Page 46 of A Sudden Romance

“Do you know I love elephants?”

He nodded. His gaze now distant.

He’d bought her the elephant slippers last year when he drew her name. The list went on, but she wouldn’t ask about her favorite gummy bears he always had handy whenever they watched a movie.

Having frequented the kitchen, she’d stumbled upon a bag full of gummy bears in the pantry. On Tuesday, she’d been tempted to rip open the bag, but she’d wait until he offered them to her.

“Don’t think I haven’t noticed that you know my favorite mugs.” She shook a finger at him, but he probably didn’t even see it. Why wouldn’t he look at her? “I thought we got comfortable with each other these last few days. I almost thought we were becoming good friends, but I might have misread—”

“You want me to be honest?” He jerked his chin up and crossed his arms over his chest.

Startled by the sudden rise in his voice and the flash in his eyes, she swallowed hard. If this was how mad he got, he was sexy and adorable. She nodded.

He raked a hand through his hair, tugging at it as if struggling with what he was about to say. Then he groaned and threw back his head. “I don’t know.”

“Sabastian.” She waited until he looked at her. “You’re capable of telling me anything—”

“You intimidate me.” He strode away from the fireplace, but then stopped at the hallway leading to the bedrooms. “You’re the one person who has the ability to cheer me up, yet at the same time, crush me.”

When he looked at her, sincerity glowed in the depths of his brown eyes. “Every time I see you, my heart just lights up... and I feel so overwhelmed I can’t even fathom how to speak. Do you get that? Only you do that. Words fail me—every single time!”

It was her turn to swallow. Strange muscles deep in her stomach clenched. A current—no, an exhilaration—crackled in the air as his pained gaze bridged the distance between them as if she was unreachable. She almost lifted her foot to move to him, but they felt stuck as if she were standing in drying cement.

The odd current swirled between them, the way she’d felt lately in his presence.

“I’ve had a crush on you for years, loved you from a distance....” He shook his head. “Your smile, your happiness, and your kindness...”

He did care! Her eyes tingled, threatening tears at the sweetness of his words. His voice was trembling, and she’d never heard more genuine words. The depth of his heart fueled his tone and lit a fire in his passionate eyes.

He tilted his head to the side. “These last days, you’ve made it easy for me to talk to you and spend time with you. I’d hoped maybe you saw how I felt about you. But apparently, I need to wear a sign that says I’m crazy about you.”

His shoulders fell. “I’m terrible at this, and when you went on a date with that guy, I just—”

“It wasn’t a date, Sabastian. Coffee.” Okay, so she had wanted to use Grey as a distraction to try to get Sabastian from her mind. “I felt I owed him. He was kind to meet with you.”

“I could care less about the cooking show,” Sabastian snapped. “All that would mean nothing...”

He pinned her with another heated gaze, somehow making her understand nothing he did to advance his career would matter if she wasn’t part of his future.

Then he shrugged. “Anyway, I can’t stand in front of a camera and work under pressure. I only agreed because you believed I could.”

“You can do it.” She spoke over the lump in her throat.

“I’m not rich, and I can’t compete with men like Grey.” His gaze lowered, and his lips thinned. Then his voice dipped until she could barely hear his next words. “You now know how pathetic I am.”

Pathetic? “Oh, Sabastian!”

Desire and longing sent adrenaline surging through her as she fought the urge to cross over and throw her arms around him. To connect her lips with his if only to erase his doubts. But with just the two of them at night in his house and both of them so emotional, temptation was inevitable.

Still, she forced her foot to move, then the other until she was close to him, leaving just enough space between them.

“If it’s of any comfort...” He deserved to know he wasn’t alone in this. “I wanted to ignore how I feel about you, but it hasn’t been easy.”

His head jerked up, and a spark lit his eyes.

But she held up a hand to stop him from moving or interrupting. “The entire time I was with Grey, I couldn’t stop thinking about you.”

“You... couldn’t?” He gripped the back of his neck, a shy smile softening his brooding.

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