Free The Anniversary Party by Sommer Marsden

time in the Army ended. That's why I'm so successful. I did nothing but work. I worked and worked and worked until I was exhausted—looking at everything through a lens instead of at my own life. Trying to get perfect shots instead of mending mistakes. Most of all, trying to get you out of my head. Trying to forget what I had given up because I was too chicken to come clean. Kylie, it didn't matter what I wanted. It was you who deserved to be happy."
    Kylie rose suddenly and he let her go. Put his hands on his knees and sat on his haunches.
    "But I wasn't happy,” she sobbed. And then ran into her bathroom. Wade felt helpless as he watched her go.
    * * * *
    Kylie stared at her tear-streaked face in the mirror. Wonderful. She couldn't go back to the party looking like this. Plus, she couldn't leave the bathroom because Wade was on the other side of the door. Waiting. Looking hopeful and pain-stricken. She was torn between wanting to slap him and wanting to burrow against him for comfort. She attempted to fix her hair but her shaking hands fumbled with the clip. Eight years! Eight years wasted because of a juvenile mistake. Something she could have gotten past. Something she most likely could have forgiven.
    Very few people were sacred to her. Her family and Wade. There were only a handful of people with whom she could put her love above her pride and Wade was one of them. But his trust in her could not possibly equal her trust in him or he would have told her. He would have had faith in her to carry on with him. To go on and build their life and not waste what they had. She didn't know what hurt worse, his mistake or his lack of faith in her love.
    The door swung open and Kylie jumped. “Sweet Jesus! How did you do that?” she stammered, backing up against the vanity.
    Wade grinned sheepishly. “Lots of photo shoots in war zones. A tag-along assignment with a mobster. Joey Nine Fingers could sure pick a mean lock when he wasn't under surveillance. I did a whole spread on the mob underground. They do love their notoriety. You learn lots of nifty tricks when you work with that caliber of people."
    "Well,” she snapped, “you could have just knocked."
    "Would you have let me in?” he asked, raising a single eyebrow. Kylie did her best to ignore how sexy the gesture was.
    "No!"
    "There's your answer,” he said with half a smile.
    "Wade, just leave. Let me get myself together. I have a party going on down there and I'm up here with swollen eyes and the hairdo from hell."
    "Forget the party for just a moment,” he said. Wade turned her to face him, stroked her arms with his hands. The contact felt wonderful and Kylie closed her eyes to steady the flood of images that blossomed in her mind. “I'm sorry, Kylie. I know that I had no right to come back here and do the things I've done. I regret my decisions every day. Every day that I spend without you I wonder what could have been. What should have been,” he added, staring at her with eyes the color of strong coffee.
    Kylie hung her head. She didn't know what to do. Give in to her feelings? Walk away and try to forget this whole thing? She'd gone that route and it hadn't worked. Eight years had passed in a blink with no love and no passion. No love that swept her off her feet. Nothing but a parade of nice men who just weren't the one and a pervading sense of sadness.
    "Wade.” She tried to sound strong but her voice came out in a shaky whisper.
    "Look at me, Kylie,” he said and tilted her chin up so she had to meet his gaze. “The only thing I can ask of you is your forgiveness. I made an asinine mistake. I was a kid but I don't fall back on that as an excuse. I can do the interview, leave town, let you get on with your life. I can do all that if that's what you want. But I need your forgiveness. I have no damn right to ask it of you but I need you to give that to me. Please."
    Kylie stared at his worry-drawn face. Something loosened deep in her chest, chasing her anger