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.

been thinking about it too or if she

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

move, and I

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

business proposal. It wasn't entirely a lie; I'd been working on something that could help her company expand

see me, and for a split second,

her voice a bit tight, like she was expecting

I said, keeping it casual. I handed her the proposal,

was again-something electric, something I couldn't ignore, no

could tell she wasn't really reading it. Her mind was

mumbled after a few minutes, 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

stared at me, her expression unreadable for a moment, and then she sighed, running a hand through her

willing to be patient. I've waited

in front of 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

door,

"Why now?"

back, confused. "What

you doing this now?" she asked, her eyes finally meeting mine, searching for something. "We've been divorced for more than a year, Richard. Why

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

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

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

back into the room. "Back then, I was...

I took it out on you. I couldn't see what I was doing, how 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