Aubrey's POV

　　For a moment, there was only silence.

　　Joseph stared at me like I'd just stepped out of a dream. His hand still held mine, warm and trembling slightly, his eyes flickering between disbelief and something deeper, longing, aching, hunger wrapped in relief. That moment felt suspended as if the world had stilled just for us.

　　I smiled through the tears still clinging to my lashes, the rawness of emotion flooding me. "Don't you want to be with ...