“Do you see?” His whisper was gentle, but firm. Determined. For the first time ever, he could see one of his own drawings with total clarity. “Whatever you set out to do, you truly make the imperfect extraordinary. Not perfect, but amazing all the same.” He put his hand under her chin to make her look at him. “How could I not love you? How could you ever think you weren’t good enough for me?”
She was silent for a long moment, before she finally said, “I wasn’t listening to all the things both of us were too afraid to say to each other. But they were there all along and I’m listening now, Sebastian.” Her voice beat inside him, became a part of him the way she would always be a part of him. “I wish you’d told me about your drawings, what your father did. It explains so much. He was the one who made you feel you had to be perfect, that your art had to be. And he made you think that the truth you tell in your drawings is bad, when the exact opposite is true.”
He nuzzled her hair. “I’m sorry. You asked, and I tried to pretend it wasn’t a big deal. But I will always tell you everything. No more secrets. No more hiding. And I’ll always listen.”
“Then let me tell you what I’m going to do,” she pushed on in a low, seductive, mesmerizing tone. “I’m going to teach my classes in the fall. I’m going to put the other commissions on hold while I finish the chariot race for your building’s grand opening.”
His blood pulsed wildly. “And then?”
“Remember, I’m a Zanti Misfit. With me, you have to expect the unexpected. So after our grand unveiling, I want to wing it.” She smiled her gorgeous, beguiling smile. “Being without a plan and letting the unexpected happen won’t send our lives down the tubes. In fact, something tells me that’s when things are going to become more magical than ever. You see, I’ve decided to stay for keeps. You’re not getting rid of me. And we’ll figure out how to make this work. Together.”
She leaned close to brush her mouth across his. She couldn’t know how he’d longed for that when he believed he’d never feel the sweet caress of her lips again.
Lord, he wanted nothing more than to take everything she was offering—her complete and unconditional love. And yet, beneath everything, there was still that one unavoidable fact. His way of life was toxic to her, and he’d never forgive himself if he continued to hurt her.
So instead of losing himself in her kiss—in her—he forced himself to speak the truth. “What if I do it again? What if I push too hard? What if I hurt you?”
Always doing the unexpected, she smiled. “We’re both clear that I don’t want to be the glitter girl you want me to be. But I do want you. And I get that figuring it all out might be messy. It won’t always be easy to decide where I should draw the line on my junk and where you should draw the line on your parties.” She pressed a finger to his lips when he began to open his mouth. “And you aren’t like your parents, craving the next party. For you, there’s a purpose for it.”
No, he definitely didn’t crave it the way he craved Charlie, her touch, her kiss, her.
She gave a delicate shrug of her shoulders. “But life and love can be messy and hard. That doesn’t mean we chuck it in. We aren’t Whitney and Evan. We certainly aren’t your parents. We’re strong enough to keep at it until we find the right compromise.” She barely took a breath as she said, “We won’t always be perfect, but we can make this work. We can be magnificent, because what we have is the best thing I’ve ever known. You are the best man I’ll ever know. And I refuse to give up on you. So are you going to give me up without a fight? Or are you going to walk the mile right beside me every step of the way, no matter how hard it is?”
He felt what she was saying deep in his marrow. Come on, baby, fight for me like I’m fighting for you.
His parents had never fought for each other. But he and Charlie weren’t his parents, damn it. With her by his side every single step of the way, the ghosts of his past couldn’t have power over him. Not when her love for him—and his for her—was a billion times stronger than anything else in the world.
“I told myself I needed to let you go. That it was the only way to keep you safe. To make you happy. But damn it, I could never have done it.” He framed her delicate face in his hands. Except that there was nothing delicate about Charlie. She was strong, independent, talented, stubborn. And she was perfectly imperfect. He loved her more than anything in the world. “I’ll never stop fighting for you, Charlie. And I’ll never stop loving you. Not for one single second. No matter what.”
Then he lowered his mouth to hers, sealing his promise with a long, slow, lusciously sweet kiss.
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
It was the most decadent kiss Charlie had ever tasted, and overflowing with hope. When he lifted her into his arms to carry her out of his office and into his bedroom, she deepened the kiss until her heart beat recklessly.
Their kiss was gentle and rough all at once, sweet and desperate. They rolled over on the bed until she was straddling him, and he reached up to smooth her hair back as it fell in a curtain over them. “I believe in love,” he said softly. “And I’ve loved you from the very first moment.” His gaze roamed her face like a touch. “But I grew up believing love wasn’t enough.”
She leaned her forehead against his. “It can be.”
“You’re teaching me that. Teaching me that we aren’t my parents and we don’t have to drag each other down. We don’t have to be toxic to each other even if we’re not exactly the same, even if some of our passions and hobbies are different. I should have learned a lot more from Susan and Bob than I did from my parents.”
She nuzzled his hair. “It just took longer to understand that you could break the cycle your parents were stuck in.”
He nodded so slightly it was barely there.
“Love goes wrong because of the two people involved,” she told him. “It doesn’t have to be that way for us, not if we’re willing to work at it.”
He stroked beneath the fall of hair at her nape. “Loving you isn’t work. But I don’t know if I’ll be able to stop trying to help you in any way I can.”
She held his face in her palms. “You wouldn’t be you if you did. And I wouldn’t love you so much if you weren’t true to yourself the way I need to be true to who I am. I didn’t see us as a partnership before, but now I do. And partners support each other. They share the cost, both physical and emotional.”
“I will share anything and everything with you. You tell me what you need. I’ll tell you what I need. Then like you said, we’ll figure it out.” He spread his hands. “All those parties, the people...I like to play there, but you, the Mavericks, Bob and Susan, that’s my world. So if you want to attend a party with me, then you’ll come. If you’d rather stay home to work or catch up on lessons or whatever, then that’s what you’ll do. I want you to be happy. We’re not joined at the hip. I just want to come home to you.”
“Home,” she whispered. “I like the sound of that.”
“You pick and choose your commissions. If it doesn’t inspire you, don’t do it.”
“Or maybe when they ask for a cherub, I’ll tell them they need a pterodactyl instead.”
He laughed. Truly the most beautiful, wonderful man she’d ever known.
“God, I love you.” She threw herself into him, hugging hard and tight, with all her breath, with everything in her.
“Then move in with me for good. Tonight. Now. Share my bed. Fall asleep in my arms every night. Wake up beside me every single morning.”