Chapter Twelve

The first episode aired, and it felt amazing. Evelyn was supercharged like she'd downed four cups of espresso. In truth is was only three cups of regular coffee, but the buzz she felt was more about a job well done.

They'd nailed it. Her phone went crazy as soon as the cameras shut down. Most were texts of congratulations. One was from Marcus.

Come to my office.

He might be pissed that she chose to air Owen's segment. She was willing to face the music on that. But first, a quick celebration with her crew. When she reached the set, everyone broke out in applause. Yeah, they were her crew. This was going to be good.

"Good job, everyone. I ordered pizzas to celebrate." The studio erupted in cheers. "Don't get used to it. Our budget isn't that big. But we started with an idea just a few short weeks ago and we nailed our first episode. You should be proud."

As she turned to leave, Marilyn grabbed her and pulled her into a hug. "Thank you for bringing me in on this. I love it."

"I knew you'd be perfect, and you are. Congratulations."

People around her said kind words and offered congratulations, but inside she was empty. She had no one to celebrate with.

She headed to the elevators to go to Marcus's office. Her phone bleeped again. Owen. Just seeing his name on her screen made her tear up. She swiped to open the message.

I hope you don't get in trouble for airing that awful interview with me. The center will be grateful. Thank you.

Her heart sank again. The center would be grateful. Not him. She could hear his self-deprecating chuckle talking about how bad the interview was and how he didn't look good on camera. All lies, of course.

So this would be their new normal. Polite conversation.

She didn't think she could do it. But she texted the same answer Marcus would get momentarily.

We had an open spot and couldn't have dead air. Your interview filled a few needed minutes.

He didn't respond. Bracing to defend herself, she entered Marcus's office. "You wanted to see me?"

"Have a seat." He pointed to the chair in front of him. "Good first show."

"Thank you. I think it went well."

"We're getting a lot of buzz. People are talking."

"Excellent."

"I thought we agreed not to do a segment on the youth center right now."

She took a slow inhale. "I know you didn't think it was a good idea. It was a little unplanned. We taped that during rehearsal with Marilyn. When we prepped Jake Drummer for his interview, he was smooth and polished. You saw him today. We cut his segment short because it was awful. I needed something to fill the space."

"It was a good call."

Wait. What?

"The segment wasn't the downer Donald had expected it to be. And your firefighter friend was really good on camera. Airing it against my call took guts. It affirms my decision to hire you." He stood and stuck out his hand.

She rose without thought and shook his hand. Her new boss had just congratulated her for not following orders. Because she was damn good at her job.

"Thank you. Any recommendations going forward?"

"Keep it up."

She left his office riding a high that was limited by her brief exchange with Owen. In her office, she had a bunch of interviewees to confirm for upcoming shows. They would have a meeting tomorrow to brainstorm new episodes. Instead of doing any of that, she opened her phone and stared at the text from Owen, trying to read between the lines, willing it to mean something more.

Taking her things from his house had been one of the hardest things she'd ever done. Even harder was leaving a bag of his clothes that she'd borrowed. While he'd joked that she might have had a third of his wardrobe, she definitely had more than she'd let on. Now everything was back to its rightful owners. And everything felt wrong.

After a few hours of slogging through work that she normally breezed through, her phone rang. She answered without looking at the screen. "Hello?"

"Hey," Owen's deep voice rumbled across the line.

Her fingers froze on her keyboard. Had it only been a couple of days since she'd heard his voice? It felt like weeks.

"You there, Evelyn?"

"Yeah." Her voice was barely a whisper.

"I'm sorry. I've been a jerk and I should know better."

Her lungs filled with much-needed oxygen. "Yeah, you should have."

"I don't know if I can fix this, but I want to. What I said and how I acted were way out of line."

"Yep."

"The thought of you with anyone else pushes me to a place where I can't think. My reaction was worse. I pushed you away, but I can't function without you in my life."

Tears dripped down her face.

