Third Life - Noelle Adams Page 0,80
his eyes at my unexpected presence here. He opens his mouth to say something, but I don’t give him the chance.
I close the office door and then close the distance between us, pushing him back against the one free wall in the room and kissing him hard.
He kisses me back immediately, one hand coming up to hold my head in place and his lips eager, urgent. But after a short time, he pulls away, scanning my face almost desperately. “Gillian?”
“What?” I kiss him again.
This one lasts even longer. Richard really gets into it, turning us around so I’m the one trapped against the wall. My whole body hums. Sings. Cries out to the heavens about how glorious it is.
How right.
But he pulls away again eventually. “Baby, what’s happening here?”
“I’m kissing you.”
“I know that, but why?”
“Because I want to.”
“Why do you want to?” His eyes never stop moving as they look for an answer on my face. “Please tell me why. Please tell me whether I can... I can hope.”
“You can hope,” I say, unable to stop smiling. “You can hope all you want. I don’t want to ever stop kissing you.”
He gasps softly and takes my head in both his hands, tilting it up to face him. “Really? Seriously?”
“Yes. Seriously. You love me.” I’m beaming like a fool.
He frowns. “Um, yes. But how does that suddenly make the difference? It’s not exactly a new revelation to you, is it?”
“No. But I suddenly... I don’t know... I suddenly believe it. For real. I finally trust that it’s real. You love me, and I can believe that it’s real. It’s going to last. And I love you too. No matter what I thought I wanted, it’s never going to go away.”
He makes a rough groan and pulls me into a hard hug. “I do love you, Gillian. I love you so much.”
“I know. I love you too.”
He pulls away to check my face again. “And you’ve forgiven me? You think you can trust me?”
“Yes. I can trust you. I can see how you’re trying. I can see how much you’ve changed. I’m so proud of you. Happy for you. I want to... I want to share your new life with you. It’s not enough to just be your friend. I want to be everything.”
He hugs me again, and this time he’s shaking. Literally shaking. With emotion. Maybe even with tears. His head is buried against the crook of my neck, so I can’t see his face.
I don’t need to. I know exactly what he’s feeling because I’m feeling it too.
He’s happier than he’s ever been in his life.
And I am too. Right there in the back office of a coffee shop, with the sounds of the world going on just outside the door.
I never actually believed I would get here. It is a new life for me. A third life. But it’s also just my life.
And from now on that life will be lived with Richard.
THE FUNNY THING IS the world doesn’t clear all obstacles out of the road for my climactic reconciliation with Richard. The coffee shop gets really busy all of a sudden, so he needs to help out behind the counter. I’ve got a shopping date planned with Ashley, and it seems silly to cancel when Richard needs to work, so I go ahead and meet her like we’d planned.
She’s thrilled for me. With complete and unqualified excitement. The reservations that she and Sean had about Richard before have been cleared up with the past months’ proof of his attempts to build a new life for himself. She even cries when I tell her that Richard and I are back together.
Then she explains she’s partly crying because of hormones. She’s three months pregnant.
So it’s a very good couple of hours even though part of me is itching to get back to Richard.
I head back to my apartment when we’re done, texting Richard that I’m home and he can come over whenever he’s able to get away. I really have no idea what time that will be. Since he’s the owner and not a member of the staff, he can leave whenever he wants. But he doesn’t like to take off when they need his help. So I figure he’ll show up in a couple of hours.
He shows up fifteen minutes after I text him.
“Hi,” I say, smiling rather sappily as I open my apartment door and see him standing there with his thick hair, tailored trousers and Oxford, and