Page 140 of From Rivals to I Do

walking, and some chasing after dogs. It looks like a dream of a perfect New York day.

“This is gorgeous, Leonard,” I whisper to him, almost speechless. “Seriously, I love this so much.”

I gently set it down, balancing it against a dry portion of the wall, and lean in to hug him. He wraps his arms around me, and for a moment, I sink into the

feeling. The heat of his body against mine feels natural, and I feel safe and comfortable. Slowly, I pull away from him while glancing at him in his eyes.

I can feel my heart getting out of my body and my cheeks blushing. I quickly look away, desperate for any distraction.

“Thank you, I’m glad you like it,” he smiles and casually leans against the wall.

I gasp when he does, but he doesn’t seem to notice. “Leonard,” I calmly start. “The paint.”

He quickly jerks his body away from the wall and turns around to look at the wall. While he assesses the damage to the paint job, I can see his entire back

is covered in sage green paint, and I can’t help but burst out laughing.

“You think that’s funny?” he laughs, shaking his head at me.

He picks up the paintbrush and slowly walks toward me. I try to stop laughing while I back away, but I can’t. I back into a drywall, and he brushes the paint

on my face. I laugh even harder and wipe some of the paint off with my thumb, brushing it onto his face in return.

Our eyes meet while he has me pinned against the wall, doused in paint. Dozens of things run through my mind, but I can’t bring any words to my lips. My

cheeks flush, and now I can feel every beat of my heart as it skips even faster in my chest. His eyes move between mine and my mouth while he slowly leans

down. I stand up straight and move my head forward, ready to kiss him if that is what he is going to do.

I had never noticed how nice his eyes are. They are blue with green highlights and remind me of the pictures Charlee used to show me of the ocean with

algae floating on top.

“Mommy,” I hear from the top of the stairs.

Leonard pulls away from me as soon as Charlee calls for me. I wipe my face and walk around to the bottom of the stairwell to meet her.

“What is it, sweetie?” I ask, my voice cracking a bit when I speak.

“I’m scared,” she whispers down the stairs.

“Okay, Mommy will be right up,” I say.

I want Leonard to stay, maybe to explore what might have just happened. But I’m thankful for this little interruption. Charlee was scared, so I’d have to ask

him to leave.

“It’s probably just because it’s the first night in the new house,” I explain to him when I tell him what happened.

“This was fun,” he says while I walk him to the door. “I’ll see you around.”

I lock the door behind him, peeking out the glass window to watch him walk away.

Chapter sixteen

Chapter Sixteen

Running through Central Park in the morning only reminds me of Rayne. I thought a run might clear my head and distract me. But I am not that lucky.

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