"I love you, Evelyn."

"Why the sudden change?"

He paused. "I talked to Gabe."

"Gabe?" she asked with a laugh. Had he said Trevor or even Nina, it would've made sense. They would've told him he was being an asshole. But Gabe thought them being together was a bad idea. "What did he say?"

"He convinced me that I was wrong."

"How the hell did Gabe of all people convince you?" This should be one hell of a story.

"Don't get mad. He did some unethical stuff, but he did it because he cares about us."

"What do you mean?" Her nerves prickled uneasily.

"He hacked security cameras to show you throwing Donald out."

"What?" Her voice rose and her happy tears quickly dried up.

"I said don't get mad."

"Wait. Are you telling me that Gabe hacked into my life to prove to you that I wasn't cheating on you?" Rage that was becoming all too familiar bubbled up.

"He did it to help fix things. Gabe wasn't thinking—"

"Stop. You're misunderstanding my outrage. Gabe was being Gabe, and believe me when I say I'll make sure he understands how wrong that was. But you…you call me with this apology, telling me you love me, but it's only because you were handed irrefutable proof that I was honest. That's bullshit, Owen. You don't treat someone you love like that."

"That wasn't—"

She didn't wait to hear the rest of his rationalization. She hung up. She had enough of him yanking her emotions around. Even after everything she'd said and done for him, he'd needed Gabe to tell him that she hadn't cheated. She couldn't be with a man who couldn't—or didn't want to—trust her. Where had her best friend gone? More tears fell as she accepted that her relationship with Owen was over.

…

When Evelyn finally dragged herself home that night, she couldn't help but look at her guest parking spot, the one usually occupied by Owen. It had been empty for days, but today someone was parked there. What the hell? It was her spot. She eyed the minivan and recognition hit. It was Tess. As soon as Evelyn stepped from her car, the doors on the minivan popped open and Tess and Nina sprang out.

"Thank God," Nina said. "We've been waiting forever."

"We have not," Tess said.

They both rushed forward carrying grocery bags.

"What's all this?" Evelyn asked, pointing to the bags.

"We figured you needed a girls' night."

"I suggested we go out and get you rip-roaring drunk, but Tess pooh-poohed that idea."

Hearing Nina talk about getting her drunk felt weird because she'd never even seen Nina have more than a glass of wine to be social, much less tie one on. Her family history with alcoholism still hit her hard.

"I'm not up for going out anyway," she said. "With this being the first week of shows, I have to be sharp."

Tess held up her totes. "Hence, the bags. Let's go in and you can tell us what the hell is going on with you and Owen."

Evelyn swallowed hard. "In a nutshell, we're done."

She turned and led her friends into her condo. Part of her wanted to crawl under the covers and not deal with anyone, but the rest of her was grateful she had good friends who would take care of her. Inside, she kicked off her heels. "I'm going to change. Make yourselves comfortable."

She went to her bedroom and pulled on sweats.

Nina called, "Ice cream or alcohol?"

It had been so long since she had a breakup pity party, she didn't know what to do. Both was her initial reaction, but since she didn't want to get sick, she said, "Maybe stick with junk food."

She joined her friends in the living room. Plopping on the couch, she found an assortment of bad choices to drown her sorrows in. When was the last time she'd done this? How had she mended her broken heart last time?

Hell, last time was when she'd gotten divorced. She hadn't been in a serious relationship since. Therapy and Owen had helped her. They'd helped each other.

"Now tell us what the hell happened," Nina demanded.

Tess patted Nina's leg. "She'll talk when she's ready."

Digging into the pint of chocolate fudge ice cream, Evelyn waved a spoon. "You know most of it. Owen accused me of cheating on him with Donald. He said I always choose Donald over him. Which is bullshit, but I can concede that I did tend to give Donald too much space in my life."

"And?" Nina prompted.

