Page 97 of Second Chance Saloon

Jackie smiled, slipping her sandals off. “It’s a beautiful part of the world. Not many places compare.”

Mitch turned to her and his face split into a grin. “Is that what you did for the past ten years? Watched sunsets all over the world?”

Her heart cinched. “Partly, yes. It was fun for a while. But after so many sunsets, it lost its charm.”

“You never came back,” he whispered, his gaze unwavering from her face. “If you got fed up with it all, why didn’t you come back?”

Jackie spread her towel on the sand. She sucked in a breath, smoothing the fabric of her dress.

“Can we sit?” She tilted her head, staring at the horizon like it held the answers she so desperately needed.

Without a word, Mitch sat on his towel, cross-legged, watching her intently.

Jackie followed his lead, feeling like her legs wouldn’t have been able to support her much longer. “At first, I didn’t want to come back. Then, I’d waited too long and knew I couldn’t.” She pushed a strand of her hair behind her ear, smiling sadly at him. “You were the one I wanted to come back to.”

The muscles in his jaw bunched, his neck taut. “Why didn’t you?” he repeated the question, his voice a croaky rasp.

“I did.” She released a strangled breath. “I stood at the very back at your graduation, from vet school. I didn’t want to miss it. I even thought of coming over and talking to you. When you walked up that stage …” She shook her head, her heart suddenly too big for her chest. “It was a glimpse into everything I’d missed. I didn’t want to miss anything else.”

His chest was rising and falling with ragged breaths. “When we had dinner, you asked me if I became a vet, like you didn’t already know.” He swallowed audibly, his chin sagging with his shoulders. “But you did?”

Jackie dropped her gaze, looking at her feet buried in the sand. “I wasn’t planning to tell you I was there.”

“How did you even know I ended up at Texas A&M?”

Jackie sucked in her cheeks. “Mimi told me. That you went to visit her … after, and told her you changed your mind. That you wanted to stay in Texas.”

His hand found her knee and squeezed it gently. “I wanted to be close by, in case you did come back.”

She trembled under his touch.

“You should’ve come to me then. Jackie, we could’ve had all these years …” He broke off, his voice growing thick with emotion.

“I wanted to. I really did. But you weren’t alone. There was a gorgeous girl with you, who ran up to you, swung her arms around your neck, kissed you—”

“Rebecca.” The raw, dry regret laced every single syllable in the name that hung between them for a moment. “I was with Rebecca then.”

Sadness rang deep in her bones. “I wasn’t even jealous. How could I have been? I was the one who left. I was happy you found someone else, I really was. You seemed … content. Exactly the way I remembered you. I didn’t want to ruin it.” Her voice shook, and she swallowed, hoping to keep tears at bay.

His hand moved up her leg, found her hand and enveloped it in its warmth. “Jackie,” he said roughly. “You could’ve never ruined anything. Rebecca was … I liked her, it was fun, but she wasn’t you.”

A low, strangled laugh-cry slipped from her mouth. “It isn’t about Rebecca. It’s not even about Eve. It’s about the fact that I could never make you truly happy. When I knew it, I had to step away. I didn’t want to be selfish.”

“You need to stop talking in riddles and tell me what you mean.” His voice regained its composure. “This, whatever we’re doing … It’s killing me. I don’t remember what I told you last night, but I have a pretty good idea it was something along the lines of …” He took her chin between his thumb and forefinger, ensnaring her with a gaze of pure molten desire. “You’re still all I want.”

The pad of his finger brushed her lips, and she drew a small gasp. “Mitch.”

His green eyes caught the fading sun and halted her breath. He shook his head, once, but with startling conviction. “Let me say something before you tell me about all the reasons why we’re a bad idea.” His fingers moved down her neck, his hot gaze not leaving hers. “You’ve turned me into the man I am today. A man who’s never truly stopped loving you, it seems.”

Her heart stuttered and came to an abrupt stop. He couldn’t mean what she thought he was saying …

“I still love you, Jackie. It’s always been you. It’s always going to be you. I wanted you to know in case you decide to tell me the reason you left—to show you that, to me, it doesn’t matter. There’s nothing you could say that would change how I feel about you.”

His words struck her breathless. Weightless. Senseless.

What could she say to that? What was there to say? Especially as her heart pulled toward him so damn hard, like it was being drawn there by a magnet. There was no stopping it, not now they were together.

His knuckles brushed the skin on her cheek, a sad smile creeping over his lips. “I mean every word, Jackie.”