He looks between Regi and me. “Hello.”

“Hi, babe.” I smile. “This is Regi. Regi, this is Christopher, my fiancé.”

A frown flashes across Christopher’s face before he catches it. “Who are you?” he asks Regi.

Regi tilts his chin, angered by my introduction. “I’m Hayden’s childhood sweetheart. Her first love.”

Oh no.

Christopher raises an eyebrow. “You’ve got a fucking hide, coming here.”

“What does that mean?” Regi frowns.

“I think you owe Hayden an apology.”

“For what?”

Christopher glares at him and steps forward. “You want me to kick your ass to remind you, you gutless prick?”

Regi steps back.

My heart swells with love for Christopher, my knight in shining armor.

“I’ve got nothing to apologize for,” Regi spits.

“One,” Christopher says calmly.

My eyes widen . . . what the hell? He’s counting him down?

“Two . . .”

“Christopher,” I stammer, “just leave it.”

“He owes you an apology, Hayden,” he snaps. “I want to fucking hear it.”

“I’m not apologizing for being young,” Regi snaps. “It’s none of your business.”

“Hayden is my only business.” Christopher grabs him by the shirt and hurls him out the door. He throws him down the five steps. “You had your fucking chance, and you blew it,” he yells. “Don’t try and ruin mine. You stay the fuck away from her, or you’ll have me to deal with.”

Regi looks up at the house in shock. His chest is rising and falling as he struggles for air.

“Do you fucking hear me?” Christopher warns him.

Regi nods, and with one last look, he marches off toward his car as he acts tough.

I walk out the front, shocked, and I turn to see my father standing beside the door. He’s heard the entire thing.

My eyes are wide. I’m shocked to my core. “Dad . . .”

A trace of a smile crosses Dad’s face, and he winks. Without a word he turns and walks off toward the house. “Dinner is at six,” he calls.

I look to my man, all pumped up and angry, and I smile down at him. “You are going to get so lucky tonight.”

“About time,” he huffs as he marches past me into the house. “I fucking hate that guy.”

The screen door bangs hard, and I smile proudly.

That’s my man.

A week later

We sit in the boarding lounge of the airport. We had the best week, and although my parents aren’t happy with me moving, I think they understand what I see in Christopher.

His smart-ass mouth had my dad smirking a lot more than he would like to admit.

And my mom . . . well, she’s practically half in love with him too.

Christopher’s reading a book, and we’re catching a commercial plane; his family planes are already in use.

“I’m going to buy a magazine,” I say.

“Okay, babe.”

I go to the newsstand and look through the choices, and I stop still as I see a headline on a paper.

Christopher Miles Finally out of Hiding

What the hell?

Is that my Christopher? I pick up the paper. “I’ll take this one, please.” I pay the cashier and sit down and flick through the paper until I get to the story.

My eyes widen. There’s a half-page photo of me and him. It’s the morning after we arrived in New York, when I’d been crying all night.

We’re holding hands as we cross the street on Madison Avenue. I’m wearing scruffy clothes, and the way the light shines on me, my leg looks like it’s all cellulite right to my ankle.

My face is puffy from crying. I look utterly hideous.

I read the story.

Christopher Miles has returned from a sabbatical with Miss Average.

Chapter 26

CHRISTOPHER

I watch Hayden disappear into the store to buy her magazine with a smile.

“What you thinking about?” Harvey asks from his seat beside me.

“Just how lucky I am.”

“That you are,” he replies.

“We just got her back.” Valerie wrings her hands in her lap, and I know this can’t be easy for her.

“I’m going to look after her, Mrs. Whitmore. You have my word.”

She nods, her eyes filling with tears, and as if sensing an impending meltdown, she stands. “I’m going to the bathroom,” she says before rushing off.

I watch Valerie walk away while wiping her tears away, and despair fills me.

“Christopher . . . ,” Harvey says as he stares at me.

“Yes.”

“Now . . . if you know Hayden like I think you do, you understand that she’s special.”

I nod. “I do.”

“Hayden isn’t like other people. She’s different. She’s kind and trusting and hates drama. You’ll never hear her complain.”

“It’s those qualities in her that I love, Mr. Whitmore.”

“Her empathy for those around her is her biggest strength and yet her greatest weakness,” he continues. “We had hoped that she would toughen up on that trip around the world, but she’s come back so madly in love with you that she can’t even see straight.”

My eyes search his.

“What I’m trying to say is that it is up to you to make sure that she’s happy.”

I frown.

“She will put your needs and your happiness before her own because when Hayden loves, it’s forever.”

I get a lump in my throat.

“Hayden doesn’t say much, but I’m trusting you to read between the lines and guarantee me that you will protect her at all costs . . . even if that means hurting yourself.”

I imagine if Hayden ever left me . . . and the devastation it would cause.

I would never recover.

His silhouette blurs as my eyes fill with tears. “You have my word.” I shake his hand, and his eyes fill with tears too.

Fuck me dead.

I wipe my eyes, embarrassed. “Stop.” I laugh.

He pulls me into a hug. “I’m trusting you with the most important thing in the world. Promise me to keep her safe.”

“I promise.” He slaps me on the back, and I know that this is it.

From here on in, I have to adult. There is no room for mistakes in my life anymore. If I want to love someone like Hayden, I need to step up and be the man that she deserves.

“I don’t believe it,” Hayden’s voice says from beside us. “You two hugging it out now?”