"I went to the firehouse and told Owen that he had a point. I had already thrown Donald out. I apologized for not thinking about how the decision to let Donald stay here would make him feel." She shrugged as if the next part was no big deal. "He said my apology didn't matter."

Nina shook her head. "Asshole. Gabe said he talked to him, thought he was coming around."

Evelyn laughed. "Oh, yeah, I'll be talking to Gabe. Did he tell you what he did?"

"Uh-oh," Tess said.

"He hacked security cameras and God knows what else to show Owen that I didn't cheat." She bit her trembling lip. "Owen called today and apologized. Then he let it slip that Gabe proved I wasn't lying."

Tess moved over and put her arm around Evelyn's shoulder. "Men can be really stupid."

A fresh round of tears filled her eyes.

"I'm gonna kill Gabe. I told him to stop being a dick. He just couldn't back off," Nina said.

Evelyn shook her head. "It wasn't cool for him to hack into my life, but he was being Gabe. In his head, that was going to fix it. In the long run, maybe it'll help Owen. Next time he's confronted with someone telling him the truth, he might not jump to the worst conclusions."

"Next time?" Nina asked.

"It won't be with me. He said he trusted me, and even when I apologized for neglecting his feelings, it wasn't enough. He still didn't believe me. Believe in us. I can't live like that."

"There's got to be something…"

Tess waved a hand. "If Evelyn doesn't think they're worth fighting for, that's her choice."

Why did that feel like an attack? "Would you?"

"I don't know. I know you love him. And he loves you. If he didn't, you sleeping with Donald wouldn't have knocked him on his ass. Trevor said he'd been by to see him and he's a mess."

"He created this mess."

"I'm not defending him. I'm speaking as someone who has misjudged. I didn't trust Miles when it came to my kids, and he proved me wrong. He screwed up along the way, but that's life. Learning to accept that has been hard for me."

"Do you think Owen can learn to accept that I'm going to have men in my life but that doesn't mean I'm going to sleep with them?"

"I don't know. What do you think?"

It was such a typical mom move from Tess. She'd led Evelyn down a path to question her own thoughts and beliefs. But this was such a mess. "I thought so. When we started this, moved our relationship to more than friendship, I thought we couldn't go wrong. We've always trusted each other. But he changed."

"You both did. Falling in love does that."

Nina watched the conversation like it was a tennis match. Evelyn tilted her head. "Anything to add?"

"I don't know. This whole thing is very disheartening for me. I thought you and Owen were a sure thing. I mean, if you guys can't make it work, how can the rest of us?"

"Hell if I know," Evelyn answered, and scooped up more ice cream.

…

It had been days that felt like months since he had seen or talked to Evelyn. He'd fucked up everything, and he'd tried calling her, but she wouldn't answer. He attempted to get Nina or Tess to pass a message to her, but they weren't having any of it. At least Tess had given him a sympathetic look. Gabe had gotten him in trouble, and Trevor made it well known that he wasn't getting in the middle of anything.

So he did what he'd been dreading—he turned to his family. He called Dave and asked him to meet for early drinks. He sat at a corner table at the sports bar, completely uninterested in the game on TV, nursing a beer while waiting.

His brother slid into the chair across from him and said, "Tell me your troubles."

"I screwed up with Evelyn."

Dave waved a waitress over and ordered two more bottles of beer. "How bad?" he asked.

"Like take-the-few-things-from-my-house, return-my-key and pretend-I-don't-exist bad."

Dave let out a long, low whistle. "What the hell did you do?"

He drained his bottle and then launched into an explanation. Dave listened without interrupting.

When he finished, Dave sat back and crossed his arms. "Let me get this straight. You accused her of cheating on you with her ex and in your apology you pointed out that you were only apologizing because your buddy invaded her privacy to prove her honesty."

"It sounds even worse when you say it like that."

"Am I wrong?"

Owen shook his head.

Dave reached across the table and slapped the back of Owen's head. "What the hell were you thinking?"

"I don't know."

