Chapter 5
An entire week passed after the date with Theo, and Clare still had not been able to make a decision. She spent nights awake, staring at her bedroom ceiling, weighing pros and cons as if love were a mathematical equation that could be solved with pure logic.
But love was never logical. Her heart knew that better than her head.
She was in Owen’s apartment kitchen making coffee when he appeared still in pajamas, his hair messy from sleep. Her brother knew her too well. One look was enough for him to know exactly what was happening.
“Which one do you love?”
The question came directly. No beating around the bush, the way only siblings could do.
Clare paused with the cup halfway to her mouth, processing the question she had avoided asking herself.
“Lucas, I like. Respect. Truly admire. He’s good and kind and everything I should want. Theo, I—”
Owen served himself coffee, waiting patiently for her to finish.
“I’ve always loved him,” she admitted. “Since I was 15. Owen, it was always him. Even when I tried to convince my heart otherwise. And that scares me deeply.”
Owen leaned against the counter, studying her with protective older-brother attention.
“He’s changed, Clare. I see it every day. He’s not the idiotic teenager who teased you without thinking about the consequences anymore.”
“What if he gets tired of me?”
The question came out small and vulnerable, revealing the fear she had carried all week.
“What if I choose him, and in a few months he realizes it’s not what he really wants?”
“What if he doesn’t get tired?” Owen shot back immediately, turning the question against her. “What if it’s exactly what he wants, and you lose it because of fear? You’ll regret it for the rest of your life, Clare.”
Ashford Industries occupied 3 entire floors of the most modern building in the financial district, all glass and steel gleaming under the afternoon sun. Clare entered the lobby with her heart beating erratically and asked at reception to speak with Theodore Ashford without an appointment.
The receptionist hesitated, clearly uncertain whether she should interrupt the boss, but something in Clare’s expression made her pick up the phone.
5 minutes later, Clare was being escorted to the top floor, where Theo’s office occupied a huge room with a panoramic view of the city.
Theo was on the phone when she entered, but the second he saw her, he hung up mid-sentence.
“I have to go. I’ll talk to you later.”
He dropped his phone on the desk as if nothing else mattered besides her presence there.
“Clare, did something happen?”
“I need to know something.”
She closed the door behind her, needing privacy for the conversation.
He stood immediately, rounding the desk to be closer.
“Anything. Ask me whatever you want.”
“Why now, Theodore?”
The question came out loaded with all the confusion, hurt, and hope she felt.
“Why not 9 years ago, when it would have been easier? When I was still completely in love and willing to follow you anywhere?”
“Because 9 years ago, I was a coward who ran away when things got difficult or confusing.”
The honesty in his voice was raw, without filters or excuses.
“But now I’m a man who learned to fight for what he wants. I don’t run from important things anymore.”
“And you want me.”
She needed to hear it from his mouth. Needed the words said aloud more than anything.
“Clare. More than anything I’ve ever wanted in my entire life.”
He took another step, close enough for her to feel his warmth.
“You’re all I think about since I came back. All I want when I wake up in the morning and before I sleep at night.”
“Even though I’m not a perfect model like the women you used to date?”
The insecurity she had carried since childhood insisted on appearing.
“Even though I’m the glasses pest you used to tease?”
Theo raised his hands, taking her face between his warm palms and making sure she looked directly into his eyes.
“You were never just the pest, Clare. Never. You were always the girl who lit up any room she entered. Who laughed loud without caring what others thought. Who challenged me when no one else dared. I was the blind idiot who couldn’t see the treasure right in front of my nose.”
The tears started falling before Clare could control them.
“Theo.”
“But I see now. I see everything. And I want you, Clare Montgomery, exactly as you are. With your strange quirks, your incredible designs, your impossible stubbornness, your huge heart, everything.”
Clare met Lucas at the same café where he had asked her to be his girlfriend weeks earlier. It seemed appropriate to end things in the same place they had almost really started.
He saw her enter, and something in his face showed that he already knew what was coming.
“You decided.”
It was not a question.
Clare sat across from him and took his hands between hers because he deserved at least that.
“Lucas, you’re an incredible man. You deserve someone who chooses you without any doubt, without hesitation, without shadows from the past interfering.”
“And you have doubts,” he completed sadly, squeezing her hands before letting go.
“Not about you. You’re perfect, Lucas. But my heart already belongs to someone else. It wouldn’t be fair to you to start something knowing that.”
Tears burned in her eyes, though they had not fallen yet.
“You deserve to be someone’s first choice, not the safe backup plan.”
Lucas was quiet for a long moment, looking at their intertwined hands on the table. When he finally spoke, his voice was resigned but not bitter.
