“You have nothing to worry about,” I assured her. “I don’t operate like that. You know that.”
“Oh, honey, I know.” She smiled, her eyes crinkling at the corners. “I just can’t believe you’re leaving me. I’m happy for you though. You deserve this.”
Her gaze left mine and traveled to Wilder.
“I wish you nothing but the best,” she said as she disappeared into a crowd of chatty salespeople.
I made my rounds with Wilder at my side and checked my watch. “My feet are killing me.”
“I have a driver outside waiting.” He leaned into me, breathing me in. “If you want to go now, I promise I won’t put up a fight.”
“I feel like I should stay. This is my night.” I didn’t want to stay, though. I’d scaled Everest and reached the top, and I was tired. I wanted to go home.
He took my hand, lifting it to his mouth and kissing my palm. “We’ll do whatever you want. Tonight’s all about you.”
My heart warmed. He made every night feel like my night.
“Sometimes I look at you, and I still can’t believe you’re all mine,” he said as he leaned into me, his voice a low grumble against a noisy backdrop.
“Forever and always,” I replied. I closed my eyes and drank him in, wanting to forever remember what it felt like to anchor myself to solid ground after one of the most tumultuous years of my life.
* * *
“Where are we going?” I asked after we left the banquet. A yawn escaped my lips, and I ached to get out of my dress and into something softer. Wilder’s town car seemed to be heading toward Midtown and not Soho.
“Wouldn’t you like to know,” he said, his face expressionless but his eyes shining against the city lights.
“I thought we were going home? You know I hate surprises.” My breath hitched, and I tilted my head to the side as I attempted to read the street signs that passed.
He grabbed my wrist, pulling me up into his lap before cupping my face with his hands. “Lovely, it’s okay to let go every once in a while. Or did you forget?”
The town car pulled up to the W Hotel; the place where it all began.