Page 11 of Rim Shot Rebound

Eric turned and straddled the piano bench so he could face her sitting in the chair next to him. “Actually, it’s exactly your business.” He took her strong hands in his, ignoring the look of panic she flashed at his touch. It pained him, but he knew he deserved it.

Sure, she’d shut down and shut him out after the miscarriage. But she’d been hurting, and he’d known that. He never should have walked away and left her to deal with that pain on her own. He’d hurt her by doing that, and he deserved the reminder now.

But he had to let her know how he felt.

He held her hands until her shoulders relaxed and she looked him in the eye, her steel blue gaze guarded but curious. “It was never going to work, because she wasn’t you. No one else will ever be you. The last few months have only made it clear how much I want you in my life again, Kel.”

Her mouth hung open, caught somewhere between shock and needing desperately to tell him something. He waited, but she only closed her mouth and stared at him.

So he continued.

“I love our friendship. I don’t want to ruin that,” he said. “But I don’t want to miss a chance to be with you. I know I don’t deserve it. Not now, at least, and maybe I don’t deserve it ever again. I know I let you down. I wasn’t there for you when you needed me the most. But I want to earn another chance to show you what you mean to me. To earn your trust and love again.”

Her face was pale, paler than normal, and her skin had that tint of green again. But she bit her glossy peach lip and took a deep breath, and the color slowly came back to her face. Her cheeks tinted pink and her eyes glittered to life again. He saw all of his own fears reflected in her eyes. Fear that they couldn’t do this. Fear that they would hurt each other all over again. Fear that they would ruin everything this time in some irreparable explosion.

But he also saw hope. The same hope that was overwhelming his senses and had him inching toward her. He put his hand on the side of her face and leaned forward to meet her lips with his own. Softly. The familiar sweetness of her mouth warmed his entire body and soul as she relaxed against him and returned his kiss.

He held her soft face in both hands and kissed her harder, more urgently, desperate to recapture all of those weeks without her. Even all of the weeks and months before the last time they were together. Because this was what he wanted. Kelsey. Only Kelsey. Every day. For the rest of his days.

She pulled back suddenly though, removing his hands from her face and holding them in her own. Her eyes were a swirling swamp of confusion now. Her face flushed, her lips still plump with desire. He wished he could read her thoughts. No matter how much he feared them.

“I should go,” was all she said.

She released his hands and stood, placing her pencil and the legal pad on the piano and folding her sheet of notes as she hurried for the door.

“Kelsey, wait.” His brain scrambled for the right words, the magical words that would make her stay. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make—”

“No, it’s fine,” she stammered, barely turning to look back at him in her rush to escape. “I just…I should go.”

And with that, she was gone. Like smoke through his fingers. He looked at his palms. He’d held her in them moments ago, and she’d slipped away. She’d run away. He couldn’t blame her. She didn’t owe him anything, and he’d known going in that this was a lost cause. He’d never win her back.

But for one fleeting moment, he’d held her. And he’d held hope.

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