Sebastian smiled, one-sided. "None taken."
"Anyway, I didn't know what to do and Phoebe's so smart and logical, I knew she could take care of everything. I'm not like her. I'm not cut out to be a full-time mom, no matter how much I love the little cutie."
Kyle vaguely registered his wife murmuring something about how glad she was to take care of Nina, furthering his sense that Phoebe undoubtedly had Bianca's number.
Had Bianca even somehow set this whole thing up, arranging circumstances so Phoebe would come to him? Kyle couldn't go quite that far, but he could see he had sure sized this up way wrong from the minute Bianca had walked into the Landis home.
Sebastian began speaking with Bianca in his best soft and reasonable lawyer tones, explaining the ins and outs of what it meant to sign away her parental rights. But Kyle was focused on Phoebe, who had somehow seen a way through this tangle and found a way to unknot the threads and restore order. From her quietly outrageous idea to get married, to seeing through Bianca's bad-girl exterior to the more complex-albeit still selfish-person inside.
He hadn't needed to blast forward with his background search on Bianca and level the field in a manner that would set bad blood between them for the rest of Nina's life. What more had he missed from Phoebe with his charge-ahead attitude that apparently kept him from slowing down long enough to pick up on important nuances?
He didn't know yet. But he looked forward to finding out one day at a time. Days and weeks and years of building a life and getting better as he learned more about her.
Starting today by telling his wife the most important detail, a detail his charge-ahead brain had wrongly plowed right over as insignificant. Once he got Phoebe alone, he intended to make sure that she heard, believed and never forgot.
He loved her.
Phoebe closed the door to Nina's nursery, Kyle behind her. She still couldn't believe they'd stumbled on Bianca's real agenda and it had been so easy to address.
Although now that she thought back, it made total sense. If Bianca had been after money, nothing could have stopped her from getting through to the Landis family. They should have realized that from the start. The talk with Ginger had helped her trust her instincts.
Bianca had seen the pieces differently than Phoebe would have ever guessed.
Phoebe leaned on the wraparound balcony, tipping her face into the sea breeze. Kyle pulled up alongside her, his leg pressed against hers intimately.
Where would they go from here? More passionate sex that turned her inside out … only to find herself alone afterward? No, damn it, she'd learned. No more hiding in her dusty academic world. She would fight for herself, for this marriage, as firmly as she'd fought for Nina. Even if it took time.
She turned to face him, leaning an elbow on the railing. "Bianca surprised me today. She grew up. I'm relieved for Nina."
The cool breeze seemed to soothe the hot frustration of the last few weeks, easing the ache inside her. She just wished she could share some of that peace with Kyle.
"We accomplished what we set out to do." His voice wrapped around her with the same warmth it had that first night at his homecoming party.
Was it her imagination, or was there a hint of the old Kyle in his tone? She peered over at his strong profile as he looked out at the water.
"We accomplished it with a solution that's outside the box." Just like she hoped he would find for himself.
Like she hoped he might see for their future.
"You fought for us, for both of us, and I love you for that."
"If we keep thinking outside-" The word stuck on her tongue as her thoughts rewound and her heart picked up speed. "What did you say?"
That strong, handsome profile of his turned until he looked full-on into her eyes. "I said I love you."
Her jaw went slack. She'd been expecting to dig in for a long haul, work to build a relationship that would lead to love, the way Ginger had found her second chance with her longtime friend. There were still so many pieces left to move.
"Kyle, are you sure? Wait, of course you're sure. You pride yourself on always being honest." Her head began spinning as fast as her heartbeat. "You were right that I was hanging on to the past. I was looking to recreate that, which is impossible. That was a unique love, just as my love for you is unique. By expecting this to be like the past, I almost missed how absolutely awesome the present could be."
Kyle frowned. His hands landed on her shoulders, steadying her. "Wait. Back up a second. Did you just say you love me, too?"
Oh, she had. And why hadn't she thought to say that straight away to him? "Yes." She looped her arms around his neck, the truth of that simple fact shining through. "I am totally and completely in love with you. I know it's only been a few weeks. I'm the one who said things take time."
"I seem to recall you shouted it in the Aston." That gorgeous, lopsided grin of his returned, making her knees ridiculously weak.
"I did, didn't I?" Ah, but she would need that stubbornness to go toe-to-toe with her hardheaded Landis man. "My point is, I do love you. It came on me differently this time, but I know just as surely that this is real."
"Phoebe? Quiet, my love."
His love? She would never grow tired of hearing that. "Yes?"
"I should have realized sooner what was happening between us. God knows, you've rocked me more in a million ways than anyone has before from the first time I saw you, to the first time I kissed you, made love to you. Something about the way you handled things with Bianca finally got through my thick skull until I could see just how perfect you are, how perfect we can be together. I would be a damn fool if I let you go." His smile dug a dimple in his cheek. "I may have been slow on the uptake, but I'm not an idiot. I love you, Phoebe Landis, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you and our daughter and any other children we decide to add to our family."
"And I want to spend the rest of my life with you."
He tucked her closer against him, their bodies a perfect fit. "We'll start house-hunting here, for a place of our own."
A final problem tugged her with worries about long-term happiness. "But you love your job, the thrill of international dealings."
He tunneled his fingers into her hair. "I love you and Nina and the life we're going to have together more."
"I don't think I'll ever get tired of hearing that."
She arched up on her toes as he leaned down, his kiss wonderfully familiar and even better every time, as they built on the desire she'd felt the first time his sexy voice had stroked over her. How much more would she have to look forward to in the future?
His hands slid down her sides to loop low around her waist as he kissed along her jaw, his late-day beard a sweet abrasion against her skin. The scent of his aftershave mingled with the salty air, swirling inside her like dreams of their future unfolding. And just that fast an idea took shape inside those possibilities and plans.
Phoebe nestled against his chest, looking out over the ocean. "What if Nina and I traveled with you?"
His muscled arms tensed against her and he didn't answer at first, the waves rolling and receding while his heart thudded steadily under her ear. She stroked the hair at the nape of his neck. "Kyle?"
"I thought you would want the home and hearth here, stability for Nina."
So had she. At first. But she was learning more and more about thinking outside the box as she contemplated blending her life with Kyle's. "We're her security. And as you said before, we have options. We can hire an entourage of help so we never have to worry about finding sitters. We can afford to rent an entire house wherever we travel. Think outside the box for us, the way you do in your career."
"Your plan is definitely worth discussion." His face creased into a one-sided smile, his hands sliding intimately low down her waist. "We could always talk about it more on a long drive up the coast, since I decided to keep the Aston."