Page 91 of Someone Just Like You

“Because you lack imagination?” She stopped the car. “Trunk’s open.” She gestured to her phone. “I’ll be right out. I need to return a text first.”

I exited the car and removed my small polka-dot wheelie suitcase from the otherwise empty trunk. Where was Esther’s bag? The hair on the back of my neck prickled like needles. Something was off. “Esther?”

She popped her head out of the open window. “Please don’t be mad, but you’ve been Starked.”

“I’ve been…” My head jutted back. “Huh?”

“Toodle-oo.” Before my eyes, the window went up and she peeled out of the driveway.

I watched her car disappear from sight with my mouth hanging open until a bark followed by the sound of bells captured my attention. I regained my bearings, clapping in delight at the sight of Yogi running toward me. “Yogi!” I bent down, and he put both paws on my shoulders, licking my face, while I scratched his ears. Oh, how I’d missed his wet kisses and doggy smell.

Wait. Jude’s dog was here, which meant…I gulped and lifted my head…he’s here too.

My breath quickened, and my stomach tangled with knots.

He leaned against a tree and flashed his cocky Jude grin, but not before I saw the question in his eyes.

I had questions of my own. What was he asking? What did he want? Why was he here? Why wasIhere?

He approached, a blush on his cheeks, and wordlessly took over possession of my suitcase and walked it toward the cabin, Yogi at his heels.

My skin zipped with electricity where his hand had brushed with mine. I pressed it to my face.

He reached the door and turned around. “You coming?”

Chapter Forty-Four

On unsteady legs, I followed Jude inside the cabin, gasping upon entry.Little House on the Prairieit was not. The walls and vaulted ceiling were wood-paneled, and the stone brick fireplace was lit. Aside from a red suede couch, all the furniture, including cabinets and tables, was wood and appeared handcrafted. A candlelit table was set with two wineglasses, and a bottle of red had been uncorked. The mood was utterly romantic.

But wowed as I was by this rustic, charming, and luxurious cabin, I needed Jude to explain why he’d tricked—make thatStarked—me here. “Either you’ve summoned me to this cabin to kill me, woo me, or sell me a timeshare. Which is it?” I hugged myself to still my shaking torso. The unexpected appearance of my estranged boyfriend had me chilled with nervous excitement.

“Definitely door number two.” He licked his lips. “I’m sorry.”

I dropped my arms. “Sorry for what?”

He stepped closer to me. “Needing time. Not being prepared to immediately move forward as a couple after your speech last weekend.”

I nodded. “I get it.” But I didn’t. “Actually, I don’t. You always knew we were different. Suddenly it was a dealbreaker all because I pushed a bit hard?”

Jude gestured to the back of the room. “Can we sit?”

Once we were settled on either side of the couch, he continued. “Our relationship went from zero to a hundred so fast—”

“Twenty-seven years is fast?”

He laughed. “No. But once we got together, it felt serious. Did it not to you?”

“It did.” Serious enough to daydream about our double-backyard wedding.

“I started to worry that maybe what we had was just pent-up sexual tension or hate fucking, and once the novelty wore off, we’d regret it. Not to mention what a breakup would do to our family dynamics.” He leaned back as if preparing for an attack.

I’d said the same thing to Esther on the drive over. I slouched against the couch cushion, not bothering to argue on the assumption he had more to say.

Jude rubbed his hands down the leg of his jeans. “It wasn’t only about me feeling pressured by you this one time. As you know, I’m more of a ‘do things when the mood hits’ person and you’re on a bullet-point schedule with everything. I was afraid you’d continue to get frustrated with my tendency to wing it and eventually we’d combust. I went on the offensive and blew first this time, but even though I apologized, I still worried that these major differences in our personalities meant we were doomed.”

It was time to argue. “Only if we let them doom us. We could try to meet in the middle.” Something I was willing to do, but I could only speak for myself. I looked around the wood-furnished room. “What happened to wooing me? This feels like the opposite of being wooed.”

He cracked a smile. “Because then it occurred to me whatever this is has already passed the test of time. I realized it’s not new. Even when we went months or years without any contact, we were subconsciously seeking each other out. Every guy you’ve dated has been a substitute for me and every girl I’ve been with has been an imitation of you. For years. Which means it’s real, right?” As if emphasizing his point, Jude pulled a throw pillow from underneath his butt and drummed his fingers along the velvet, just like Timothy had done.

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