“He’s very lucky to have you. I hope he knows that.”
“Thank you for being so incredible and understanding. Thank you for everything.”
He smiled, sad but genuine.
“Take good care of your heart this time, Clare. Don’t let him hurt you again.”
When Theo’s car stopped in front of the Ashford property 3 days later, Clare’s heart recognized the place before her mind fully processed it.
The pool.
The same pool where they had almost kissed 9 years before.
“Why here?” she asked when they got out of the car, looking at the blue water gleaming under the afternoon sun.
Theo took her hand, intertwining their fingers in a way that felt like the most natural thing in the world.
“Because 9 years ago, I messed everything up in this exact place. I want to do it right now. I want to replace that bad memory with a new one.”
“Do what exactly?”
Her heart was already racing. She already knew where this was going, but she needed to hear it from him.
He pulled her closer exactly as he had done on that distant day. This time, there was no Owen to interrupt, no fear or confusion to separate them.
“This.”
Then he kissed her.
9 years of waiting, 9 years of dreams and hopes and hurt dissolved in that kiss. It was everything Clare had imagined during countless nights alone, and infinitely better at the same time. His lips were warm and firm against hers, his large, strong hands pulling her closer, and when her arms wrapped around his neck, she felt as though she had finally come home.
When they separated, both breathless, Clare managed to smile through the tears of happiness falling freely.
“It took you long enough.”
“Was it worth the wait?” he asked, resting his forehead against hers, still holding her as if she would disappear if he let go.
“Every torturous second,” she said, laughing wetly and wiping her tears.
“So, we’re officially dating now?”
The question came with a hopeful smile that made her heart completely melt.
“Let’s take it slow,” she teased, even though she already knew her answer would be yes to anything he asked in that moment. “You still have a lot to make up for after years of cruel teasing.”
His eyes sparkled with amusement and something deeper.
“I have the rest of my life to make up for it. And I intend to use every second making you happy.”
“Presumptuous.”
But she was smiling when she said it.
“Hopeful,” he corrected.
Then he kissed her again, slower this time, savoring every second as if they had all the time in the world.
Maybe they did.
6 months later, Clare stood beside Theo at an elegant Ashford Industries corporate event. He was impeccable in a tuxedo, charming and powerful, commanding the room with the natural presence he had always possessed. Yet his eyes always found her in the crowd, as if she were the only person who truly mattered.
“Theodore, your girlfriend is absolutely beautiful,” one of his business colleagues commented when they approached the group.
Theo looked at Clare, and there was so much love in those blue eyes that her heart forgot how to beat properly for a second.
“I always knew she was beautiful. I was just too much of an idiot to admit it before.”
“Now you’re going to kiss my ass forever just because you were an idiot in the past?”
Clare teased him lightly, poking his side with her elbow.
“Exactly. Get used to it, because I don’t plan on stopping anytime soon.”
He pulled her closer, his hand possessive on her waist.
“Insufferable,” she grumbled without any real heat, turning to kiss him quickly in the middle of the event full of important people.
2 weeks later, Clare showed up at Theo’s apartment in an oversized hoodie and flip-flops on purpose.
Theo opened the door and stopped completely when he saw her.
“Seriously? That outfit again?”
“I want to see if you still want me even when I look ugly.”
She crossed her arms, defiant.
He pulled her inside, laughing, closing the door with his foot and kissing her before she could protest.
“You’re beautiful, even dressed in an old potato sack.”
Clare pulled away slowly, frowning.
“How romantic. Wait. Potato sack?”
Theo realized his mistake and began backing away, laughing.
“I said you’re beautiful. It was a compliment.”
“Get back here, Theodore Ashford.”
She ran after him through the apartment, laughing so hard she could barely breathe. He let her catch him in the living room, wrapping her in his arms when she threw herself at him on the couch.
They stayed there tangled together, laughing like silly teenagers. When their eyes met, everything became quiet and perfect.
“I love you, Clare Montgomery,” Theo said for the first time, his voice serious and loaded with absolute truth. “I always have. Since that summer when you were 15. But I was too young and idiotic to recognize what I felt.”
The tears came again, but this time they were happy.
“I love you too. I always have. Even when it hurt. Even when I tried to stop.”
He kissed her then, slow and deep.
When they separated, it was written in every look, every touch, every shared breath.
This was forever.
Clare had spent years as the pest he teased. Even more years as the girl who loved him in silence. Now, finally, she was simply Clare, the woman Theodore Ashford loved back.
Maybe they had lost 9 years along the way.
May you like
But they had the rest of their lives ahead of them.
This time, neither of them was running away.
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