his way to the front door. Owen had promised Rhys he could escort Wren to the hotel so long as he called the office as soon as Wren was checked in. He wasn’t used to being micromanaged, but nothing could upset him now.
Sean was in custody. Wren was safe.
He walked over to Wren’s apartment and knocked. This was it, confession time. When she swung the door open, he was greeted with a sight that almost tore his heart in two. Wren’s face was swollen and puffy, and her cheeks were mottled with patches of pink and red.
“Don’t stare at me like that,” she said, dropping her eyes to the floor. “I know I look hideous. I’m an ugly crier.”
“You couldn’t be ugly if you tried, Wren.” He reached out and brushed his thumb along her cheek. “On the inside or the outside.”
She held the door open for him, her eyes avoiding his. The second he stepped into her apartment he saw the small collection of boxes in the spot where her couch used to be. They were haphazardly stacked and didn’t appear to be labeled.
“Heading home so soon?” he asked, fighting back the hurt that trickled through him like a toxin.
“Kylie is coming to get me tomorrow. Owen said they’d need me to come back at some point to testify against Sean, but I could go and be with my family for now.” She drew her bottom lip between her teeth.
The careful speech he’d planned—and practiced—seemed to evaporate on the spot. He wanted to be with her more than anything, but facing her rejection was tearing him apart. Suddenly he felt like that desperate kid he’d always been, the one who’d craved his mother’s attention. Who’d tried—and failed—to fit in with his new family. Who’d just wanted to be accepted.
“Are you taking me to the hotel?” She wrapped her arms around herself.
“Yeah.” He nodded. “But, uh…I wanted to talk to you about something first.”
“Sure. I haven’t got anywhere for us to sit, though.” She looked around. “And everything is all packed up so I can’t make us coffee.”
“I don’t need any of that.” He ran a hand over his hair and willed himself not to chicken out. “I wanted to apologize for the other day. I shouldn’t have said the things I did.”
“It’s okay. I know I jump into some things headfirst.” A smile tugged at her lips. “You can add ‘impulsive’ to my list of undesirable traits along with messy and clumsy.”
“Wren, nothing about you is undesirable. The truth is, I was scared shitless about you going in there today. But more than that…” His mouth was suddenly drier than desert air. “I was lashing out because I was hurt. I was hoping you’d want to stay with me, and when you said you were going home I threw it back in your face.”
“The things you said weren’t exactly false. I do hide behind other people’s problems.” Her head bobbed. “I realized that today. I’ve spent so long ‘not being good enough’ that I felt like I needed to do things for people so they would like me.”
“People like you for who you are, Wren. Not what you do for them.”
“I understand that now. Kylie and Debbie will love me no matter what, and my parents still love me even though I might not be the successful child.”
“What about me?” he asked, taking a step forward.
“What about you?” Her face tilted up, eyes wide.
The moment he reached for her hands he remembered all the things he wanted to say. “Do you know that I’ll love you no matter what? Do you know that I’ll do anything to be with you, Wren? I can’t let you go without laying it out.”
“You love me?”
“I do.” He pulled her closer and she curled into him, her head resting against his chest. “You make me feel…real. When you painted me, I was floored. No one has ever looked at me like that before.”
“What do you mean?”
“Like they weren’t trying to figure something out. When I was growing up, a lot of people would compare me to Marc or Mom. They didn’t understand how I belonged, if I was adopted. If I was black or white. And then Mom didn’t really look at me at all.” He paused.
“I just painted what I saw.”
“I like seeing myself through your eyes.”
“Did you just compliment yourself?” She raised a brow and he laughed.
“I guess I did.”
“Good. It’s about time.” Her fingers traced the buttons on his shirt. “You’re so hard on yourself, it must be exhausting.”
“It really is.”
As he cradled her, the silk of her hair was soft under his palm. He was braced for her rejection, but painful as it would be, he knew he’d never forgive himself if he hadn’t told her the truth.
“I can’t figure out why someone like you would love someone like me,” she said quietly. “I don’t bring anything to the table. I barely function as an adult.”
“You are an adult. Look at what you’ve done today—you do a lot of good, Wren. You’re fearless. The world needs more people as strong as you.”
“I don’t care what the world needs, Rhys. I only care what you need.”
“You.” Rhys slid his hands up her neck and tangled them into her hair. “I need to wake up to your beautiful face every morning and see you looking at me like I matter. Like we matter.”
“You’re not going to change your mind?”
“No way. I’ve never needed anything more.” His lips came down to hers, soft at first and then hungry. Desperate.
“I was going to come and see you before I went to the hotel.”
“Really?” He brushed a strand of hair from her forehead. “What was your plan?”
“Silly, I don’t do plans.” She pressed her lips to his chest. “I had no idea what I was going to say. I just knew that I couldn’t leave without asking whether you regretted the way we ended things. Because I did. I regret it so much.”
“You don’t have to regret it.” He lowered his forehead to hers. “Stay.”
“Okay,” she breathed.
“Okay?” He never would have believed that such a benign word would one day cause the best change in his life.
“But first I need to go home and make sure Kylie and my family are okay after everything that’s happened. Then I’ll pack up my things and tell them that I’m moving here to be with the man I love.”
“All right, but I’m coming with you.”
“Deal.” A laugh bubbled up in her throat. “What am I going to do for work when I’m back in
