Page 127 of Bound To Be Mine

“Plus, it’d give us an excuse to visit,” Callum added. “I’ve been dying to see a Broadway show.”

“You could open a New York office,” Cleo said, warming to the idea. “Keep the LA operation running, hire someone to manage the day-to-day here. You’d have to fly back periodically, but you could make it work.”

“That’s a lot of work,” I said.

“You love work,” Callum reminded me. “When have you ever shied away from a challenge?”

I thought about Briggs, about how his face lit up when he talked about his family. About Sunday dinners with his mom. And his first nephew. He was rooted in New York in a way I’d never been rooted anywhere.

“His family is there,” I said. “He’s so close with them. I can’t ask him to leave that.”

“So don’t ask him,” Cleo said simply. “Go to him instead.”

“What if I move there and it doesn’t work out? What if I uproot my entire life and then six months from now we realize we made a mistake?”

Cleo came around to face me directly. “Mandy, you’ve spent the last couple of weeks being completely miserable without him. You just spent the last forty-five minutes with the most ridiculous smile on your face talking about him. Does that sound like something that’s not going to work out?”

“No,” I admitted.

“Then stop overthinking it,” Callum said. “Go where your heart is. The logistics will figure themselves out.”

“You make it sound so simple.”

“It is simple,” Cleo said. “You’re just making it complicated because you’re scared. Which is fair. Moving across the country for a guy is scary. But you know what’s scarier? Spending the rest of your life wondering what if.”

She had a point. They both did.

“Okay,” I said. “Let me think about it.”

“Don’t think too long,” Callum warned. “Because watching you pine is getting old.”

I stuck my tongue out at him, which was mature and professional.

Cleo helped me out of the dress, and I changed back into my regular clothes. We spent another hour going over designs for the new collection, but my mind kept wandering to what my life could look like if I was brave enough to take the leap.

By the time I left the studio, I’d made my decision.

I drove home thinking about how I would tell him. It was absolutely insane to do what I was going to do.

I found him in my kitchen, making dinner. He looked up when I walked in. That was a sight that would never get old.

“Hi, gorgeous,” I said.

“Hey,” he said. “How’d it go with Cleo and Callum?”

“Good. They used me as a dress form for three hours, but good.” I set my bag down and crossed to him. “Can we talk?”

His expression shifted to concern. “That sounds ominous.”

“It’s not. I promise.” I took a deep breath. “I’ve been thinking about us. About the distance. About how we’re going to make this work long-term.”

“Okay,” he said slowly, setting down the knife he’d been using to chop vegetables.

“And I’ve decided—” I paused, suddenly nervous. “I want to move to New York. With you. If you want me.”

His eyes widened. “What?”

“I’ll need to wrap things up here, get the LA office transitioned, but I could probably be ready to move in a couple months. I know it’s fast, and I know it’s crazy, but I want to be with you. Not once a month. I want to spend my nights with you and days when we can swing it.”