AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“If you hadn’t sent it, I wouldn’t be here,” he said. “You would never have needed a Zane Remington.”
A heartbeat. Then her eyes widened. “Oh! That was inconsiderate of me. You needed this job. I don’t mean I wish that never happened. I just should have come out sooner. As soon as things got complicated, before you got dragged into—”
“—nothing,” he said, meeting her gaze. “I got dragged into nothing, Daphne. And that’s not what I meant at all. Screw the job. After I met you, that was fifty percent excuse anyway, and by the time the book came out, it was a hundred percent excuse. I didn’t need the job anymore. I just wanted to be with you. That’s what I was trying to say. If there was no Zane Remington, I wouldn’t have had the chance to meet you. Maybe that’s selfish, but I’m going to be completely selfish right now and admit that I would never, in a million years, want to give up the chance to spend time with you, to get to know you better… to fall in love with you.”
Did you really just say that?
Yep, he did, and he wasn’t taking it back, because it was the truth, and he was damned well going to acknowledge that, whatever the consequences.
Daphne stared at him. Just stared.
Reverse! Reverse! Laugh it off. Pretend she misheard. Do something!
Nope. If it wasn’t something she wanted to hear, she could say she didn’t think of him that way, and that would be that.
And by “that would be that” he meant that he’d never mention it again. Not that he’d tuck his hurt feelings under his arm and slink out of the friendship. If you don’t want me, I guess I’ll just leave. Or wave his hurt-feelings flag and storm out. If I can’t have you that way, I don’t want you around at all.
More silence as she stared at him.
Okay, he wasn’t going to take the words back, but he could nudge them aside. Let her know it was okay if her answer was—
“I’m scared,” she blurted. Then she rubbed her hands over her face. “I didn’t mean to say that.”
He tugged her hands down. “But it’s how you feel, so it needed to be said. Just like I needed to say what I did. If what I said scared you, if it’s moving too fast, then you can say that.”
She shook her head. “It’s not that. It’s… everything. I do want more but I’m…”
“Scared. Of…?”
“I’m not sure I’m at the right place in my life for this, Chris. If it was anyone else, I’d say no, but I feel as if this could be something, and that sends me spiraling into the future, with all kinds of complications that I shouldn’t be worrying about yet.”
“Like the fact we live over a thousand miles apart?”
“Yes, and I don’t want to get into a situation where I’m giving up one dream for another. Nor do I expect you to give up your home for me. Then there’s the writing. It’s a new career, and it takes up so much of my time and attention.”
“But it’s your dream. Same as the house.”
She nodded.
“And I’d never ask you to give up, either. I’m not saying I can see myself living in the Yukon full-time, but I am saying I would never expect you to walk away from what you’ve built there. Same as your career.” He met her gaze. “I’d expect you to respect my home and my career, so I offer the same, and I’m not sure how that works out, but…”
He took her hands in his. “I’m not asking you to commit to anything. I just need you to be open to the idea that this is more than a fling.” He quirked a smile. “Nothing can be certain. That’d be like writing a book and deciding it’s going to be an instant bestseller. But you wrote it in hopes it would be the start of something real. A possible new direction for your life. Yes?”
She nodded again.
“That’s all this is,” he said. “Our first chapter. Pen to paper with the hope of finishing the story.” He met her gaze. “Do you want to start a story with me, Daphne?”
She kissed him. He didn’t see it coming. He was too focused on his tone and his expression, being absolutely certain she knew he meant it. Meant all of it.
Then she was kissing him, a deep and passionate kiss that answered all his questions.
The first page of a new story.
When the kiss broke, she put her lips to his ear. “I think you’re amazing, Chris. I think if you walk out of my life, I’m never going to get over it.”
He cupped his hands around her face and brought it back to his. He held it there, looking deep into her eyes, pausing as if to make some grand speech, and then saying, “Same.”
She sputtered a laugh, and she looked so damned gorgeous that he was transfixed, words and thoughts drying up. Her mouth lowered to his, and he closed his eyes and inhaled the scent of her and—
