“We can’t go back to the house. The press will be all over it by now.” He answered her unspoken question as they headed in the opposite direction from his quiet neighborhood.

When he turned onto to the familiar street that she’d once called home in the Westminster area, she looked at him in surprise.

“What are we doing here?” He stopped the car in front of her former apartment building. “We’re going inside.” He smiled at her confusion but didn’t say anything further. Jack got out of the car and opened the door for her but Megan didn’t budge.

“Please, Megan. Just trust me.”

She took his hand and stepped out of the car. Painful memories of all the times they’d spent together in her tiny apartment crowded in. She couldn’t speak. She waited quietly beside him as he unlocked the door and held it open for her.

Everything about the apartment remained the same as the day she’d left it that last time. She walked through each room of her former home while Jack stood silently waiting for her by the door.

“Why?” She somehow managed to get the word out over the painful lump that formed in her throat.

His expression said it all. For the first time she truly understood how difficult her leaving had been for Jack.

“Oh Jack, I’m so sorry.” She ran into his open arms. “I’m so sorry.”

He held her as if he believed she might leave him again. “I know. It’s not your fault.”

“It is!” She realized she was crying. “I didn’t listen to what you were trying to tell me. All I heard was you were going back to Rebecca.” She pulled back a little so that she could see his expression. At the sight of her tears, Jack’s face crumbled.

“Don’t. Please don’t cry, Megan. Please.”

She brushed away the tears and tried to tell him the things she needed him to understand. “I’m okay. I’m okay, Jack. Please, just listen.”

“I’m listening.” And he was. He was hanging on every one of her words.

“I never stopped loving you. No matter what happened. No matter how hard I tried. Through the years. I never stopped loving you. And no matter what happens this time, I need you to know that I’ll never stop believing in you, or loving you until the day I die.” His lips claimed hers once more. At first, gently but then with each new touch, each whispered word of comfort, the passion they’d both buried deep within their hearts ignited into a need that could no longer be denied.

“Make love to me, Jack.” As she watched, he drew in shaky breath. His eyes darkened to the color of the sea after a storm. She pushed her fingers into his hair, bringing his mouth to hers once more. She couldn’t get close enough to him. Six years she’d waited for his touch. Longed for it. She would never be close enough. Her lips urged his apart. He still tasted the same. Her fingers slid to his chest. They shook as she found each button on his shirt. When the last button came free, she pushed it away from his body. Her lips broke free of his long enough to look at him. His body was beautiful. Lean. Hard. The same as she remembered in all of her dreams”¦