"I've watched you with Evelyn for years. I've never seen you as comfortable and in love as you are with her."

"I know." He held his head with both hands, elbows propped on the table. "Every time I saw her with other guys, just talking to them, it was like a switch flipped and I started looking for evidence. Then when I saw her ex in her house, I lost it."

"So instead of enjoying every minute of your life with the woman you love, you spent all your waking moments looking for proof that she was cheating. Not every woman is Stacy."

"I know that. But I missed all the signs with Stacy."

"You shouldn't have to look for signs. You made yourself see things that weren't there with Evelyn."

He knew this. With the exception of going to work, all he'd done was retrace every bad move he'd made with Evelyn. He even went back and talked to his old therapist. "I know my head is a mess. I need to figure out how to get her back."

Dave blew out a breath. "Evelyn is a strong-minded woman. She's not going to put up with that kind of bullshit."

"Now you're an expert on Evelyn?"

"I've known her for years. I'm not an expert, but I know enough to know you delivered a hell of a blow, and you might not be able to come back from that."

"Then I guess this conversation is pointless."

"Have you seen her?"

He shook his head. "I've been trying to respect her privacy. She won't answer my calls or texts."

"She might respond to a face-to-face conversation. It would at least let you know where you stand. Look her in the eye and see if there's anything left."

His stomach turned thinking about how he'd treated her when she'd come to see him. Both times. He was such an asshole.

"But don't be creepy and stalkery about it, or I'll have to kick your ass. Don't lose sight of respecting her, but let her know you want to try to fix it. Show her you're willing to put in the work."

He looked at the time. Knowing Evelyn, she wouldn't be leaving work for a while yet. He passed his full beer to his brother. "I have an idea, but I have to go."

"What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to see her and ask her to go on a date."

"Good luck."

…

Evelyn had been doing little more than working, but the extra time on the phone and behind the control panel was paying off. People were tuning in to Chi-talk Live , and the bonus for her was that she was too exhausted to think about Owen. She pulled into her parking lot, and her heart stuttered. The mere thought of Owen had her conjuring an image of his car. She hit the brakes and blinked.

His car was in her guest spot. She drove to her spot and when she angled, her headlights caught on Owen sitting on the ground. What the hell?

He looked up, squinted at the headlights, and used a hand to shield his eyes.

She rolled her window down, the cold fall air whipping in. "What are you doing?"

"I wanted to see you."

She waved a hand to get him to move. He stepped back to the wall and waited while she parked. She reached for her bag and took a few calming breaths. Owen was here. She had no idea why, but it felt so damn good to just see him. She reined in the swell of emotion and stepped from her car.

He must've been sitting there a while. His cheeks were pink from the cold wind.

"Why are you here?"

"I want to talk to you, if you'll listen."

"Sitting in my parking spot seemed like a good idea, why?"

"It got your attention, didn't it?" He offered a small smile.

A gust of wind kicked up and sent her hair flying.

"Can I come in? It's freaking cold out here."

"You have a key."

"After you returned my key, I thought you might've had the locks changed. Besides, it would be another douche move to just be sitting in your condo uninvited."

She heard his words. He was acknowledging that he'd crossed lines. It was a step in the right direction. She nodded and led the way inside.

Upstairs, she hung up her coat while he locked the door. Then she turned and crossed her arms while leaning against the couch.

He stood for a full minute and just stared into her eyes. The pain he was in radiated across the room, and she wondered if he felt hers as well. Then his gaze dipped, and she had her answer. He knew.

"I fucked up," he said quietly, not quite a whisper. He ran a hand through his hair and looked up again. "The thought of losing you made me unable to think straight." Raising a hand to stop the response from forming on her lips, he continued, "I know you did nothing to put those ideas in my head."

He paced in the small hallway. "I look at you and I see the most amazing woman I've ever met. I can't help but wonder what you're doing with me. Other men want you, and it fucks with my head. But I'm working on fixing that."

