Page 61 of Love to Prove You Wrong

I let my shoulders drop and a heavy sigh escaped from my mouth. “I’m thrilled about what’s going on between us.”

“But?”

“I’m scared about where this will lead. If I give too much of myself to you, I’ll be putting my heart on the line. I don’t know if I’m willing to do that. Shouldn’t we talk about all the ways getting involved with each other could hurt us?”

He leaned back on his elbows. “Or, we could talk about all the ways this would bring us joy and happiness.”

“I want nothing more than for us to work out, but you’re an actor, Justin. When would we ever see each other?”

He was silent for a moment. It didn’t feel good to bring that up, but one of us had to before we took this any further. Before we crashed and burned.

“Yes, it’s true that I love acting and sometimes I need to be in a certain place for an extended period of time. But that doesn’t mean I’m locked away somewhere. We can still talk to each other.” He turned sideways, his eyes nothing but honest. “I could go on a hiatus. There’s this new movie they want me to audition for, but there will be other movies. There’s only one you. I would hate to give up the chance to turn this into something more.”

My heart set off a box of fireworks, but at the same time, a feeling of dread crept inside. “What if we don’t work out and you’ve left your life behind for me? I can’t let you do that, Justin. You’ll start to resent me.”

He shook his head. “I won’t. I’ve been thinking about this even before I saw you again. It’s part of the reason I came back to Old Pine Cove in the first place. Of course, I wanted to be here for Asher’s wedding, but I also wanted some time to think about where to go next.”

His words hit me right in the heart. He wasn’t going anywhere soon, which meant that we would have time to work it out, to see where these feelings would lead us. And wow, did I wish they’d lead to him and me spending every minute together.

“You know, Addy,” he started, “we could stop overthinking everything and just enjoy each other’s company while we’re both here.”

I grinned. “You mean kiss each other until we don’t have any breath left?”

He pulled me toward him and smiled. “Yes, you sexy mind reader.”

“Well, I can’t say I’m opposed to that,” I said and let my mouth land on his.

As far as I was concerned, we could keep doing this forever and I’d never grow bored of it.

Chapter Twenty-One

Iwalked on clouds for the next forty-eight hours. Justin and I hadn’t talked about the specifics of our relationship yet, but judging by the way he had kissed me between the Tupperware containers the other day, and again at my house the day after, he couldn’t get enough of me. I felt the same way about him. Sometimes I couldn’t wrap my head around how things had changed, but I’d decided to go with it and enjoy every minute of it.

And then he texted me about having a surprise for me. I didn’t know what it was, but I was positive I’d love it. Heck, I’d be elated even if he gave me something small, like a fridge magnet or bottle opener. I couldn’t believe how lucky I was.

We had agreed to meet for drinks after work. But first I had an appointment with Sally at the bank. I crossed the town square to the building where my bank was housed. Since I had ten minutes to spare, I treated myself to a coffee at Sip’nBean and handed Olive a royal tip. Getting one step closer to acquiring the land I wanted made me happy, and I wanted to share that happiness with everyone I crossed paths with.

“This is truly generous of you, Addy,” Olive said, tucking the money away in the tip jar on the counter.

I threw her a warm smile. “It’s the least I can do. Things are going great. In fact, I’m about to push my career to a new level.”

Her eyes lit up. “Me too! The tarot card readings for dogs aren’t going too well, so I hired someone to make a professional flyer and I’ve already had three people set up an appointment with me today.”

She shoved a stack of flyers in my direction.

“Tarot card readings for dogs,” I read. “Get ten percent off with this flyer.” I smiled at her. “These look great. Well done, Olive.”

“You know, if you had a dog, I’d offer you a free reading.”

“That’s so nice of you. I’ll keep that in mind should I ever adopt one.”

“Great! Well, best of luck with your new business endeavor, Addy,” Olive said, getting ready to serve another customer.

I waved her goodbye and made my way to the bank. I didn’t have to wait long. Sally was punctual, a quality I admired in someone working with other people’s money.

Her assistant led me down the hallway toward Sally’s office. As soon as I was seated, she closed the door with a soft click.

“What can I do for you today, Addison?” she asked, sitting down with her hands resting on the desk in front of her.

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