Inevitable (18 page)

T
HE NIGHT WAS A BLUR
.
At the end of it, before they'd had much of a chance to talk everything out, Ryan headed back to his motel to gather up his belongings and Emma crashed for a couple hours of sleep. Patrick had asked to see both of them in his office first thing the next morning.

They arrived separately, but walked together to his office. The news of what had happened with Charlotte and Stephen wasn't yet common knowledge, so Ryan was met with glares by agents working the Sunday morning shift.

“It's okay,” Emma said to him, reaching down to grab his hand. “It won't be much longer before everyone knows the truth.”

“It's a relief,” he said. “Can't lie about that.”

“A celebration is in order.”

“I totally agree.”

“Come in.” Patrick beckoned for them to enter his office. “Close the door.”

They did as he asked and stood in front of his desk as he sorted through some paperwork. “Please, sit down.”

There were two chairs across from him and they each
sat. Finally, Patrick folded his hands in front of him and looked across at Ryan, his expression somber.

“First of all, on behalf of myself and PARA, I want to extend my deepest apologies for the mistakes made six months ago. You were unjustly fired. I personally thought the evidence spoke for itself, but it goes to show that anyone can be fooled now and then.”

The apology made Emma sigh in relief. It felt like it was a very long time coming. That it had all turned out for the best made her truly happy for Ryan.

Ryan nodded. “I appreciate that, Patrick. Honestly, if I'd been in your shoes, I would have done the same thing.”

“Maybe, or maybe you would have take a little extra time, ignored the work piling up on your desk, and investigated a little deeper. Since you're an empath, I wasn't able to get a read on you. I realize just how much I rely on my ability to tell me who's lying and who's telling the truth. It wasn't an asset in this case. And for that I'm truly sorry.”

Ryan reached across the desk and shook Patrick's hand. “I accept your apology. Thank you.”

Emma grinned and rubbed his arm.

“Now, there's the matter of whether or not you'd be interested in coming back to PARA. You were a good agent.”

Emma held her breath, waiting to hear his response. Maybe he'd stay in Mystic Ridge. With her. Ever since the fake Ryan had told her he wasn't interested in anything more than a fling, she'd been doubting what she and Ryan had. To her it was something special. Too bad she was a clairvoyant, not a mind reader.

“Thank you so much, Patrick.” Ryan smiled. “I can't say I'm not tempted. In fact, if you'd asked me only a few
weeks ago, I might have considered it. But too much has changed. I've changed. There are other paths for me to take.”

Patrick nodded. “I completely understand. If you ever change your mind, just know there is a place for you here.”

Emma's throat burned and she swallowed hard. “Patrick, I'm wondering why you needed to see me too this morning. It sounds like this is more between the two of you.”

Patrick regarded her. “You I
can
read, Emma. I sensed that you'd want to be here, to find out first-hand what Ryan's plans are and whether they'd include coming back here.”

“Well, obviously that's not what's going to happen.”

“No. It's not.” Patrick stood up from his desk. “I have some other business to attend to. Please feel free to use my office to privately discuss any further matters you have. Take care, Ryan, wherever your path leads you. You too, Emma.”

Emma frowned, confused by what he'd said. “Okay.”

Patrick left them alone.

She studied the edge of the desk in front of her. “So I guess this is it, isn't it?”

“What?”

“You're going to Florida to work with your brother. I—I just want to say how great it was to see you again. And I'm sorry, just like Patrick is, for ever doubting you. You're a good man, Ryan. One of the best and I'm—” She cleared her throat and felt the sting of tears threatening to spill. “I'm going to miss you so much.”

There was silence for a long moment before she finally looked up. He was staring at her with an unidentifiable expression on his face.

“What?” she asked.

“So that's it? Thanks for the fling, send me a postcard from Florida?”

She shook her head. “What else can there be?”

His lips curved. “You are something, you know that, Em?”

A frown creased her brow. “I'm sorry, I'm not really following.”

He searched her face. “Just because I'm not coming to work at PARA, it doesn't mean I'm in any damn hurry to leave Mystic Ridge.”

She blinked at him. “What?”

“My gut tells me that I'm meant to do something else for a living. I was sure it was working with my brother. It's a great opportunity. But…” He shook his head. “That was before I fell head over heels in love with you.” He took her hands in his.

She swallowed hard, not believing her ears. “In love with me?”

“I thought that was kind of obvious.”

“It… I… But last night you said…” She trailed off. Wait a minute. That hadn't been “her” Ryan. It had been the impostor who'd been cruel to her, making her feel as if he was in hurry to leave town. “You really want to be with me?”

Ryan laughed a little under his breath. “You're making me work damn hard for this, aren't you?”

“I'm not trying to be difficult, I'm just… I just don't—”

He captured her face between his hands and kissed her deeply. “I love you, Emma Black. You and I were meant to be together. It's inevitable, don't you see that?”

Her heart pounded so hard she could hear it in her ears. Her breath came fast and shallow. Her lips tingled
from his kiss and her body ached for him to touch her, to make love to her again.

Still, she pulled back from him and frowned. “You're wrong, Ryan.”