He stopped in front of her, close, but not touching. "I went to talk to my therapist. I'm trying to get it right, to show you that you can trust me not to screw this up again."

This was what she'd wanted before. An apology and the admission that he'd at least try not to constantly think she was cheating.

"I know I have to prove myself to you. All I'm asking for is a chance. Don't give up on me."

His plea ripped through her heart. Could they do this? She saw sincerity in his eyes. Her fingers flexed because she wanted so badly to touch him, soothe him. Find comfort together. But she simply whispered, "Okay."

Tess had made her question whether this relationship was worth fighting for. It was.

"Was that a yes?"

She nodded and leaned forward.

He gripped her hips and held her still. Leaning until his forehead touched hers, he said, "I love you so much. I've missed you."

Her heart thumped and her nerves sang. "I love you, too."

Then with his lips near hers, he asked, "Will you go out on a date with me?"

"Of course," she answered with a smile, still waiting for the kiss.

"I'd like you to be my plus-one."

Her heart swelled. He wanted them to be what they'd always been for each other before. Could they go back?

"It'll be a first date." He leaned around her and slid an envelope on the counter. "There's the invitation."

He kissed her cheek.

She turned her head to catch his mouth, but he stepped away. She sagged against the wall, her head spinning.

"I should go."

"Stay."

"I have to work in the morning."

"You can hang out for a while. We can talk and catch up."

They went to her couch and sat beside each other, touching in small ways. She told him all about the success of the show, and he thanked her for airing the segment about the youth center.

"I thought your boss shot that down," he said.

"He did, but in our first episode we were still finding our rhythm. We had a guest who was horrible on camera, and we cut the interview short. I needed filler."

He huffed. "So I'm filler now, huh?"

"Never." She wrapped an arm around his torso and leaned on him. She inhaled his scent, which finally grounded her. Until this moment, she hadn't realized how off-kilter her life had been.

After they cuddled for a while, he kissed her head. "I really do need to go."

She got up and followed him to the door. On the way, she snagged the invitation he put on the counter. She opened the envelope and looked at it. The charity event Marilyn had organized for the youth center was Friday night.

"I have to wait two more days to be with you?"

After putting his jacket on, he turned and backed her into the wall again. "We're going to get this right this time." He pressed his entire body against hers.

His strength and heat enveloped her. She grabbed a fistful of his T-shirt as he lowered his mouth and kissed her. It was slow, but needy. Her body buzzed and hummed with the desire crackling between them. When he pulled away, they were both breathless.

"I'm always thinking about you. Always," he murmured.

"I want to do more than think about you."

"Soon." Then he turned and left.

…

Owen still hadn't slept well after leaving Evelyn last night, but if he'd stayed, they would've had sex. Sex wasn't a problem for them. He needed to show her that he trusted her. He just wasn't sure how that was supposed to look. He'd finally realized that although she could have her pick of men, she'd chosen him. That's why they were each other's plus-one. No one was better.

He stretched out on his bunk to rest at the firehouse. His phone buzzed. A text from Evelyn.

Can we talk?

He hit send to call her. "What's up? You really couldn't wait until tomorrow to hear the sound of my voice?"

"The sound of your voice does some really amazing things for me, but this is a business call."

"When it comes to you, I only think of pleasure, not business."

She laughed. He hadn't realized how much he missed that sound. Pushing up to sit, he asked, "What business?"

"Marilyn and I were talking about the benefit tomorrow night. Chi-talk Live has generated a lot of buzz. We were thinking it might be a good idea to bring cameras. Marcus, my boss, likes the idea. He thinks it'll be a boon for the show."

He waited, thinking there must be more.

"Owen?"

"Yeah."

"What do you think?"

"I'm not in charge of the center. And Marilyn has organized this entire thing with Sandra."

"But the center is important to you, and I don't want to encroach or exploit what you have going on. Not for my ratings."

