She looked from me to the plane and her waiting coworkers.
I was sure I’d lost her. She’d chosen work over me before. Dylan wanted everything. I wasn’t even a blip on the screen of Dylan’s ambition.
“Go ahead without me,” she shouted to her coworkers. “I’ll find my own way home.”
The woman on the stairs shrugged and boarded the jet.
A trickle of relief slid through me. Dylan pulled open the door and I moved over to make room for her.
Her face was still too pale, but there were spots of color in her cheeks. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I jumped to conclusions this morning and I told you I’d stop doing that. I woke up alone and thought about ten years ago, and all I could think about was you leaving. I should have trusted you. And I’m sorry you took yourself off such a big client because of me. You shouldn’t have done that. I’m not that important.”
I started to laugh. I knew it was the wrong reaction, but I couldn’t help myself. Dylan Sofia Butler thought she wasn’t important enough for me to drop a client.
“Dylan.” I touched her cheek gently. “You have no idea how important you are, how important you’ve always been to me. I took that client to get to you. I saw your name on the list and I convinced Anna to do a trade. I even booked that dinner reservation months in advance. You wouldn’t believe the crap Anna put me through to take over George’s deal. But it was worth it, because I got to see you.”
Dylan shook her head. “Lily said something about the restaurant, and I suspected but I didn’t really believe… It doesn’t make sense. You left. You left. If I’d been important to you, you never would have left me the first time and we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”
“I told you I screwed up back then. I was a kid. Freaking out because I’d just had sex with my best friend’s little sister. Add on the fact that I’d never felt the way about a woman that I did about you. I’ve grown up since then, I’ve learned how to manage a relationship. I won’t screw things up with you again. When I say you’re important, I mean you’re the most important thing in my life. I want to watch you cry over sick birds and laugh at my stupid jokes. I want to hold you in my arms and know I get to be the one to comfort you.” I reached into my shirt and pulled out the chain and medallion I always wore around my neck—at least until I’d broken the chain on it last week. I’d picked it up from the jeweler this morning after it’d been replaced. Dylan’s eyes squinted in puzzlement. I flipped it over so she could see the front. It was a St. Sofia necklace. One she’d given me when she was fourteen and thought I could use a little extra saintly protection.
Dylan raised a hand toward the medallion then let it drop. “You—I can’t believe you still have that. Why?”
“Because you’ve always been part of my life. Even before I knew I needed you to be a permanent part,” I told her softly. “Dylan Sofia Butler. The woman who has held my heart for longer than I should admit. I’m not going to let you keep running from me.”
Chapter 12
Dylan
“You’re crazy.” It was the only thing I could think to say.
Cameron rearranged his entire life to see me again. He’d been wearing a St. Sofia necklace I’d given him when I’d been in middle school and just getting bold about my crush. Embarrassingly bold. He chased me down at the airport to keep me from getting on a plane.
“You realize you’re crazy, right? I can’t believe you still have it.” I wanted to reach out and touch it, but then I’d touch Cameron, and I wasn’t sure I could handle even the slightest contact. I’d tell him everything I was feeling. Was I ready for that?
Cameron shrugged. “I’ve always worn it. I’m not gonna lie, at first it was just so I didn’t hurt your feelings, but then it became something so much more after that night. It was the only piece of you I had, and I rarely let it out of my sight. Now I just have to figure out how to talk you into not leaving my sight so I can have the real Dylan Sofia with me all the time.”
I didn’t have a reason to hesitate anymore. I trusted him. I loved him. I couldn’t let fear hold me back for one more second. I tangled my fingers with his and climbed into his lap. “I guess it’s a good thing I like crazy, then. And for the record, I’ve been hung up on you for longer than ten years.”
I kissed him. There were no words left to say.
Cameron hit the button for the divider and I giggled as it slid up, completely blocking us from the sight of the driver.