Between You and Me

“Yes.” Tears rolled down her face as she smiled at him. “Because I feel the same exact way about you, about all of that. Every wonderful word you said.”

He sealed his lips to hers, kissing her passionately. She responded in a heartbeat, kissing him back with so much warmth and affection, it melted the last of the ice that had encased his heart for years.

“I love you so much, Tess,” he said. “I’m completely, hopelessly in love with you. From the moment you got on that plane, I’ve missed you so much it actually hurt sometimes.”

“Same here,” she whispered, lifting her fingers to play in his beard. “I missed you every day. I’ve been lost without you.”

“Christ, we’ve both been so dumb.” He smiled. “It’s so damn good to see you.”

“You too.” She caressed his skin, traced the lines of his face with her fingertips, her eyes following every movement.

“How’s the baby?” he asked, locking his arms around her waist as he gazed down at her. “You’re not even showing yet. You feeling all right?”

“I’m fine, and the baby’s fine,” she said. She paused, swallowing hard. Then she looked right into his eyes and said cautiously, “Our baby is fine.”

He stopped and stared. “Your baby. I signed my rights away. I respect your wishes, Tess. I’m not trying to—”

“Do you love me?” she asked.

“More than you can imagine,” he said.

“Do you want to be with me?”

“More than I can express.”

“Well . . . you got me pregnant. You are the father. So . . . if you do want us to be together . . . we would be a family.” She looked directly into his eyes. “I’ve been thinking about it a lot. I’ve changed my mind, Logan. About raising the baby alone. That is . . . if I can raise this baby with you. As a couple. For us to be, like you said, really together.”

“Jesus,” he breathed. “Seriously? Are you sure?”

“It’s the only way I’d change my mind on this. Because I want to be with you.” She blinked a few times, and he realized she was nervous about putting it out there, that she thought he might still reject her.

“I want to be with you,” he said. “I meant that.”

“Well, the thing is . . . I’m pregnant. You didn’t want kids. So . . . by any chance, has that changed? Because if not . . . I’d understand, but we’d need to come to some kind of understanding. I’m not asking you to be a father if you don’t want to be one.”

He stared at her, trying to formulate the right words. “I . . . Tess . . .”

“We’ve danced around too much,” she said. “Both of us trying to do the right thing for the other, not saying what we really feel . . . Enough of that. Look where it got us. So just say it. Tell me exactly what you want. Right now. Please.”

“I want it all,” he blurted out. “I didn’t want those things before—a relationship, kids—that’s true. I was afraid, I admit it. But when I fell in love with you, it all changed. I changed. I want everything now, because I want it all with you.” He took a shuddery breath, but didn’t break their gaze. The light in her eyes and tremulous smile on her face encouraged him to go for it. “I want to be with you, I want to marry you, I want us to raise this baby together, I want to have a family with you . . . I want all of it. But you said you wanted to do this on your own, Tess. You don’t want a partner, or a husband, or a father figure for the baby. I didn’t tell you I’d changed my mind about everything because I was respecting what you said you wanted.”

“Like you, I thought I knew what I wanted. And like you, when I fell in love with you, it changed my perspective. It changed everything.” She wiped her tears away, sniffled, and kissed him. “I want all of that too, everything you said. Everything, with you.”

They stared at each other for a long beat, smiles slowly blooming.

“We found each other,” she whispered. “We’re perfect together. We’re the Dream Team, right?”

“I didn’t have dreams anymore,” he whispered back. “But you’re my dream come true. In every way.”