Pride and Papercuts (The Austens #5) - Staci Hart Page 0,100

face when I balked, and with knowledge of me no one else possessed, he told me the truth of my heart.

That what I wanted was my family, but I’d been too stubborn to admit it.

It was the hairline crack in a hatching egg, a realization that pecked and stretched until the shell broke and fell away. Had I always wanted to be a part of Longbourne? The answer was yes, but it’d been buried under so much willful refusal that I didn’t even realize I was carrying a cross I’d foisted on myself. Not my mother. Not my siblings. I’d manifested the entire thing, simply because I didn’t want anyone to dictate my life, even if my dreams were in alignment with what they wanted.

When I told Jett I wanted to go back, you’d have thought he’d been let out of prison, he was so relieved. He practically shoved me out the door and into a cab to go tell our family. A week later, he and Georgie found a place in the Village where he’d be close to Longbourne, and I moved in with Liam.

It’d been fast and probably reckless, but there was no denying who we were and what we wanted. I was certain of so few things in my life, but being with him was the one thing I didn’t question. He was a lazy stream after a life of rapids, a luxuriant joy. We joked that if we could survive our explosive courtship, we could survive nearly anything. All we had to do was trust each other with our truths and share those truths with each other, without fear, a promise we’d both made and kept.

He smiled down at me, his bottomless eyes twinkling. “I requested this song, you know.”

“What?” I asked on a laugh. “Why?”

“I had a wrong to right. I told you once I’d never dance with you, in a bar, to a Lionel Richie song. But the truth is, I’d dance with you anywhere, any time, to any song. Especially Lionel Richie.”

“Who knew ‘Say You, Say Me’ had such profound meaning to you.”

“Only now that I’ve danced to it with you,” he said against my lips before he took them for his.

The dance slowed to a sway so we could concentrate on what was important, the kiss carrying on until someone bumped into us.

“Get a room!” Georgie called before Jett spun them away, smiling.

And the air was ripe with joy.

“Can we go home now?” he asked, his lips against the shell of my ear.

“Why, Mr. Darcy—anxious to unwrap something or another?”

“Since I saw you walk down the stairs tonight. You’re all I’ve been able to think about. You’re all I’m ever able to think about.” He pressed a kiss to the place where my cheek met my hairline.

“I know the feeling. Should we say goodbye or opt for a French exit?”

“French. Always French.”

He took my hand, and with those immovable smiles, we threaded through the crowd and out the door, unnoticed by Collin and Ruby, who were busy canoodling at their post.

Liam stepped to the curb, lifting a hand with a whistle splitting his lips, and within seconds, a taxi pulled up, its exhaust huffing in the cold, December air. Feather-light snow danced in the headlight beams, melting the moment it touched the pavement.

The cab was warm, but I slid into Liam all the same, grateful for his arm around me and the velvet of his bespoke coat against my bare skin. Once he gave directions, we settled in, silently watching the city beyond the windows with that bone deep contentment that only comes in those moments of perfect happiness.

It was nearly Christmas, and the trees lining the traverse across Central Park were strung with lights. It was that magical time of year when dreams came true and new beginnings were around the corner. And I felt that change, felt the shift slowing as we neared our destination.

Because I had him, and suddenly, the world was easy.

I wondered if it would always be this way. Would we always be so happy? It didn’t seem fair, to have so much. But after so long with so little, I knew what I had without question.

It was a gift I wouldn’t waste.

We made it home just as I’d dozed off. When he exited, he reached in for my hand and helped me out, my limbs heavy and tired. Still we were quiet—me in the warm dust of sleep and Liam turned inward. But I didn’t mind,