Mitch lifted up his hand and I realized he was holding my note.

Oh, right. My note.

I chewed on my bottom lip, not sure what to think. But I felt a fluttering of excitement. Of hope. Damn, my knees were starting to tremble.

“You didn’t need to come over here tonight, Mitch. We could have talked tomorrow. When it’s not dumping down snow,” I chastised with an uneasy laugh.

“Didn’t you want me to come?” he asked, frowning. “I thought you did. You wrote our code.”

“I did use the code. I just was expecting a text or a call. Not a full on invasion,” I joked. Why was I joking? This was serious! Shit!

Mitch’s expression turned almost feral. His eyes swept up and down my body in a way that could only be described as territorial.

“Let me inside,” he commanded.

He commanded. I think I liked his bossy side.

I shivered and it had nothing to do with the cold sweeping into my apartment from the hallway.

“I—uh—I don’t—” I was stuttering. Mitch Abrams had taken away my ability to formulate actual sentences. He had knocked me off balance. What else was new? The bastard.

“I’m coming in, Gracie,” he said firmly and when I didn’t move aside something in his face changed. It cracked slightly and his vulnerability shown through.

“Don’t tell me to leave,” he begged, his lips trembling slightly, his hands shaky as he reached up to cup my face.

“Please, let me come inside. I need—” His words cracked and broke apart. He shook his head. “Just don’t make me go.” He leaned down and rested his forehead against mine.

I couldn’t get my thoughts together. Things were happening so fast that I was having a difficult time wrapping my head around everything.

I had been asleep, curled up on my couch, now I was standing in front of Mitch and he was begging me, no he was pleading with me, not to turn him away.

It would be so easy to drown in this. To lose myself in the intensity of the moment that I had been waiting for.

But there was something we had to think about.

Someone…

“Sophie—” I started to say, but Mitch cut me off.

“We’re not together anymore.” Relief sharp and potent rushed through me. Mitch’s eyes drank me in. All of me. I felt that look everywhere. “I should have shown up at this door a long time ago. I’m sorry it’s taken me so long,” he whispered.

Oh my god.

Oh. My. God!

“But—” I couldn’t finish my thought because he placed his lips on mine. Not hard. Not rough. Just the barest touch of skin to skin.

“Tell me to come inside,” he whispered against my mouth. He wasn’t asking. He was telling. And damn, it was hot.

His eyes were full of turmoil and chaos. I was going to drown in them.

“Is that a good idea?” I asked him. He ran his thumbs along the curve of my cheeks, our noses touching, breathing in each other. Only each other.

We had been here once before. Only then I had been the one begging to be let in. One night was all it took to destroy the beautiful friendship that we had. I was scared to lose whatever tenuous footing we had gained in our relationship. I was terrified to ruin us all over again.

But I was a different woman now than I had been a year ago. I had learned a lot about my own strength. I had developed some self-worth. And the Gracie that finally acknowledged that she loved him wasn’t going to run away when the going got tough.

I reached up and ran my hand through his damp hair and he shuddered beneath my fingers.

“With you, I feel like I’m always falling,” he sighed.

Mitch bent down and ran his nose along my neck and it was my turn to tremble, my legs barely keeping me upright.

“Me too,” I whispered.

“Don’t close the door on me, Gracie. Don’t turn me away. I need you.” He looked down at me, his eyes burning bright. “ I need you.”

I wanted to open my door. I wanted to let him into my home. Into my life. But I was still bothered about Sophie. They had just broken up.

Was I the rebound?

Mitch picked up on my hesitation. He knew me well enough to read my thoughts.

“Maybe you should think about this first. We don’t have rush into it. You just broke up with Soph—”

“Stop,” he said. It came out sharply. “I’m not with here because of her. This has nothing to do with Sophie.”

“I don’t see how you can say that,” I argued. Why was I arguing?

Because if this was going to happen, it was going to be done right. And not with the residuals of another relationship hanging over our heads.

Mitch closed his eyes and let out a frustrated breath. I remained unmoving in front of my door. He wasn’t coming in. Not yet.

When he opened his eyes he was composed. Resolute. He cupped his hands on either side of my neck and looked deeply into my eyes.

“The night Sophie and I hooked up was two weeks after you and I were together,” he began and I blanched. I really didn’t want to know the details.

“Mitch, seriously, I don’t want to know—”

“Just listen, Gracie. Please.”

I closed my mouth and let him continue.

“I was drunk. And I spent most of the night crying on her shoulder about you. I was in so much pain that I couldn’t see straight. I just wanted it to stop. I wanted the image of you gone. I couldn’t stop thinking about you. My heart was in a hundred pieces.”