He watched her for a moment before asking, “How’s Aiden feeling?”

“Audrey said he was fine, but he isn’t talking to me right now so I wouldn’t know,” she said sadly.

Lucas cocked his head to the side. “Why isn’t he talking to you?”

Fallon laid her fork down, leaning her head on her hand. “He heard me yelling at you. He said I keep was keeping his father from him and that …” she stopped and took a deep breath before dropping her hands into her lap, “and that he hated me.”

Lucas took in a quick breath, shaking his head. “He didn’t mean it Fallon. I’ll talk to him. I did the same thing when I was his age, and my dad gave me one hell of a talk. So Aiden has one coming. I’m sorry he said that to you.”

When she looked back at him, her eyes were full of tears. She took in a deep breath before saying, “I’m so sorry Lucas, I wasn’t thinking and it just flew out of my mouth. You know I say things I don’t mean when I’m mad. I had no right to say those things to you. I was just so scared and I lashed out at you, and I really am sorry. I didn’t mean any of it, so please Lucas, don’t hate me too.”

Lucas crossed his arms across his chest again, maybe protecting his heart, he didn’t know. He knew that she meant it, he could see it on her face, but it still hurt. He looked down at his empty plate and expelled a long breath. “You hurt me, Fallon. More so this time than when you left Sunday morning.”

“I know Lucas, and I’m sorry. Sorry for that and this afternoon. I’m a mess and I only get like this when it comes to you. I’m pretty sure I need medication ‘cause I’m probably borderline bipolar.”

“You are not,” Lucas said with a shake of his head.

Fallon took in a deep breath before looking up at him again. “I’m so sorry, I really am.”

Lucas nodded his head before reaching for her hand and kissing her knuckles. It was crazy how those six small words could cancel the one that she had said earlier. Maybe he was a sucker, maybe he was stupid, but Fallon could probably get away with murder when he came to him. As long as she looked up at him with those big caramel eyes and blinked back the tears the way she was doing now, he would always forgive her. He loved her, through and through.

“I’m going to show you something.”

Fallon raised an eyebrow. “What?”

“How to forgive,” he said with a grin. “I accept your apology.”

The tears that welled up in her eyes spilled over and she flung herself into his arms, almost knocking his chair back. He took her willingly and wrapped his arms around her tight as she cried into his neck. “I was so scared you were going to hate me.”

“I could never hate you, Fallon,” he whispered into her hair. “Never.”

She pulled back, her arms still around his neck as she looked down into his eyes. “I’ve been miserable these past couple days.”

“You have?”

She nodded. “I decided this afternoon that I wanted to try, that I was ready to forgive you and move on.”

Lucas smiled. “Really?”

“Really. I’ve missed you so much. I should have never left Sunday the way I did. I did nothing but hurt us both.”

“You are right on that one,” Lucas said with a nod. He then narrowed his eyes at her, “You are not saying all this just to get on my good side right? You mean all of this?”

Fallon nodded as tears continued to spill down her cheeks. “Yes, I swear. I planned on talking to you this afternoon when you dropped Aiden off. I’m tired of living in the past. I just want to try and see if it works. I’m not guaranteeing it will — we’ve changed a lot — but I want to try.”

All the feelings Lucas was feeling before Fallon came over disappeared as love filled his heart and warmed his soul. He had been waiting for this moment for seven years, and as much as he believed it would happen, it still seemed unreal. He brought her against his chest tightly and kissed her lips hard. Her arms tightened around his neck as his did around her middle before they deepened the kiss. It was as if they were kissing for the first time, each passing of the tongue, each small kiss, everything was new and perfect. When they parted he leaned his head against hers, kissing her nose. “I haven’t given up on us yet, Fallon and I never will. We are going to make it, and we will be happy.”

Fallon gave him a watery smile before she kissed the side of his mouth. “What if it’s all about sex? That’s the only time we seem to get along.”

Lucas laughed. “It can’t be. If it was only about sex, I would already have you naked. This is about us. This is about an intense, deep connection we have. I have loved you since I first laid eyes on you Fallon, and I haven’t stopped. I started to fall for you all over again Saturday night and even with how this afternoon went down, I still feel the same way. I am never going to hurt you. I will earn your trust again because I am only going to love you and our son for the rest of our lives.”

Lucas let out a breath he didn’t even realize he was holding. Where the hell did that all come from? He couldn’t believe that he just bared his heart to her again but he had, and he felt great. He needed her to understand that she could trust him, that she could put all herself into their relationship because he wasn’t going anywhere. He was hers for life.

Fallon eyes were locked with his as her hands came up cupping his face. “You went serious on me. I was just kidding about the sex thing.”