Page 106 of The Accidental Honeymoon

Then she lets out a shaky breath. "Do you really mean that? Because I’m not interested in being anyone’s backup plan, Jay."

"You’re not.” I grab her hand. The words pour out of me, raw and unpolished. "You’re not a backup plan or a last resort or anything less than everything. You’re the only thing that makes sense to me right now."

“Jay…” Calla rubs her temple. “You can’t love me. You can’t want me. It seems like you may just be repeating the same cycle with me as you did as with Blake. We had a good three months. All right, an amazing three months. But if we don’t want the same thing, what are we even doing here?”

“We do want the same things!” I insist. “We both want to be happy. We want to be in love with our spouse. We want a big house jam-packed with kids. And we’re already fucking married. There is literally nothing keeping us apart other than… us.”

She quirks a brow. “You want an adventure partner. I’m looking for stability.”

“I found the perfect person for adventures. She’s right in front of me. And I want to be her rock, through thick and thin, for the rest of my damned life.”

“Wha—” Her mouth falls open, but her protests don’t have any real bite. “Jay, are you serious?”

“Serious as a graveyard.” When I speak, it comes out as more of a growl. “You listen to me, Calla Nikolakis. I’ve never felt love before. You want to know how I know that for sure? Because I’ve never felt this kind of a connection with anybody else. I know I can seem like I just care about performing for the camera. But I want more. You make me care about having a life that’s about more.”

We come to the end of the moving sidewalk rather abruptly. I step off without a problem, but Calla nearly loses her footing. I grab her at the last second and pull her against my body. She looks up at me with a sheen of tears building in her eyes. An older couple huffs as they pass us and I draw Calla aside, out of the way of people hurrying to catch their flights.

This moment between us can’t be rushed.

Calla wets her lips, her eyes fixed on me. “We barely know each other, Jay.”

I clutch her hand to my chest. “I know you, Lily. I see you, inside and out. Even when you eavesdrop or maybe aren’t your best self? I know you and I love you. I’m desperate to keep being married to you. It just took getting married by accident for me to figure it out.”

“Oh god.” She scans my face. “Jay, I love you too. When I thought that you just wanted to be… married with benefits… I couldn’t handle it anymore. My heart broke and I had to leave.”

I cup her jaw. “Stay with me.”

She brushes away a tear before it can fall. “You mean it?”

“More than I’ve ever meant anything in my entire life.”

Her eyes search mine, looking for cracks or insincerity. When she doesn’t find any, her mouth wobbles. She’s never cried in front of me before. But she’s about to burst into tears here in the middle of the airport.

Calla pushes up onto her tiptoes, grips my shirt, and kisses me so passionately that my fucking toes curl. I thrust my fingers into her hair and kiss her back like this is our last moment on earth before the asteroid hits.

When she breaks the kiss and her cheeks are flushed, she has never been more beautiful to me. She shakes her head. "You’re unbelievable. You know that?”

"Unbelievably in love with you," I say.

A laugh escapes her then, light and unexpected. "You’re also a terrible runner.”

I let out a breath I didn’t realize I was holding. She’s here. She’s listening. And for the first time in what feels like forever, I can breathe again.

A heavy hand lands on my shoulder and yanks me. I stumble and spin, and that’s when two policeofficers tackle me in a synchronized, NFL-worthy takedown. My cheek smashes against the cold floor.

“Oh shit.”

"Hands behind your back!" one cop barks. The other wrestles with a set of handcuffs. I’m too stunned to resist. They’ve got me cuffed and utterly subdued before I fully realize it.

"Wait! Stop!" Calla’s voice cuts through the commotion. She stands a few yards away. I turn my head and see her eyes are wide with shock and fear. "What did he do?"

The officers ignore her and haul me to my feet, my wrists bound and my hair a disheveled mess. I feel like a man who’s just survived a kidnapping attempt only to be arrested for loitering.

"Calla," I warn her. She looks like she’s prepared to take these cops on. “I deserve this!”

She rushes to me anyway. "This is all a misunderstanding. He was just trying to"

"Ma'am, step back," one cop interrupts. He holds up a hand to block her, then they start to drag me away.

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