“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” He took the box from her and set it down. “You don’t need to be putting that weight on your ankle. I’ll get the boxes. Anyway, I thought we were doing this tomorrow.”

She ran her hand along one of the shelves lining the wall. “It’s only eight. I thought we could at least get the books to the right rooms. It’s finally starting to resemble a bookshop, isn’t it?”

He came up behind her, putting his arms around her and pulling her close. “It looks great. Let’s go out to eat and celebrate. You need to prop that ankle, and I’d like to spend some quality time with you.”

The hours were ticking away quickly. Before he knew it, he’d be boarding a plane for home.

She leaned back against his chest, tilting her head to the side. “But we still have a lot to do.”

“We’ll have plenty of help tomorrow.” The angle of her head gave him the perfect opportunity to kiss her long, graceful neck. He inhaled her familiar scent as he ran his nose up to her jaw where he pressed another kiss.

“You’re making some excellent points.” She sounded a little breathless as she turned in his arms.

“I can be very persuasive.” He gave her a soft, lingering kiss. He’d been wanting to get his arms around her all day, and he’d been very patient. But it was time for a little gratification.

She didn’t seem to mind. Her arms roped around his neck as she let loose a little mewling sound that urged him to take the kiss a little deeper. He could hardly believe she was his again. In some ways it seemed like nothing had changed since seven years ago. In other ways . . . both of them had changed so much.

Back in the day he’d rushed things physically between them. And as tempted as he was to do so now, he cared too much about their future. With that in mind he slowed things down, giving her a series of soft kisses, ending with one on the tip of her nose.

Even though the exchange hadn’t lasted more than half a minute, his heart thudded and his breaths were ragged. What she did to him. And not just physically either. She had a way of soothing him. She was a nurturer, and she filled something inside him, reached a place that no other woman had.

I love her. His pulse sped at the realization. It was true. He didn’t need more quality time to figure that out.