Page 77 of Dreaming of Dawson

“How? We work together every day. You own this place.”

“What if I didn’t?” I say, desperate now, moving closer, so I can feel the heat from her body, the urge to pull her closer almost overwhelming me. “What if I didn’t own this place?”

“But you do.”

“I know, but I could sell it.”

She leans back slightly, her eyes widening. “Sell your bar? Why?”

“So we can be together.”

“You… You can’t do that.”

“Yes, I can.”

“But it’s a part of you, Dawson,” she says, bringing up her free hand and resting it on my chest. “You’ve spent years here, making it what it is. You can’t just throw that away.”

“I wouldn’t be throwing anything away. Not if we could be together. Can’t you see? I’d be gaining so much more than I’d be losing.”

She shakes her head, letting out a long sigh, and I wonder what on earth I’m gonna have to say to convince her. Would ‘I’m in love with you’ be too much? ‘I love you’ wouldn’t be enough. We’ve established that already, and I open my mouth to say those five little words just as she steps closer and looks up at me through her eyelashes, silencing me with a tilt of her head and bite on her bottom lip.

“I’d never ask you to sell your bar, Dawson,” she whispers. “But there was something I was gonna ask you, before I left… before we realized it was snowing and I couldn’t drive home.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. I was gonna ask if… if you could give me a little time?”

“Time for what?” I ask.

“To think about everything that’s happened tonight. About what you’ve said… and what I’ve said.”

My heart flips over in my chest. So, she didn’t wanna go… not without offering me a crumb of hope first. And even if it is just a crumb, I’ll take it.

“If that’s what you need, then yes.”

“Thank you,” she says, leaning against me. I hold her, my arm around her waist, and she lets me.

“You don’t have to thank me, Macy,” I say. “And the offer’s still there.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means that if you think things through, and you still decide that me being your boss is a problem, then I’ll sell the bar.”

“You’re serious, aren’t you? You’d really do it?”

“For you? Yes. You, and no-one else.”

She bites on her bottom lip again, and while I’m tempted to free it with a kiss, I’ve said I’ll give her time. And I will… in a minute. First, there’s something else I need to do, and I lean in and kiss her forehead, just gently, to let her know I’m hers, no matter what she decides.

I wasn’t kidding when I said my bed resembled an earthquake after I’d slept in it, and now, looking down at it, I wish I’d made it this morning. Of course, I had other things on my mind then… things that are currently in my guest bedroom, thinking. Evidently.

I’d rather Macy was in here with me, but at least she didn’t dismiss me out of hand. I thought she was, but she wasn’t, and now I feel like I’ve got a chance…

For now, though, I just need to a make my bed, and fall into it.

Fortunately, it doesn’t take me long, and as I climb under the covers, marveling at how strange it feels to be sober for the first time in ages, I can’t help smiling.

I meant everything I said to Macy earlier. I’d sell the bar if I had to… even though it would be a wrench. She wasn’t wrong about that. This place means a lot to me, but nowhere near as much as she does. I know that now, and that smile doesn’t leave my lips as I turn over and snuggle down, ignoring my hard-on, and closing my eyes…

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