Chasing Forever(72)

Speechless, she swallowed hard fighting the tears that threatened to spill down her cheeks any second. “What are you trying to tell me?” Her voice wobbled on every syllable. She knew what she wanted this to mean, but she needed him to explain what he intended it to mean for them, for their future.

He lowered his mouth to hers, kissing her hungrily. He drew away and gazed into her eyes. “Will you tie this one around my wrist?” he asked, pointing at the old, frayed string she still clutched inside her hand.

Her hands shaking, she placed the string around his wrist and after a few fumbling attempts, she finally secured it with a double knot.

He exhaled loudly. “I love you, Regan. I knew the minute you walked into that fraternity party six years ago, looking all sweet and innocent with your wide eyes and flowing hair that I wanted you. When your friends showed up, I slipped that string off your wrist hoping it would give us a reason to talk again.”

“You never mentioned the string,” she said, looking confused.

“I didn’t need to. I found you again a few hours later. Then I let you walk out of my life three months later, and I was devastated and I only had myself to blame. You don’t know how many times I wanted to talk to you, to beg you to take me back. A few months later, I waited for you outside your dorm, hoping to see you, to beg you to give me another chance. I went back for a week straight until I ran into one of your friends.”

“Ava?” she questioned.

He nodded. “She told me you were gone, that you didn’t return after the first semester.”

“I never knew.”

“I know.” He leaned back and pushed the hair out of her face. “Later that day, I found the string in my wallet, and I felt better because I had a tiny piece of you.”

He came back for me. All this time, she believed he had dismissed her and walked away without looking back. She tried hard not to cry, but when she sucked in a breath, a strangled sob escaped her mouth.

“Don’t cry,” he whispered. “I want to make you happy.” He kissed her softly, holding his lips pressed against hers for a few prolonged seconds. When he pulled away, he brushed away the tears streaming down her cheeks.

“I’ve held onto this string for over six years, and I never understood why I transferred it from wallet to wallet. I didn’t realize it at the time…but I hoped this thin red string would bring you back into my life, to me, and now that you’re here, I have no intention of letting you go a second time.”

She looked up at him through her wet lashes, her heart fluttering. “I don’t want you to.”

Cupping her face in his hands, his mouth quirked up at the corners, and she could almost see that dimple she loved so much. “Regan, I love you, and if you give me another chance, I’ll never give you a reason to doubt me again. Our string may be stretched, tangled, and threadbare, but it’s not broken. We’re not broken, not yet, not ever.”

It may have taken over six years and a whole lot of agony and pain, but she believed him. Wrapping her arms around his waist, she smiled up at him. “Never broken.” She brushed her lips against his. “I love you, Lucas Evanston, even if you’re too charming for your own good.”





Epilogue





“She’s on the phone, Mr. Evanston,” Regan’s secretary said as Lucas walked by her desk. “But she said to go inside instead of lurking outside the door.”

He chuckled. “Got it,” he answered, not stopping to chat.

Martin and Black had offered Regan a permanent position when her summer associate position ended, but she didn’t accept it. They had both realized they couldn’t work together and not just because of the no fraternization rule, but because neither of them could concentrate with the other down the hall. Predictably, she had her pick of the best law firms in the city, and to his relief, she loved her new position.

They’d been together for over a year, and he still couldn’t believe she was his. He’d only seen Olivia once since that night, and thankfully, she stayed far away from him and Regan. Over the last year, his tormented past with Regan had been replaced with better memories, not that they were all bad, just marred by miscommunication and missteps.

But tonight he wanted to celebrate their past. It was the anniversary of the day they met eight years ago. He didn’t think she remembered, but he’d never forgotten. It was the first day of the rest of his life, and he wanted her to know how lucky he felt that she gave him another chance.

Lucas walked into Regan’s office. She was standing with her back to him looking out the window overlooking the bay, the phone pressed to her ear. Sexy didn’t begin to describe the way she looked in her slim black skirt and three inch heels with her long auburn hair falling to the middle of her back.