How did they get here? "Babe, I know you wouldn't do anything to hurt the center or me. If you want to film the benefit, bring an army of cameras, as long as Sandra is okay with it."

"That means I'd be working on our date. I don't want you to feel like I'm ignoring you."

"Will you come home with me?"

"I would've done that last night."

"Then bring your cameras, and I'll watch you in action."

"There's one more thing." The way she spoke slowly, drawing out the words, didn't sound good.

"What?"

"We've had a lot of viewers ask about the hot firefighter. We want you on camera again."

He sighed. Being on TV wasn't something he'd ever wanted. "I'd do almost anything for the center. Just don't ask me tough questions."

She laughed again. "I'm pretty sure you can handle yourself."

They disconnected so she could get back to work. Doing a segment from the benefit was going to add extra work for her, but she seemed happy to take it on.

Owen slid back down on the bed. Thinking about the success of her show and the benefit, he suddenly had an idea of how to show Evelyn he trusted her.

…

For the next day and a half, Evelyn was running like crazy, but it was exhilarating. So much went into cameras going on-site. The equipment, the crew, release forms…she just hoped it would be worth it. After talking to Nina about Owen showing up at her place, Nina demanded she get a ticket to the benefit. She wanted to be there to witness the reunion or to rescue her if Owen messed up again.

Evelyn tried to reassure her that wasn't a possibility. He wasn't perfect, but he was getting his act together. She had faith in him. Nina arrived as Evelyn stood in front of her closet. She had nothing to wear to the benefit. She'd spent the last thirty hours or so planning the segment and she'd forgotten about planning for her date.

She opened the door for Nina. "I'm screwed. I have nothing to wear. It's going to be the worst first date in history."

Nina laughed. "Not possible. I have the record for at least the top ten worst. There's no way that a new first date with a man you love, who also loves you, can be the worst. You can wear nasty sweatpants and he'd still want to do you."

Evelyn bit her lip. "Your classiness never fails to amaze me. Help me figure out what to wear. We have to leave soon."

Touching Evelyn on the shoulder, she said, "Move and let me do my magic."

Evelyn sat on the edge of her bed and watched as Nina slid hangers around for a minute before pulling some options out.

As she stepped into the first dress Nina picked, she tried to remember if she'd ever worn it with Owen. She wanted tonight to be special. Then her phone rang. Donald?

Waving at Nina as she tried to zip up the back of the dress, she answered, "Hello."

"I'm back in town lining up some prospects."

Of course he was. So typical for a man like him to be fine after one short news cycle. No one remembered the guy who did shoddy journalism. "Why are you calling me?"

"Because I received the strangest phone call yesterday. From Owen."

"Owen?"

Nina's eyes popped wide. She mouthed, "What?"

Evelyn turned away.

"He invited me to a benefit for the youth center. The segment that you ran on the first episode, even though I was sure it was a bad move."

"I'm aware of the segment."

"He said that since I was an integral part of you getting Chi-talk up and running and since you'll be filming the benefit, I might want to be there."

Well, damn.

"What do you think?"

"I think you should keep lining up your prospects. Tonight isn't a place for you. Thank you for calling and asking, though."

"Anything for you, Ev—Evelyn. I want you to be happy."

"I am." She clicked off and turned to where Nina was bouncing on the bed.

"Well? Why is Donald calling you?"

"He was considering coming tonight." When Nina's face filled with concern, she added, "I told him not to."

"If I remember correctly, listening isn't his strong suit."

"It's okay. Let's go."

At the hotel where the benefit was being held, the crew was already setting up. Nina drove so that Evelyn could go home with Owen. As she talked to the crew, she kept an eye out for him. Marilyn was doing her thing and greeting guests and talking to hotel staff. The woman truly was amazing. As soon as Evelyn introduced Nina, Marilyn commandeered her friend. At least Nina wasn't watching her pathetically look for Owen.

Suddenly, a warm hand was on her back.

"Hello, gorgeous."

