Page 77 of Second Chance Serenity

“Michael, that’s great.”

“It felt a lot like healing,” he says. “And that was nice.”

“I’m really glad.”

We fall into companionable silence, and I start to draw my hand back, worried that I’ve gone too far. Michael tugs my fingers, taking my hand in his. “I’m sorry that I wasn’t more present once we got to Caleb’s. I?—”

“Michael, you took a beating. On top of being shot and being in an accident. Why are you apologizing? Honestly, I don’t know how you stayed on your feet as long as you did. Doc was shocked, too. He said for all intents and purposes, you shouldn’t be here today.”

“Yeah, he told me that, too. It seems I have a habit of surviving when others think I’m grave-bound.”

“Good. Keep it up.”

“I’d rather stop being in situations where I have to maintain those odds.” His gaze levels on my face. “I’m so glad you survived, Reyna. And I cannot thank you enough for bringing me out, too.”

My cheeks heat. “You would have done the same.”

“In a heartbeat.”

“You took a bullet for me.”

“I’d take a thousand of them if it meant you walked away alive.”

“Michael—” I tear up, the emotion finally getting to be too much for me to hide anymore. I need space to think, to find a way to put into words all that I’m feeling. So I withdraw my hand and get to my feet. “I think I’m going to head to bed.”

“Okay.” Michael stands and retrieves his folder, then tucks it beneath his injured arm and follows me down the hall.

Our rooms are across from each other. He stops outside his door, and I pause outside of mine.

We turn toward each other.

“Goodnight,” he says.

And I can’t fight it anymore. I rush forward and cup his face, then yank his mouth down onto mine. The kiss is explosive.

Soul-igniting.

World-tilting.

And I deepen it, wondering how I went so long without Michael Anderson in my life.

He pulls away and rests his forehead against mine, his ragged breathing a perfect tempo for mine. “I can’t breathe without you,” he whispers. “The moments you aren’t there, it feels like my lungs can’t fill with air.”

“I feel the same.” I kiss him again, gently this time, savoring these quiet moments where we’re together, our lives unthreatened. “I don’t want you to move to Boston when this is over. Please don’t leave.”

His gaze levels on mine. “Are you sure?”

“Yes. I don’t want distance. I want you. I want the life we should have had. I want you to keep promising to count the stars for me. I want a marriage. Children. A future. And we can’t have that if you leave Hope Springs.”

With his good hand, Michael cups my cheek, his thumb caressing my skin. “Then I’ll count every last star for you, Reyna. And I will dedicate my life to making you happy.”

He kisses me again, then pulls away, and I slip into my room, leaning back against the door.

A future with Michael felt impossible. But now, it’s right in my grasp.

We just have to survive this first.

CHAPTER 25

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