Winning Back His Ex's Wife's Broken Heart by Hayley

Chapter 49

Richard's pov.

That kiss. I hadn't planned it. God, I didn't even think it would happen.

One minute, we were standing there, exchanging words that were half full of hope and half full of caution, and the next... Well, she kissed me back, didn't she?

It wasn't the kiss on our wedding day-that cold, brief peck I now regretted. This kiss, though, meant something.

I could feel it in the way she hesitated, the way her lips stayed on mine just a second longer than they should have.

But then she pulled away. And I could see it in her eyes-the confusion, the fear, and that ever-present wall she'd built between us. I'd done that.

I was the reason she couldn't trust me easily anymore.

"Richard, I can't do this. Not yet."

Those words echoed in my head the whole night. I watched her drive away, wanting to stop her, to say something, but I didn't.

She needed space, and for the first time in my life, I understood that giving her what she needed was more important than what I wanted.

But damn it, I wanted her back. I wanted her more than I'd ever allowed myself to admit before.

Seeing her every day, laughing with her over dinners, watching her light up when she talked about her business, her passions... It was like I was meeting the real Sarah for the first time. And now, I couldn't imagine going back to the way things were.

The next morning, I couldn't focus. My thoughts kept going back to that kiss, her words, the look in her eyes.

about it too or if she was just finding

message from her, but of course, nothing.

tread carefully-one wrong move, and I could lose

the time the afternoon rolled around, I couldn't take it anymore. I needed to see her. Not to push her, but to let her

It wasn't entirely a lie; I'd been working on something that could help

surprised to see me, and for a split second,

she said, her voice a bit tight, like she was expecting me to bring up the

something by you," I said, keeping it casual. I handed her the

again-something electric, something I couldn't ignore, no matter how hard

glanced at the paperwork, but I could tell she wasn't really reading it. Her mind was

after a few minutes, her eyes not

"we don't have to talk about it right now, but... I just want you to know, I'm not going anywhere. I meant what I said last night. I'm here for whatever

me, her expression unreadable for a moment, and then she sighed,

I'm willing to be patient. I've waited this

papers in front of her like they suddenly became the most interesting thing in

the door, I heard her

"Why now?"

confused.

finally meeting mine, searching for something. "We've been divorced for more than

me for a second. It was a fair question, one I hadn't fully

Why did I wait so long? Maybe it was

was because I was an idiot back then, too blind to see what

the room. "Back then, I was... I don't know, lost. Angry, maybe. At

much I was hurting you. But losing you... that was the wake-up call I needed. And now that I've got this second chance to even be in your life, I'm not wasting it." She blinked, clearly taken aback by my honesty. I wasn't sure if she believed me, but I needed her to understand that I wasn't just saying it. I