His expression fell. “I'm wrong?”

Emma walked to the door and opened it, glancing back at Ryan over her shoulder. He stared after her bleakly.

“Patrick,” she called. “Can you come back here for a moment?”

The silence stretched between them until Patrick returned a few moments later.

“What is it?” he asked.

She inhaled deeply before exhaling. “I love working for PARA but—but I need to give you my two week's notice.”

He raised an eyebrow. “You're quitting your job?”

“Yes.”

“May I ask why?”

She exhaled. “I think you already know why. You're empathic.”

Patrick glanced over at Ryan who was staring at the both of them with an expression of complete and utter confusion on his face.

“What's going on here?” Ryan asked.

Patrick smiled. “You don't know? I knew your empathic abilities were a bit on the shaky side, but come on, Ryan. Really?”

Emma was a bit surprised as well. Ryan hadn't even tried to read her today. If he had, he'd likely know exactly how she was feeling.

Ryan looked at them each in turn. “You are both messing with me now, aren't you?”

“Maybe a little.” Patrick's smile grew. “Let me spell it out for you. Emma is madly in love with you
and she wants to quit her job so the two of you can be together.”

Ryan's blue eyes widened. “Is that true?”

Emma grinned at him. “Well, not
totally
true. I mean, this isn't 1950 or anything. I have another book in my head so I'm going take the time to write it. I know that working with your brother is everything you've ever wanted and I refuse to let you give that up. So it's simple. You were willing to stay here for me. Well, I'm willing to go to Florida to be with you. That is, if—if you want me to.”

He looked at her with shock before a smile spread across his face. “I want you to. So much.”

“There's only one problem,” Patrick said. “I don't accept your resignation.”

Emma's grin faded and she stared at him. “What do you mean?”

“You're too good a clairvoyant. PARA needs you and I know you enjoy your job, even if you have other interests like writing. Walking away from your career is simply unacceptable.”

She just gaped at him.

“So I propose a solution,” he said. “I'll allow a sixmonth leave of absence for you to work on that book of yours and settle in down south.”

“And then?” Emma asked.

“And then I'll expect you to start work at our Miami branch and see how you fit in.” He smiled. “I think they'll appreciate you down there a great deal.”

She stared at him, giving this news a chance to settle in. “I can't believe this.”

“I hope that translates into, ‘Thank you, Patrick. Excellent idea, Patrick.'”

She nodded slowly before a grin spread across her face. “Thank you, Patrick.”

“Now if you'll excuse me.” He nodded at them. “Good luck to you both. I always got the sense you two were meant to be together.” He shrugged. “It was kind of inevitable, if you ask me.”

Emma hugged Patrick tightly before he left the room again. Then she turned to face Ryan.

He was staring at her with surprise. “So,
that
was kind of unexpected.”

“What part?”

“All of it.” He drew her closer, his gaze moving over her features as if memorizing them. “You want to be with me.”

“Yes.” Emma placed her hands on his chest and looked up into his handsome face, trying to gauge how he was feeling at the moment. “Are you okay with this?”

“You coming with me to Florida to start a new life together?”

She watched him warily. “Yes. That is, if you want me to.”

He cocked his head. “I'm okay with it on one condition.”

She tensed. “What's that?”

“Patrick's the one who just told me how you feel. But I'd really like to hear it from you, just to make sure it's actually true.”

Tears welled in her eyes. She nodded and slid her arms around his waist. “I love you, Ryan Shephard. I love you. I love you. I love you. How's that?”

He grinned and pulled her closer to him. “That's a pretty good start. But I'll probably need to hear it a few billion more times.”

Emma laughed. “I think that can be arranged.”

“So when exactly does this new future together begin?”

She pulled his face down to hers and kissed him. “The sooner the better.”

His grin widened. “Just what I was thinking.”

“It's almost like we're psychic or something.” She grinned at him.

“Okay, so what am I thinking right now?” He raised an eyebrow.

“Mr. Shephard, I believe I've written that scene a few times before. Very naughty.”

“Why, thank you.” He looked down at her, his expression growing serious again. “I love you, Emma. Now let's get the hell out of here. There's a couple more scenes from that book of yours that I'd really like to explore.”

She eyed him. “My book without the happy ending, you mean.”

“We'll really have to work on that.”

“You know, I'm suddenly extremely inspired to write a better ending next time.”

“I can't tell you how glad I am to hear that.” He kissed her and fresh desire surged inside of her.

Patrick was right. It had been inevitable that she and Ryan would find each other again. They'd been great partners, working together like a well-oiled machine. She'd liked him before she loved him. She
still
liked him. Deeply. Madly. Desperately.

A lust potion had driven them into each other's arms, despite everything that might have kept them apart.

Now the masks had been discarded once and for all. The potion's effects had dissipated. But the desire they felt for each other was stronger than ever.

She'd wasted too much time trusting her eyes. Now
she trusted her heart. And her gut. They were two things that didn't lie.

She never believed in happy endings. But this man had more than proved to her that happy endings were real.

And maybe she could even write one or two of them….

Ryan loved her. And she loved him.

Forget happy endings. For them, this was a fantastic beginning.