Page 12 of Love Off-Limits
I nodded. “Sure. We could totally use you if you ever find yourself in North Carolina.”
He wouldn’t. He’d be crazy to leave the job he had. His friends. His home. His sister.
Still, it was fun to imagine that he would.
He leaned forward, his lips hovering just over mine. “As long as you’re in North Carolina, that’s a very tempting prospect.”
His kiss was tender at first but then sharpened, his desire rising to match mine.
I could get lost in this man’s kisses.
We talked for the rest of the night. About our jobs. Our families. Our past dating lives.
And we kissed. Talked and kissed. And kissed some more.
Ignored the cheers from across the river as Isaac and Rosie left the party. Ignored the sounds of cars starting and driving away. Even ignored the sounds of the birds as they began their early-morning chirping. It wasn’t until the sun crested the horizon, waking the world in a shimmer of gold and pink, that we decided it was time to go.
We walked silently toward the parking lot, hand in hand.
“I don’t really want tonight to end,” I said softly.
He pulled me to a stop beside his Jeep and drew me close, his hands resting on my hips. “We could go get breakfast.”
I shook my head. “I have to drive home this afternoon. I’ve got my hotel room for a few more hours. I should sleep while I can before I make the drive.”
He lowered his forehead to mine. “And then what?” he said softly.
I shrugged, not wanting to say the words, but knowing there wasn’t anything else to be said. “I go back to my life, and you go back to yours,” I said gently.
He took a deep breath. “North Carolina isn’t that far away.”
It wasn’t that far. Four hours straight up the interstate. But as tempting as it was, as tempting ashewas, there was too much on the line at home for me to get lost in a long-distance relationship. Or any relationship, really.
“Tyler,” I said, my hands falling from his chest.
He sighed. “Don’t,” he said, his grip on me tightening, resignation in his voice. “Don’t say it. I’d rather remember tonight without a rejection tacked onto the end.”
“I wish things could be different,” I said softly, my eyes down.
“Are you sure they can’t be?” he asked, his tone hopeful.
I’d told Tyler a lot about Stonebrook and how much I loved working there. But I hadn’t told him about Dad. About his recovery and how we were all scrambling to figure out a new normal, to fill in the holes he’d left when he’d had to stop working. “My dad is sick, Tyler.”
He waited for me to continue, compassion in his eyes.
“He’s getting better, but he had a stroke a little over a month ago, and his recovery is slow. I didn’t say anything earlier because it’s just... I don’t know. It’s been hard. And it’s been nice not to think about the hard for one night. But I have to be there for my family right now. I have tofocuson my family right now. Something long distance...”
He lifted my chin until our gazes met. There was disappointment clear in his expression, but there was also understanding. It meant something that I didn’t have to defend my need to focus.
“Tonight has been the best night I’ve had in a really long time,” he said.
“Maybe possibly ever,” I agreed.
He leaned in and kissed me, this one still tender but lacking the fire and spice of all the others.
Because this one said goodbye.
Chapter Four
