen said in a trembling voice, “but if you mean the part where I said I’d fallen in love with you, that part couldn’t have been truer.”
His grin managed to be tender and triumphant at once. Colleen sighed when he pressed his long, hard body against hers. “I’ve been falling in love with you ever since Brendan’s surgery. No…since Sunset Beach, even if I didn’t recognize the symptoms then. If you’d have let me near you, I probably would have begun this delicate procedure a long time ago.”
Colleen laughed, and more tears of happiness spilled down her cheeks, wetting his fingers. “That would have been far too easy.”
“Maybe so,” he said quietly, his mouth just inches from hers. “Our way of doing things was pretty damn perfect.”
“At least it wasn’t a boring romance,” she whispered, brushing her lips against his.
“Life with you is never going to be boring,” Eric muttered before he dipped his head, claiming Colleen utterly and completely with a searing kiss.
* * * * *
ISBN: 978 1 472 09463 6
IF I CAN’T HAVE YOU
© 2012 Beth Kery
Originally published as Claiming Colleen
Published in Great Britain 2014
by Mills & Boon, an imprint of Harlequin (UK) Limited
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