Page 83 of Love Not Qualified

My lungs took a deep breath and I squeezed my hand on my knee, hoping Haelyn wasn’t paying attention to the woman. But when she stretched her neck to the side to look at me, I knew she heard as well. I stole five more seconds to watch her before hearing what I knew she was about to say, my eyes taking in her angelic face.

She was fucking gorgeous. With her dark skin, full lips, thick-lashed eyes, and narrow face.

There’s a difference between a beautiful and a captivating woman.

The beautiful woman got all the looks and interest in a room, her personality hiding deep inside her and so far away from reach. She’s a shield of confidence and power, holding control.

A captivating woman could also be beautiful, but there’s something about her that was luring you in. You didn’t know if it was the looks, the way she was scrunching her nose, her posture, or her attitude. You were just attracted to her without knowing the reason.

Haelyn was a captivating woman. She could clean a spot between her teeth and I was still going to watch her as the most interesting thing in the world.

She opened her mouth as we both stared at each other. We knew the moment we were going to voice that she had no other reason to stay here now that the roads—that were never closed—were open, everything between us was going to split in half.

“We should…” Haelyn started in a whisper, almost as if she wished I didn’t hear her.

I nodded, even if my chest ached. “Yeah.”

Her throat gulped and she bit the inside of her cheek, her eyes lowering on the hands resting on her lap. “Thank you forthis break. I had a good time.” She looked back at me, her brows furrowed. She seemed in a battle with herself, choosing her words so carefully she spoke in slow motion.

“These two days felt like a breath of fresh air. I’m glad you stayed,” I admitted.

“You feel like a breath of fresh air” was what I didn’t say.

For some reason, our conversation felt like a goodbye. And maybe, it was one because once we got back to Los Angeles, the bubble we were now in was going to break. We were never going to get close to each other’s home and whatever attraction ignited here, was going to die as soon as we got into that car.

She slapped her palms on her jeans, then got to her feet. “I’ll go pack.”

“I’ll let Sebastian know we’re leaving.”

It was ten p.m., so I almost kept my word about spending two nights here. Even if I wronged them in the past, I knew they were going to understand once I explained.

I quickly followed her and our arms brushed when I straightened my back, looking down at her. Her eyelids fluttered the moment a shaky exhale passed past her lips and she dragged a hand up, hiding a curl behind her ear. Instinctively, my eyes tracked her movements, stealing my attention from her full lips to the curve of her neck.

Haelyn wasn’t even trying to seduce me—she was simply being herself—and yet I held my breath like a lion ready to attack at the mere sight of the expression on her face. She had her mouth open, a swallow traveling through her throat from time to time and the slightest blush painted her cheeks.

The clothes on my body began to feel restrictive and I pulled on my shirt to loosen the material, suddenly in need of more air.

How did she manage to make me lose my mind so quickly?

“I—” I started, but she interrupted me.

“Yeah.”

She knew I wanted to say the last thing I wished to do was to leave, but for some reason, she didn’t want to hear me say it.

Was that because it would complicate things even more or because she felt the same and was afraid of the feeling?

“Right,” she breathed out. “I’ll…” She pointed a finger behind her where the door to her room was.

I nodded, burying my palms in my front pockets. “Me too,” I gestured with my head to Sebastian’s room.

What the hell was wrong with me? Being shy like that?

Haelyn turned on her feet and my hand itched to catch her. I would’ve kissed her and showed her what she was going to miss once we were back, but it didn’t feel right.

Not with Haelyn.

The reason I wanted to grab her arm wasn’t because I was looking for a quick fuck.

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