“Show's over, people. Back to work.”
Nobody moved. If anything, the applause got louder. Someone, I was pretty sure it was Marcus from legal, wolf-whistled.
I should have been embarrassed. The old Xavier would have played it up, turned it into a performance, deflected with charm.
This Xavier just held Kim tighter and grinned like an idiot.
Some things were worth looking stupid for.
I had Kim in my arms. I had my family's company safe. I had a future that looked nothing like the empty, charming wasteland I'd been wandering through for thirty years.
For the first time in my life, I had everything I wanted. The company was safe. My brother didn't hate me. Kim was in my arms. And somewhere across the city, a five-year-old girl with her mother's eyes was waiting for me to come home.
Home. When had Kim's tiny apartment started feeling like home?
Didn't matter. It did now.
And I was never letting go.
20KIM
Two weeks.
Two weeks since Cole Matthews had fled Dubois Industries like the building was on fire. Two weeks since the lawyers had confirmed the contract was void, the company was safe, and Cole's career was effectively over. Two weeks since Xavier had kissed me in front of the entire office and told me he wanted everything.
Two weeks of being deliriously, terrifyingly happy.
I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop. For the universe to remember that Kim Young didn't get happy endings. But every morning I woke up, and Xavier was still there, still looking at me like I was something worth keeping.
Maybe the universe had forgotten about me. I wasn't about to remind it.
I glanced at him now, his profile illuminated by the afternoon sun streaming through the windshield. Strong jaw, tousled hair, the hint of a smile playing at the corner of his mouth. He drove the way he did everything—relaxed but confident, one hand on the wheel, completely at ease in his own skin.
I'd been so foolish. Those hours on the plane back from Hawaii, convinced he was pulling away, certain I was reliving thesame pattern I'd survived with Cole. I'd built my walls back up brick by brick, preparing for the inevitable abandonment.
Instead, he'd punched Cole in the face. Twice.
And then he'd held me while I fell apart. And then he'd fixed everything. And then he'd asked me to marry him in front of an entire office building like a lunatic.
Some men sent flowers when they screwed up. Xavier Dubois committed felony assault and public declarations of love.
I was starting to think I had a type.
"You're staring."
I blinked, heat creeping up my neck. "I'm not staring."
"You're absolutely staring." Xavier's grin widened, his eyes still on the road. "Not that I blame you. I am devastatingly handsome."
"And so humble."
"Humility is overrated." He shot me a sideways glance. "But seriously. You've been watching me for the last ten minutes. Do I have something on my face?"
"Maybe I just like looking at you." I reached over and traced a finger along his jaw. "Maybe I can watch you all I want now."
His grin softened into something warmer. "Yeah. You can."
"Mommy and Xavier are being mushy again," Zoe announced from the backseat.