KISS AND MAKE-UP (13 page)

He just wondered if he had been wise to admit it to her.
But she feels it, too,
he acknowledged. Cassie had revealed her feelings and the emotion shining in her blue eyes had shown without a doubt that she spoke the truth.

So, he loved her and she loved him. But what would happen now, he had absolutely no idea. Because love hadn’t been enough the last time, not when real life had set in.

Rolling to the side of the bed, he decided to put off thinking about anything outside this hotel room and just go climb into the shower with the woman he loved. The thought of getting wet and soapy with her suddenly made him feel a lot more wide awake. But before he’d taken a step, someone knocked on the door to the room.

He considered ignoring it, since he was certain he’d put the Do Not Disturb sign on the knob last night. But whoever was knocking wasn’t giving up. The intrusive sound grew louder, more insistent.

“Dammit,” he muttered, looking around the room for something to put on. When he spied his trousers on the floor, he grabbed them and yanked them up, zipping them as he stalked to the door.

Figuring he was about to see a maid who wanted to get the room done, Wyatt yanked the door open. Instead of a maid, he saw a sixtyish, gray-haired man, with an attractive middle-aged blond woman by his side.

The woman’s eyes widened and the man’s jaw dropped.

“Yes?” Wyatt said, wishing he’d grabbed his shirt, too.

“Is this Cassandra Devane’s room?” the man asked.

He nodded, wondering who these people were. But his question was quickly answered. Because from behind him, he heard Cassie’s voice. “Dad? Mother?”

Her parents? Holy shit, her parents were at the door and he was standing here in only an unbuttoned pair of pants! And right behind him was a hotel bed that looked like a herd of kindergarteners had been jumping on it all night.

The older man—Cassie’s father—pushed into the room. “So this is what you’ve been up to? Why you’ve been missing work?” he said to Cassie, his jaw as stiff as stone.

Cassie’s mother remained in the hallway, her face coloring. “Larry, maybe we should come back later.”

Mr. Devane was, by now, glaring at Wyatt. Wyatt merely crossed his arms and leaned against the wall, raising an expectant brow. If Cassie’s father was going to berate him, Wyatt was going to come back at the man with exactly what he thought of his parenting skills.

Cassie stepped between them. “What are you doing here?”

“We came to bring you home,” Devane snapped. “Your grandmother confessed that she sent you off on some ridiculous quest to find yourself and you’ve been ignoring your responsibilities. You need to return to New York. The company doesn’t run itself, you know.” He cast a derisive look at Wyatt. “This isn’t like you to forget everything you’re
supposed
to be doing.”

Cassie didn’t say anything for a second, looking as stunned as Wyatt felt about the intrusion into their sensual cocoon. At least Cassie had some clothes on, but she still looked vulnerable, with bare feet and her hair wrapped in a towel.

She also looked more beautiful to him than any other woman in the world.

Wyatt waited, wondering what she was going to say, though he suspected he already knew. Damn, he wished the moment of truth hadn’t come quite so soon. He’d have liked to spend a little more time with her—being with her,
loving
her—before having to watch her choose to be the eager-to-please daughter rather than the passionate woman.
His
woman. His wife.

Money wasn’t the issue this time—he no longer mistakenly believed Cassie needed the cash that came with her family’s lifestyle. Besides, he certainly was no longer the poor kid he’d once been. Of course, he was nowhere in the Devane family league either. But he didn’t believe that mattered to Cassie.

What he wasn’t at all sure about was whether or not Cassie had ever lost that need to keep her parents happy, to have their approval. As she had all those years ago, she was standing between her parents and Wyatt, and her parents were trying to pull her away.

He couldn’t bear to see her make the choice and he loved her too much to stand here and pressure her into it. Something in him couldn’t stand to watch it in person. “You know what?” he said, his throat tight. “I’m going to give you some time alone.”

After grabbing his shirt off the edge of a chair and his shoes from the floor, he walked past Cassandra’s father toward the door. He needed to get away from the Devanes before he exploded with the resentment he’d carried toward them for the past eight years—a resentment rooted in the knowledge that their coldness had been at least partly responsible for the divorce. They’d given their daughter money and demands when what she’d wanted was their love and support. Then Wyatt had tossed that hated money into her face and allowed it to tear them apart.

But before he could get out with his emotions still somewhat in check, Cassie grabbed his arm. “Wyatt…”

He touched her hand lightly, then shook his head. He didn’t want to have this conversation here, in front of her parents. One thing he would not be able to bear were any excuses, apologies or explanations. He didn’t want to hear Cassie tell him she had to go back to her real life, her family. Without him.

So he didn’t wait around to hear it. Instead, he met her steady stare and spoke what was in his heart. There was, really, nothing else to say.

“I love you, Cassie. I always have. You know where to find me.” Shaking off her hand, he took one step to the door. Then he paused, adding, “I hope the next time I see you at my door it’s to hear you say you never want to leave.”

Then he walked out of the room, leaving the Devane family staring after him.

C
assie was so
mad at Wyatt she could scream. She couldn’t believe he’d walked out of her room a moment ago, visibly wounded and angry. He’d acted as if he just knew she was going to do something stupid…like throw away the incredible connection they’d found again.

She had absolutely no intention of doing that. Zero. She might have come to Boston questioning her life and the road she was on, but now her questions were answered. Her future was set and it was all wrapped up in Wyatt Reston—the man she was going to smack for walking out on her, right before she was going to throw herself into his arms and tell him that he was still her husband.

But first, there were her parents to deal with. “What are you doing in Boston?” she asked as she reached into her suitcase and grabbed some socks and shoes. If she was going to be running after Wyatt, she ought to have her sneakers on.

