Her heart went nuts in her chest as she slowly nodded her head. “Yes. It is.”

He was fully smiling at her now, and with a shake of his head, he said, “Lucky bastard he must be to be able to sit across from you and stare into those gorgeous eyes of yours.”

She held back her grin as she laid her phone on the table. “Yeah, he is.”

Holding her gaze, he came to her before leaning down with his elbows on the table. Reaching out, he cupped her face and let out a breath of relief before touching his lips softly to hers. Closing her eyes, she covered his hands with hers as he slowly moved his lips along hers. Pulling back only slightly, he whispered, “Sometimes I think you’re not really here, and every time I kiss you, it all hits me at once. You’re really here.”

She smiled as she moved her nose along his, meeting his gaze. “I was thinking the same thing.”

He kissed her once more and then stood up fully and asked, “Can I be the lucky bastard who gets to sit across from you?”

“It would be a pleasure,” she answered, grasping his fingers with hers.

He leaned down, bringing her knuckles to his lips, his gaze locked with hers. “I knew there was a reason I was feeling lucky tonight.”

She giggled as he kissed her knuckles one last time before taking the seat across from her. It was too far, in her opinion, but when he took her hand with his, lacing their fingers together, everything felt right. Looking up at her, he said, “Did you enjoy the game?”

With her best pout, she said, “I don’t like seeing my team lose.”

“But you like watching me win,” he supplied, and she tried to glare, but it didn’t work. She felt like she was betraying her team, her family, in a way, but Karson was completely right.

“I’m not answering that.”

He laughed. “Which means yes. Good, I like winning for you.”

“You won for me?” she asked incredulously.

His eyes were so serious they made her breathless as he said, “Of course. I always win for you.”

She shook her head, looking down at the table. “Even after all this time?”

“Yeah, you don’t stop something once you decide that’s all you want to do.”

Breathless, she smiled as the tears stung her eyes. “Why didn’t you come back to me if you felt that way?”

He smiled wryly, his eyes not leaving hers. “Wow, jumped right into it, huh?”

Swallowing back the tears, she nodded. “It’s killing me. I have to know.”

He nodded and was about to speak when the waiter walked up. “Sir, what can I get you to drink?”

“Can I have a whiskey, neat, please?”

“Of course. Ma’am, another glass?” he asked.

Lacey glanced at her glass and shook her head. She wanted to be as clearheaded as possible, and that wouldn’t happen with a third glass of wine. “No, thank you.”

“Be right back,” the waiter informed them before walking away.

Looking back at Karson, she waited as he moved uncomfortably in the seat before meeting her gaze. Smiling he said, “I missed you, Lacey, a lot.”

Her heart did a little jig and she whispered, “I’ve missed you, but I have to know.”

“Right now? Don’t you want to catch up?” he asked nervously and that bothered her.

“You promised me answers, Karson.”

He nodded as he bit into his lip. “Would you have taken me back?”

“Yes,” she answered quickly. “I think that’s pretty obvious now, don’t you think?”

He agreed as the waiter set his glass before him and asked, “Can I get you two anything else?”

Karson looked to her and she shook her head. “No, we are fine.”

“Enjoy.”

Once he was gone, Karson said, “There isn’t a day that I don’t regret it, Lacey; you have to know that. I thought about you every day and hated what I did.”

She didn’t know what to say, but hearing him say that pleased her. There wasn’t a moment that passed where she wondered if he missed her, regretted leaving her. “I should have never left you, and the reason I never came back is because I was scared.”

Confused, she asked, “Scared of what? Me?”

He paused for a moment and then nodded. “Yeah, I hurt you, and I was scared if I came back and begged you, you wouldn’t take me back—not that I thought I deserved you, but still, I couldn’t take the rejection.”

It was the same reason she never went for him, but she was still irritated with them both. Why couldn’t they let go of their pride? Because of it, they spent nine years without each other. Nine years they couldn’t get back. Nine years of waste, in her opinion. Well, no, she took that back. She was very proud of her business, but everything else, the relationships, the loneliness, wouldn’t have happened if they had never broken up.

“You should never have left,” she whispered, meeting his gaze.

“You’re right. I shouldn’t have, and I can’t apologize enough,” he agreed, his eyes so dark and locked on hers. It was as if he was looking inside her soul, and it scared her what he would see. She wasn’t sure if she wanted him to know that she had been a complete wreck without him. She didn’t want to seem weak, but that’s exactly what she had been. He held her up, he made her the person she wanted to be, and without him, she was someone whom she didn’t love.