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.

if she'd been thinking about it too or if she was just

glanced at my phone, half-expecting a message from her, but of course, nothing. She wasn't the type to reach

to tread carefully-one wrong move, and I

couldn't take it anymore. I needed to see her. Not to push her,

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

see me, and for

like she was expecting me

run something by you," I said, keeping it casual. I handed her the proposal, watching as her fingers

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

really reading it. Her mind was somewhere else, probably still on

a few minutes, her eyes not

said softly, leaning in just enough so that my voice felt like it was only for her, "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

sighed, running a hand through her hair. "It's not that

know. But I'm willing to be patient. I've waited

her like they suddenly became the most interesting thing in the world. I let out a quiet sigh and stood up to leave, not wanting to push

door, I

"Why now?"

turned back, confused. "What do you

mine, searching for something. "We've been divorced for more than a year, Richard.

wind out of me for a second. It was a fair question,

wait so long? Maybe it was because I hadn't realized what I had until it was

then, too blind to see what

person I was," I finally said, stepping back into the room. "Back then, I was...

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