“We were worried. You practically disappeared off the face of the earth for three weeks. First to Texas, then we found out you were in Boston. Only your grandmother had any idea what you were doing.”

A brush. Where was her hairbrush? “My office knew where I was and how to reach me at all times,” she said absently, wondering if Wyatt had made it out of the building yet.

“You hardly ever called the house!”

“I hardly ever call you when I’m home,” she said in her own defense. “Because
you’re
almost never home.”

“Well, we’ve been home for the past three weeks, and
you
were not,” her father said. “Cassandra, are you even listening to me?”

She looked up from tying her shoes. “Not particularly, Dad. Were you saying anything important?”

His face grew red and suddenly her mother took his arm. “Larry, I think it’s time for us to go. Cassandra’s obviously got something pretty serious going on in her life right now.”

Shooting her mother a grateful look, Cassie grabbed her purse and dug out her tiny brush. It wouldn’t make much headway on her tangled curls, but it was better than her fingers.

“I can tell how serious,” he father said, with a disdainful look at the rumpled bed.

The old Cassie—the girl she’d once been—might have been ashamed or embarrassed by her father’s obvious derision. This Cassie—the ball-breaking executive—might have been outraged and told him where to go.

But she’d changed. She wasn’t either of those women anymore. Nor was she an immature, hungry-to-please daughter trying to find anyone to blame for the mistakes she’d made.

She and Wyatt had been responsible for what had happened in their past. She had decided what her parents would think and how they would react all those years ago—never really giving them the chance to prove, one way or another, how they felt about her husband. God, they’d never even met the man, because she hadn’t been strong enough to force the issue.

That was another fault to lay at her feet. She’d wronged her parents, too, in some ways. But she wouldn’t make the same mistake.
Any
of the same mistakes!

It was Cassie the mature, independent woman—Wyatt’s woman—who answered. “Dad, I’m going to say this once and only once. That man who just walked out of here was, is and always will be the love of my life. I will be with him until the day I die. I denied you the chance to get to know him on honest, open terms the last time. Now, I’m hoping you’ll give
all
of us a chance to come together the right way.”

Her mother sucked in a quick, shocked breath. “Was that…”

She nodded. “That was Wyatt Reston.” Her head went up and her back straightened with pride. “My husband.”

“You mean your ex-husband.” Even her father’s frown began to ease. “I didn’t realize you were even still in touch with him. Are you…all right?”

Her parents were watching her closely, probably looking for signs of the completely dejected, heartbroken girl who’d sobbed in their arms after her divorce. Cassie gave them a reassuring smile. “I’m fine. I’m better than fine—I’m going to be absolutely terrific. I just need to go after my still-husband—apparently our divorce was more of a failure than the first year of our marriage.”

Both her parents looked stunned. “Are you serious?” asked her mother.

“Yep.”

“How do you know?”

“Grandmother told me. I guess she was doing some legal paperwork and found out from her attorneys.”

Her mother frowned, biting her lip and looking away. “How strange.”

“I don’t know whether I’m going to move my job here, or commute for a while or what, but I am not letting him get away.” Narrowing her eyes, she added, “And I will never let anyone or anything come between us ever again. Not even my own self-doubts.”

Her parents stared at her for a long moment, but Cassie barely noticed as she closed her purse and stood. She was too busy wondering if Wyatt was already out of the parking garage. Probably.

Heading for the door, she glanced over her shoulder at her parents. “Well?”

They looked at one another and she’d swear they smiled a little. “Well,” her father said, “whenever you two get around to it, please do invite us over for dinner this time, all right?”

Her mother’s smile was slightly more secretive. “And I’d bet your grandmother would like to come, too.”

Giving them an appreciative smile, she blew her parents a kiss and walked out.

Wyatt really thought
about going directly to the office after he left Cassie’s hotel, but he knew there was no point. He wouldn’t be able to get any work done because he couldn’t focus on anything except the look in her eyes when he’d left her there with her parents. But he’d had to do it. Cassie needed to decide what she wanted.

He only hoped and prayed it was him.

As he drove back to his apartment, he also acknowledged the other reason he couldn’t go to work. Considering he was wearing the same shirt and trousers he’d had on yesterday—with nothing underneath—a trip home to change was definitely in order.

Once he’d reached his apartment, he went into his bedroom and stripped off his clothes. He’d just turned the water on for a hot, steamy shower when he heard a loud knocking on his front door. He was instantly reminded of that moment, just about an hour ago, when a knock on Cassie’s hotel door had interrupted everything good in his life.

Was it really only an hour ago? It seemed like an eternity.

He at first intended to ignore the knocking, but some residual spark of optimism demanded that he at least see who it was. After turning off the shower and wrapping a towel around his waist, he went to look out the peephole, almost holding his breath.

Seeing her familiar reddish-blond curls, Wyatt began to smile. Then to laugh. Because she’d chosen him. She’d chosen
them.
He knew it the way he’d known he would love her forever the day he met her on the beach in Florida so many years ago.

He yanked open the door and reached for her, only to have her whack him in the chest with her small fist.

“Hey!” he exclaimed.

“You jerk. I can’t believe you walked out on me.”

His lips twitched.

“Don’t laugh at me unless you want me to hit you again.”

“Oh, I’m shakin’ in my shoes.”

Her gaze dropped to his bare feet, then slowly traveled back up. Her pretty cheeks pinkened as she realized he was wearing nothing but a towel.

Wyatt reached around her and pushed the door shut. Giving Cassie his full attention, he smiled at her and reached out again. This time she came into his arms with a gentle sigh. “Don’t ever leave me again.”