The Heart That's Meant to Love You [COMPLETED]

Chapter 99: Reunion

Naomi hadn't wanted to send the invitation, originally. There were too many what-ifs and uncertainties in the response. What if Kieran had moved on to another woman? What if he didn't come at all? But, what if he did?

It was that spark of hope that made Naomi write his name down for one of the personal invitations.

And there he stood, his back to her, but she would recognize him in any form. She had only had eyes for Kieran since the moment she met him. Only he gave her such a thrill of joy when he appeared.

"You really came," Naomi breathed, scarce believing the sight before her.

What came next would be harder to explain, but she had planned for this. Just in case. Naomi wouldn't let Kieran walk away from her again.

Kieran turned, first his head and then his body. Naomi couldn't tear her eyes from him, not for a moment. He wore a suit, nowadays, with his hair slicked back in business fashion and his posture all serious. But his eyes were still those of the mischievous Kieran Colburn she knew and loved.

Eyes that softened upon seeing her. "Naomi Rowe. Clever trick, sending me an unmarked invitation."

Mercifully, there was no malice in his words. Just amusement.

Naomi tucked a strand of hair behind one ear. "I didn't think you would come if I told you that I was the one inviting you."

"Why wouldn't I? We're friends, aren't we?"

There it was. The thing that Naomi had dreaded. Kieran had made it a bad habit, pushing her away. Bringing up their friendship had that insinuation behind it, as well.

"You know that I want to be more than friends."

"You said that, over two years ago." Kieran's smile was grim. "I assume you've moved on by now. Found someone better."

"I tried." Naomi took a step forward. "I tried really hard. But... it's like... my heart is hard-wired to love only you."

"Naomi, it isn't a good—"

"You think I put you in my painting on purpose?" Naomi pointed a finger to the eyes of herself-portrait, where she knew Kieran resided. "I didn't plan to put you there, it just happened. It just... it came out of nowhere and suddenly there you were all over again."

"I run a corporation now. You're a rising star. The two of us..." Kieran shook his head.

Naomi planted her hands on her hips. "Our jobs have nothing to do with who we love. You're not crushing my dreams, Kieran. You've become one of them."

"And you've become even more sassy." Kieran chuckled, but even that sounded sad.

"Don't tell me you saw that painting, heard my voice, and felt nothing." Because Naomi knew he felt all the things she felt. He just wouldn't put down his stubborn nature.

"I can't say that."

"You don't believe that I love you."

"Like I said, I run a corporation now." Kieran's hands raised, as if to touch Naomi, but then fell to his sides without completing their mission. "I have to go. My mother set up a date for me."

Kieran walked past Naomi with steely determination. Determination that Naomi had seen one too many times. She wouldn't allow it to separate them again.

Naomi spun, catching Kieran's arm in her hands. "I'll prove that I love you."

Kieran stopped walking, but Naomi wagered it had more to do with shock and the inability to physically hurt her than it did with his own motivation to stay.

"How?" Kieran asked, his voice as hesitant as Naomi's had been earlier.

Naomi didn't know where the words came from or why she said them with such conviction, but they leaped from her lips all the same. "Marry me."

Kieran tensed in her hold. His head swiveled, his brows narrowing as he stared at her. Clearly, Kieran hadn't anticipated anything of the sort from Naomi's mouth.

"What?"

"Marry me."

"Naomi, I'm not good enough for you."

"Then I'll marry you."

Kieran rolled his eyes. "That's the same thing."

"No, it isn't. If you're not good enough to marry me, then I'll marry you. Don't tell me that I'm not good enough for you."

"You're too good. That's always been the problem."

"That's ridiculous." Naomi gave his arm a tug, pulling him a half-step closer. "I'll marry you."

Kieran went silent for too long. His tongue worked along his cheek, a classic denotation that he was thinking. Hard.

Finally, he uttered an offer. "Then let's go. Right now."

Naomi knew the offer had been made to push her away again. Kieran still knew the Naomi from two years ago. The woman who hadn't spent her days longing for him. The timid girl who balked at changes.

He definitely hadn't expected Naomi to respond with, "Alright. Let's go."

The look of utter stupor on Kieran's face made it worth the effort. He recovered well, but the damage had already been done.

"Naomi, I'm serious."

"I am, too."

That thinking face took over his expression one last time, and then Kieran's arm turned in Naomi's grasp. She thought he would try to pull away again, but instead his fingers found hers and encapsulated them with warmth.

"No take-backsies."

No more words were needed. Kieran toted Naomi out of the exhibit, out of the gallery, and down to the car he had driven.

Neither had planned this, neither had seen it coming by vision or by premonition, but both held a great amount of inner glee. It had been thrown around as something of a challenge, this oncoming marriage of theirs, but both wanted to rise to the occasion.

Because, deep down and also somewhere closer to the surface, both knew they didn't want to live without the other. They were both too stubborn to say that out loud.

But one thing was for sure. Kieran wouldn't be attending any blind date that day. Naomi would make sure of it.