God, uprooting her entire life? Could she do it? Did she want to? Looking into Matt’s eyes, she knew the answer to that last question was a resounding yes. What did she really have in Cheyenne? Some good friends and a good job at someone else’s gallery. Moving to Los Angeles would give her the man of her dreams, her own gallery and maybe even the chance to start painting again. L.A. didn’t have the same appeal as Cheyenne, but it did have Matt.
“No. Well, yes. We can get married on the coast.”
“We’re getting married?” She laughed and shook her head. This was all so much, her head was spinning.
He kissed her hard, then took a breath and said, “I messed this up completely. Yes. I want us to get married. I’m asking you to marry me, even though I’m not doing a good job of it. To take a chance. To believe I love you and that you can trust me. Forever.”
“Yes.” One simple word but the only one she needed. The only important word in the world right now. Funny, it was so easy when it really came down to it. She had wondered and worried for months over what she felt for Matt. What she might do if he came back. And now he was here and it was all so...simple. She loved him. And now, she knew he loved her, too.
Being with him was all that mattered. L.A. Cheyenne. Wherever they were, if they were together, everything would be perfect.
“Yes?” He looked at her and love shone in his eyes so brightly, Kayla had the answer to every question she might have had.
“Yes, I’ll marry you,” she whispered, reaching up to cup his cheek in her palm. “I love you, Matt. I always have. I was just so angry and hurt.”
He turned his face into her palm and kissed it. “I know. And I will always regret putting you through that, but I can promise you it will never happen again, Kayla. I love you more than anything in the world.”
“I believe you,” she said and went up on her toes to kiss him. “And I don’t want to miss another minute of life with you.”
“Thank God,” he murmured and wrapped her in his arms before kissing her until they were both breathless. Finally, he lifted his head, looked down into her eyes and whispered, “You’re everything to me, Kayla. I love you now and forever.”
“That’s all I need to know, Matt. I love you, too, and I can’t wait to see the artist studio you have waiting for me.”
He grinned. “You can see it in a few hours. We’re flying out tonight on the Lassiter jet.”
“Tonight?”
He cupped her cheek in his palm. “We’re not wasting another minute, Kayla. Let’s start our lives together now.”
“But the gallery, I’ve got to hand in my resignation. And there’s Angie, I shouldn’t leave her right now.”
He held her in a hard hug, then looked down into her eyes. “We’ll both be there for Angie and Evan. Once things here settle down some, they’ll be coming back to L.A., too. Until then, there are a few things I have to take care of in L.A. but we can fly back here together next weekend. And then we’ll stay as long as they need us. Okay?”
They really could have the best of both worlds. His cliffside place in L.A. and her cottage here in Cheyenne. She wouldn’t really be giving up anything to move; instead, she would be gaining everything.
She was going to take that leap of faith. Kayla knew that being with Matt would make her life happier than she’d ever dreamed possible.
She smiled up at him, reveling in the promise of love and life and a future that looked brighter than any she could have dreamed of. “Let me get my purse.”