Try

Part 7 of 8

The following morning, Matilda awakens by feeling a tingling down the side of her face. It is a gentle and cool feeling. She knows it is Cooper. His fingers run down her cheek and across her bare shoulder. She dares not move, however. For once, it was the most sleep she had gotten in years, which is saying something because they stayed up most of the night at the bar. It was a deep sleep though, the kind that when a person awakens they feel like a new person, or perhaps that is just her. Her head is resting on his chest and she can hear the even levels of his heartbeat and breathing. It unexpectedly calms her. Her head is close enough to his that she can feel his breath on her face, though he is trying hard to be quiet. He does not know she is awake. One of his hands is playing in her tangled mess of hair, and the other hand runs over her hand on his chest.

Unaware that she is moving, she nuzzles in closer to him and smiles. "I didn't mean to wake you up." His voice sounds natural to her, like the sound of the ocean or the rustling of trees in the wind.

"Oh really?" She remarks with sarcasm, while still clinging to the hope that she can just stay in bed all day. "What did you mean to do then?"

"Well, at least you didn't wake up and scream at me." He mumbles.

Matilda fights a grin and a laugh. "Disappointed? I can still pretend."

One of his hands nudges her chin and she pulls her face up to look at him. The morning light casts a glow across his face. His pale eyes almost look yellow, and his hair like the color of ripe wheat. "Nah, you ran because you couldn't remember what happened." There is that smirk she loves. "I made sure you would remember everything this time. You are mine now."

"Oh great." She adds in a playful tone, but she knows she is his and has been for a while.

"Do you regret running out on me in Vegas?" He questions and she nuzzles back into him again, watching his hand play with her ring finger.

"Maybe." She mumbles while her mind drifts back to that morning. "I should have at least stayed and got some answers before running." She takes a deep breath and lets it out. "I heard you yesterday, talking to your brother." She admits and looks up at him. The surprise on his face is clear, but might also hold a little shame. "I don't care about the money, and I don't care that you kept it a secret. I am glad you helped your brother though." There is a small hint of a smile on his lips and his eyes are hooded as he gazes at her. "I was a little surprised, however, to hear that you plan to use it on a wedding and even on our kids one day. Did you mean that?"

He lets out a slow breath, realizing how that must have sounded to her yesterday. "Yes." His hand runs down her jaw slowly. "That day in Vegas, when I woke up and you were still asleep, I could have woken you up. I could have left, or something, but I could not move. Somehow my whole world shifted to center on you in just a few hours, and even though I had no idea who you were, I knew I could not be without you. That is why I finally tracked you down. I could not be without you anymore. Anywhere you were, is where I wanted to be. Part of me might have even hoped you would be pregnant so that you wouldn't slam the door in my face when I got there." Matilda cannot help the airy laugh that escapes her lungs, but she cannot look away from him. She knows how that felt. She thought of him every waking minute of every day until he arrived. She realizes now that she wanted him to come to find her because no one else ever had. "I came here, leaving everything behind, knowing with every bone in my body that you could hate me. You could sign the divorce papers and never see me again. But you didn't."

"I never hated you." Her voice is calm and collected. "In Vegas, I could not get far enough away from you, and then I spent too long wishing you were here. I used to dream that this ring was a beacon, lighting the way. I almost gave up hope, but then you showed up. It was almost as if my deepest wishes brought you here. You said you wanted to give this a go, and I couldn't refuse because I wanted that too." He kisses her softly for a second before she pulls away with a suspicious smirk. "Where did you get my ring?"