Page 137 of The Charm of You

Can it be? I’m afraid to turn and find it’s too good to be true.

“I can’t believe you walk these streets in those heels. I figured fishing in sneakers would’ve lured you to the dark, comfortable side by now.” His chuckle causes a symphony to erupt across my chest. “You are so stubborn,” he says, and he’s much closer now.

Like he’s standing beside me.

If I didn’t smell his familiar, sexy cologne, I still wouldn’t believe he’s here.

I can’t take the suspense any longer, and I lift my gaze to meet his.

Austin Kyle is here. In New York. Outside my old office building.

During a time when I really need him. Did my imagination somehow conjure him into existence?

I touch his arm to ensure he’s real, and my jaw drops. Everything about him is firm and steady and very freaking real.

And I feel it.

The spark. The magic. The warmth in my chest from balance restored, and all is right in my world.

It’s the innate feeling my mother once told me about.

Love.

My heart clammers for its next beat as I cling to him, a sense of peace and belonging consuming me.

The broody guy with rugged edges on every corner of his being is here, cupping my cheek in his large palm and sweeping me off my damn feet.

chapter

forty-two

AUSTIN

“I was thinking about you, and here you are.” Caroline’s wide-eyed gaze travels over me, and her lips part in shock. “What are you… How?”

My swallow doesn’t go down easy. It’s like sticking a loaf of bread down a garbage disposal.

She was thinking about me.

There might be hope for me yet.

Grovel. Addie advised me to grovel, and that’s what I need to fucking do. I need to show Caroline how much I care about her. How stupid I’ve been just because I was scared.

I’m not. I got on a damn plane to New York, rode the subway, and tracked her down at her old office building, and through all that, it feels like I’ve conquered so many demons I’d been lugging along for years.

I’m standing in a whole new world, one with skyscrapers and so much noise I can barely hear my own fucking thoughts. Several people were arguing on the subway like they didn’t have an audience—or maybe they just didn’t care. Car horns, strange smells, and so much trash in the alleys.

It’s so unlike Sapphire Creek. I might not belong here, but as Caroline’s eyes lift to lock onto mine, I know I’m in the right place in this moment.

“My mom is dating,” I blurt.

Confusion flashes across her sea-blue eyes. “Has she ever dated since your father?”

“No, and now she’s dating Gus’s brother.”

She releases a quick burst of laughter. “He has a brother?”

“I didn’t know, either, and the worst part is that he spells Karl with a K.”

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