He looked at her for a moment, then slipped his hands around her waist. "Do you know how much I love you?"
"Tell me again." she said, smiling as she placed her hands on his chest.
He gave her a quick kiss. "I don't think I ever got over you."
"Definitely likewise." she responded.
"You were right, you know." he added. "Until you walked away, I'd never had the experience of being dumped. It was a bitter pill, especially since I'd been crazy about you."
Her heart swelled. "Walking away from you was one of the hardest things I've ever done, even though I believed at the time that you'd cheated."
"I got a necessary dose of humility." he admitted. "After that I toned down the playboy lifestyle and focused on building up the Garrison Grand."
"And got wonderful results for it" she said. "The Garrison Grand is considered the premier hotel in South Beach."
"Thanks, but I consider my greatest accomplishment to be Jade."
Her heart spilled over. "I feel the same way." she said softly.
He gave her a lingering kiss. "You hold my heart in your hands. You always have."
She raised her hand and stroked his face. "I never would have guessed. You looked so forbidding the day you walked into my office at Elkind Ross."
"I was angry." he said, giving her a lopsided smile, "but I was determined to get you back in my bed."
"Oh?" She arched a brow.
"No woman has turned me on as much as you do." he said. "I was determined to reignite our affair and break it off only when I wanted to this time. Of course I wasn't yet admitting to myself that time might be never"
"Silly man." she said, her eyes misting. "So desperate, you had to blackmail me into marrying you."
"Not one of my finer moments." he admitted. "I wanted to believe I was in control, but the reality was the opposite."
He was laying himself bare for her and joy bubbled up inside her again. Before either of them could say anything else, however, the doorbell rang.
"Jade." she said.
Stephen nodded. “I’ll get it."
Moments later, he walked back into the kitchen, trailing an exuberant Jade Parker and Anna followed behind.
“Mommy!" Jade rushed forward, and Megan bent and wrapped her daughter in her arms.
"I played board games with Aunt Anna and Uncle Parker! And I got ice cream! And Gillian's party was great, and—"
Everyone laughed.
"Slow down there." Stephen said, ruffling Jades hair.
Megan watched as Anna looked at her a question in her eyes.
"Is everything okay?" Anna asked, her gaze going from her to Stephen.
“Perfect now." Megan said.
Stephen slipped his arm around her and pulled Jade close to him with his other.
Megan smiled at Anna, trying to communicate that everything truly was fine now. The message seemed to come across because, after a moment, her sister-in law smiled back and squeezed Parkers hand.
"Now that I've been to Gillian's house I know what I want!" Jade piped up.
"What?" she and Stephen asked in unison.
"A little brother or sister." Jade announced, then ducked under Stephen's arm and skipped away. “I get to tell them what to do!"
Megan felt herself heat, and Stephen laughed.
Anna and Parker looked amused but knowing.
"Uh-oh." Stephen said. "I think we’re in trouble."
"She's definitely your daughter." Megan teased, looking up at him with her heart in her eyes, "and we've definitely come home to stay."