Page 72 of Choosing You

“I missed you too,” she replied breathlessly.

Slowly, he lowered her to her feet and rested his forehead against hers. They sighed in unison. “I hope you don’t mind that I showed up unannounced.”

She looked up at him and smiled. “Are you kidding? Ilovethat you did that!” Then she took a step to the side and gently grabbed his hand, leading them over to the couch. “Are you just here for the night? The weekend? I’m so excited that you’re here, but I know it’s only Thursday, so do you have to be back at work this weekend?”

He chuckled softly, enjoying the feel of her hand in his. “I’m off until Monday. I can’t say for certain, but I think I had an angry mob chasing after me to make sure I actually got on the plane.”

She looked at him curiously as he explained about how much he’d been missing her and how he’d thrown himself into work at the garage and how Devin and pretty much everyone—including Ashlynn—had told him to come to Florida to see her.

Instead of her looking pleased, she actually looked a little…defeated.

“What?” he asked gently, squeezing her hand. “What did I say?”

“So…it wasn’t really your idea to be here. It seems like you needed to be kicked out of town to come and see me.”

Dammit. “Sloane,” he began, “that’s not it. Not really.” He cursed. “I’m not good with this sort of stuff. I…I was really trying to give you space. After that conversation a few weeks ago, I figured you’d see that as a good thing. Then I got wrapped up in everything going on at the shop and I’m trying so damn hard not to screw up that I think I’m overdoing it.”

“Sounds like you’re out of balance,” she teased. “Too much effort on one thing and not enough on the other…”

“I know, I know. And I’m sorry. I really am. I sort of felt like you were…”

“Pulling away,” she finished for him. “I was.”

He stiffened, not really grasping what she was saying.

“No, no, no!” she cried after she got a look at the stunned expression on his face. “That didn’t come out right. I mean…okay, here it is. The first time we met? That first kiss?”

He nodded.

“Well…. I never intended it to turn into what it did. I tend to make bad decisions in relationships. That’s why Ashlynn encouraged me to keep coming back to the festivals to see you and kiss you. Actually, it didn’t start out as you specifically. But after I kept going on about how good of a kisser you were, then she made sure it was always you in the booth. Either way, it was to prove that I don’t have to jump into a relationship. Fast forward a few years and…” she shrugged.

“We jumped into a relationship,” he stated.

“Exactly.”

They sat in silence for a few minutes until Will let out a weary sigh. “So, where does that leave us?”

ChapterTwelve

At first, Sloane didn’t know what to say. His statement had a kind of finality to it she didn’t feel comfortable with. “Leave us?” she repeated quietly.

Will instantly shook his head and chuckled again. “See? I’m not good at this. Right now, we have everything going against us. We’re not on opposite sides of the country, but it feels that way. And on top of that, we’re also just people with busy lives and that’s why I think…”

For some reason, she wasn’t ready to hear what he was thinking. So, she reached out and put her finger over his lips to stop him. “Wait! Just…not yet, okay? You just got here, and I want to catch up on just being in the same room as you and…we have all weekend, right? We don’t have to decide everything right now, do we?”

Slowly she pulled her finger away and let it trace his soft lips. He didn’t look pleased that she’d cut him off, but he wasn’t arguing with her about it either. A simple, curt nod was his only response.

She jumped off the couch. “It’s only a little after seven and I haven’t had dinner yet. What do you say we go out and get something to eat?”

His look was so serious and intense that she figured he was going to argue, but he didn’t. “Sounds good,” he said, rising to his feet. “How about that Mexican place we went to the last time?”

“Ooh…my favorite! Let me just grab a jacket and we’ll go.” Walking out of the room, Sloane was thankful for a moment alone. Maybe she should have let him finish his thought, but she’d missed him so much and if he was on the fence about whether or not he wanted to stay with her, she wanted a chance to weigh the odds in her favor first.

A childish tactic, but there it was.

Because…yeah. She’d been thinking a lot about her conversation with Ashlynn and realized that shewasthe only who was making herself miserable. She was clinging to a life here in Florida that was changing, and she was in denial about it. People were moving on—moving away—and the life she was claiming was so damn fun didn’t really exist anymore.

That had been an almost devastating realization.

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