Liberty rested against the wall. Dammit, she loved everything about this place. The feel was casual and contemporary without being weird.
Anything else she looked at would pale in comparison.
She decided to bite the bullet and get the sticker shock over with.
Jada stood in the empty living room, holding a clipboard, waiting for her reaction. “Well?”
“It’s gorgeous. It’s perfect. Perfect. It’s got everything I was looking for and more. I know it’s out of my price range. And it’s far too much room for a single woman—”
“But not for a couple,” a male voice said.
The deep, sexy male voice she’d feared she’d never hear again unless she flipped on the radio.
Liberty watched in utter shock as Devin strolled out of the kitchen. “Devin? What are you . . . ?”
Jada patted Liberty on the shoulder. “Let yourself out when you’re done and I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”
Neither she nor Devin moved until the door shut.
She probably should’ve played it cool, but she couldn’t. She launched herself at him, nearly knocking him down. “I can’t believe you’re here.”
Devin’s arms came around her, pulling her body even more completely against his.
She buried her face in his neck, filling her lungs with his scent, letting his heat and his solid presence fill the empty parts inside her.
His hands slid up to cradle her face. Without saying a word, he slanted his mouth over hers, blowing her mind with a kiss that might’ve been the single most perfect kiss in the history of the world.
Devin only released her mouth to wipe the tears from her face. “Baby, please stop.”
Liberty turned her head and kissed his palm. “I can’t. I’ve hardly been able to stop crying since I left you in LA.”
“Chickenshit move on your part, G.I. Jane.”
“I know.” She kissed his palm again. “Thank you for the song you dedicated to me that night.”
“Maybe I oughta change the title to ‘She Is Loved.’”
“Or maybe you should change it to ‘She Is an Idiot for Running Away from the Man She Loves and Can’t Live Without.’”
“That’s a little long for a song title,” he said dryly, “but I get the gist of what you’re sayin’.”
“Good.” She curled her hand around the back of his neck and brought his mouth down for another kiss. “Tell me what you’re doing here.”
“After you left, I returned to Nashville. I lasted less than twenty-four hours there before I flew to Denver. I’d been thinkin’ nonstop about some of what you’d said, some of what Crash said, so I nutted up, rented a car and drove to my sister’s place in Laramie. Then I spent the night with my folks.”
As much as she hated that he’d faced that alone, she was glad he’d done it. “How did that go?”
“Better than I expected. I took the first step and they were more than willing to meet me halfway. So I thought, what the hell?’ I’d try the same approach with you.” He gave a soft, embarrassed laugh.
“What?”
“Last night I sat outside your apartment for an hour, workin’ up the courage to knock on the door, rehearsing what I needed to say to you. Then an alert sounded on my phone and I saw the picture someone had taken of me and China at the after-party in LA.”
“I saw the picture online.”
“Nothin’ happened between us. You believe me, right?”
Liberty nodded. “I was pissed. But mostly pissed at myself because I had no right to be so insanely jealous since I left you and I had to resort to cyberstalking you. So I have to ask again. Why are you here?”
“I called Garrett to see if I could surprise you at work, and he said you had the week off to house hunt. He gave me the realtor’s name and I contacted her.” He stepped back and spread his arms out. “This place is great, isn’t it?”
“Yes, but it’s out of my price range.”
“That hundred K bonus you got for lasting the whole tour with me doesn’t knock it down to a reasonable mortgage for you?”
Her jaw dropped and heat flushed her cheeks. “You knew about that?”
“Not until Carl got drunk at the after-party and told me.” He looked at her. “You thought I’d be upset when I found out, didn’t you?”
“I know you feel like a commodity and people don’t see beyond that. I didn’t want you to think all I ever saw in you were dollar signs.”
Devin moved closer and twisted a section of her hair around his finger. “But it was an incentive for you to take the job, wasn’t it?”
“Yes.” She locked her gaze to his. “In one of those sappy romantic movies, not only would I have not walked away from you, but I would’ve refused the money. Is that what you wanted from me?”
“God no. You earned the money. You more than earned it.” Devin reached into his front pocket and retrieved a piece of paper.
“What’s that?”
“Your money.”
“But Big Sky already sent the money to GSC.”
“This is in addition to that. Carl indicated GSC hadn’t negotiated for a higher bonus and he was willing to pay you double what you agreed to. So I forced his hand. Actually, I forced a checkbook into his hand.” He grinned. “The man shouldn’t drink and start running his mouth because cash falls out of it. Anyway, this is yours. Garrett already approved it.”