She automatically turned into his arms and accepted a kiss on the cheek. With a smile, she said, "We need to talk."

Taking his hand, she pulled him away from the room with the cameras. "Donald called me today."

"Yeah," he said cautiously.

"You invited him tonight?"

He nodded.

"Why the hell would you do that?"

He rubbed his thumb over her knuckles. "I'm not going to lie. I'm never going to like the man. But he is part of your life. He's part of the reason you have the job you have, which you love. How can I hate him if he was able to help you get what you want? Plus, I wanted you to see that I can be in the same room with him, while you look utterly stunning, and not hit him."

She laughed. "I don't even know where to start with that. Thank you for the compliment." She looked him up and down in his tux. "You're pretty sexy yourself."

Running a hand over his lapel, she considered how to address the rest. "Thank you for accepting my relationship with Donald. But he won't be coming tonight."

"Really? I thought for sure, he'd—" He stopped, probably realizing that whatever he planned to say next wouldn't sound too favorable.

"I told him not to come. Tonight is about us and the youth center you love. I would never want an extra person on a first date."

He kissed her softly. "You won't ever have to worry about that again, since this will be your last first date. Ever."

She wrapped her arms around his neck. "I like the sound of that."

…

Owen watched Evelyn buzz around all night. He'd talked to Marilyn in front of the cameras for a new segment, and then he'd spent time talking to other guests, trying to convince them to give more money than whatever outrageous amount Marilyn had made them pay for the privilege of being there.

He finally found Nina near the bar.

"It's about time," she said. "Are you ready?"

"Are you sure this is a good idea?"

"A grand gesture is always a good idea."

"Just make sure no cameras are on us. If she says no, I don't want that humiliation to be immortalized."

She smacked his arm. "Jeez. It's not like you're getting down on one knee and proposing." She paused. "Are you?"

"If I was going to do that, it wouldn't be here."

Nina nodded. "I'll go get her. Marilyn knows I'm going to call Evelyn out of here. In fact, she gave me the ammunition to pull her away." She gave him an evil little smile and walked away.

He patted the small box in his pocket. He'd considered popping the question, but it was too early, as silly as that seemed. They'd known each other for years. But this was a new start.

He briefly wondered what emergency Nina claimed, but he didn't stop to hear or watch. He moved to the small office Marilyn had set up for them to use. He paced the room, a little nervous. Not because he was unsure. He'd never been more sure of anything.

The door swung open, and Nina shoved Evelyn in.

"What?" she yelped, and then the door slammed behind her. She turned and saw him.

The look of shock gave way to love.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"I needed to see you. Ask you something."

"It couldn't wait?" She pointed at the door. "I have a crew out there."

"Marilyn has it handled. This couldn't wait." He stepped closer and pulled the small flat box from his pocket. "Nina said I needed a grand gesture to win you back. I personally thought biting back my attitude and calling Donald was a pretty big gesture, but she said I needed more. I needed to offer something that was the same size as the fuckup."

He took her hand. "The thing is, my fuckup was pretty big. So I'm just laying it out there." He put the box in her palm.

Eyeing him warily, she lifted the lid. She smiled at the picture of him and Probie.

"I love you, Evelyn. Probie and I want you back. All the time. Forever." He took the picture out so she could see the house key that she'd returned. "I don't want you to just have access to my house. I want it to be your house, too."

Her breath hitched.

"Move in with us."

She looked up at him with tears in her eyes. But she was still smiling. "Yes."

"You can take some time."

"Shut up and kiss me. I said yes." She launched herself at him, wrapping her arms around his neck and pressing her lips to his.

Kissing her was like coming home. He held her tight to him. When they paused to breathe, he asked, "How long till we can slip out of here?"

She gave him the smile that he knew was just for him. "Soon. But we don't have to hurry. We have forever, right?"

The only words that sounded better than "forever" on her lips came next. "I love you."

He had no doubts about their love or their future. He couldn't wait.