Page 164 of Hope & Harmony

He went quiet for a beat, but I could hear his gears turning. “You’ve met a woman you feel strongly enough to tell me about, and it sounds like you’re going to let geography stop you from pursuing her. Is that right?”

“We had one night together.”

“All right. Then why are you telling me about her?”

I rubbed my face, frustrated with him for seeing the truth even when we weren’t sharing the same space. This was what I got for keeping him around for so long. He knew me too well for me to get anything by him.

“Because it was special, and I feel like a prick for even saying those words, but it’s true.”

His whooshing breath vibrated my ear. “There’s nothing wrong with recognizing you had a connection with someone.”

“There is when she lives on the opposite coast from me.”

“Planes exist.”

I dropped my hand to the side. “Which I’m frequently on for business. You know this, Jules.”

He made a disgruntled sound. “I do know. I see ghosts more than I see you.”

“Right. So this thing with Selena, it’s going in the memory banks. If I try to do some kind of long-distance thing with her, I’ll end up breaking my heart or hers. Or, fuck, both.”

“Marco…” he uttered. “You’re talking about your heart. That means something.”

I squeezed my eyes shut. “I’m talking about it breaking, man.”

“You’ve never cared about that before.”

“That was—” I couldn’t let myself say it.

“Before Selena.”

Count on Jules not to let me off the hook.

Fucking Julien.

My mind was still on my conversation with Jules when I knocked on Selena’s door. I only had a few more hours left to spend with her, and the last thing I wanted was to be stuck thinking about the end of everything.

She opened the door with a grin on her pretty face. “Marco Rider,” she purred, leaning her head against the side of the door. “You’re here.”

I stepped into her, dipping down to brush my lips over hers, and ithurt. This was the first and last time I’d get to show up at her door and kiss her hello.

“You’re here too, looking like a dream, mama.” Her hair was pulled back with a red bandanna, forties-style. Cuffed jeans hugged her thick thighs, and a white T-shirt snuggled up with her tits, exposing a slice of her golden abdomen.

Gorgeous.

I already knew for a fact I’d never find another woman more beautiful than Selena Cruz.

She took my hand, pulling me into her place. Regret weighed my feet down, but I followed her.

This was it.

A beginning and an end.

It wasn’t like me to get philosophical. Normally, I didn’t get caught up in my feelings, but thisache. This fucking ache.

Selena bounced on her toes, and it was adorable. But it killed me that she was happy-go-lucky while I was trying to hold my cracking chest together.

“Okay, here are our choices: my favorite hole-in-the-wall down the road, or we order in. I’m too trashed to cook, and I packed most of my pans anyway. What do you think?”

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