Page 79 of French Kiss

“Because I think it is.”

“I was surprised when I read the letter. And confused. But I don’t want to be with Maddox, let’s be clear on that. I want to be with you.”

He smiled and closed his eyes. “I just…” He shook his head.

“Please. Tell me what you’re thinking.”

“We’re in a romantic city, we drank a ton of wine, we got swept up in all of it. We’re still swept up in it,” he said, pointing to the balcony and the perfect view of the Eiffel Tower.

He was right, of course. The city was amazing and it had played a part in getting us together. But beyond that, we had to take a gamble on doing it ourselves.

“I don’t know what to say to convince you,” I said. “But it feels real to me.”

Josh reached out and put a hand on mine. “It feels real to me too. I guess I’ve done a pretty good job over the years of convincing myself we could never be together.”

“Please stop doing that,” I said.

He ran a hand through his hair and leaned forward on his knees. I couldn’t see his expression, but I knew him well enough to understand that we might be done. He’d given things a lot of thought and he didn’t make decisions lightly. Our two days together might be all we’d ever have.

I also knew I had to try to change his mind. Because he was wrong.

“Josh, please hear what I’m saying because I’m only going to say it once. I don’t know what the hell was wrong with me for the past three years in not seeing everything I see in you today, but maybe us being friends for so long is the reason I feel the way I do about you now. And it’s not a two day feeling. It’s a forever feeling. I only want you. I love you. I am one thousand percent, head over heels in love with you.” Then, just in case he didn’t get it yet, I added, “I’d even eat another snail for you.”

He looked at me but he didn’t speak. His expression was still serious as he pushed himself out of the wingback chair and walked over to where I stood. Then he hugged me. No wild, soul-stirring, passionate kiss. Just a hug. Like a friend.

“You’re really only going to say that once?” he asked, his lips curling into a smile. “Because it was pretty magnificent. I mean, I’ve dreamed of stuff like that and even then it didn’t hold a candle to what you just said. So I’d really like to hear it again.” He planted a soft kiss on my lips. And I knew we were going to be okay.

So I humored him. “I’ll say the important part. I love you.”

Because it was that simple.

---