Page 121 of The One I Need
“I swear to goodness, woman, if you’re going to say no after we’re already married then I was never meant to propose.”
She shakes her head and brings me over to her couch. “I’m just…I’m a little all over the place right now. Where did you come from? How did you get here? When did you see Hazel to give her a note? Why are you wearing a T-shirt with Paddington Bear on it?”
I set the ring down on the table in front of me. “I had time to kill so I walked around. Found this at a cool T-shirt shop.”
“Time to kill? How long have you been here?”
I smile as I pull her closer. “I’ll tell you all of that, but first, there’s something I’m going to need to do.”
I place my hand on each of her cheeks, my body immediately rushing with the warmth I’ve been missing from the touch of her skin. I bring our mouths together in what I’d classify the absolute best kiss of my life. She’s grabbing my shirt, trying to bring me closer, or maybe not let me go. I don’t know which one, but I’ll take either.
As much as I want to keep kissing her, and I plan on doing that for the rest of the night, there’s a lot I need to say. And a lot she needed to catch up on.
“Okay, where would you like me to start?”
Izzy shakes her head in confusion. “Let’s go with how you got out here. Or maybe why you’re here? I feel like both of those are safe places to start.”
“Fair enough,” I say. “It started yesterday when I was talking to Shane. I was miserable and grouchy. Pretty much how I’ve been since you left.”
“Same.”
“I know, but I think I hit a breaking point. I just felt like this time was never going to end, and you were going to forget about me. I was a mess.”
“Oh Oliver,” she says, bringing me in for another kiss. “I’d never.”
“I know. Anyway, Shane came over, and I asked him what he’d do. He said he’d go get the girl. So that’s what I did.”
This takes her back. “Shane said that? Shane said go do a crazy romantic gesture?”
“Right? I was shocked too. Oh! And I think he has a girlfriend. It might be Amelia. He wouldn’t tell me, and I have a lot of feelings on the subject.”
“Oliver,” Izzy snaps her fingers in front of my face. “Focus.”
“Oh, sorry. Where was I?”
“Never-been-in-love-Shane told you to come get me.”
“Yes, that’s right. So, I called Hazel, because all I knew was to fly to London. I didn’t know this secretary, so I couldn’t charm her into helping. I figured at least Hazel could get me here and then I’d figure out the rest. So I gave her a call, and I’m glad I did.”
Izzy’s eyes double in size. “Did she bring you here?”
“Yup,” I say. “I got to fly in her new private jet before you did.”
Her eyes narrow, but the smirk she’s wearing tells me she’s not too mad. “I want to be mad at you right now but you’re here so I can’t.”
“You should be. I never want to fly commercial again.”
She shakes her head. “I’ll hate you later. Continue with the story.”
“Anyway, Hazel was coming here anyway for the launch, so that wouldn’t have tripped off any alarm bells for you. So I hopped on the flight, and over the course of eight hours we talked. I talked about how much I missed you, but how proud I was of you at the same time. She told me how great of a job you were doing, which I of course knew. And she added that she missed having you around.”
“Wait,” Izzy says. “The job offer to stay here…was that part of the plan?”
“Yes and no,” I say. “Hazel was always going to offer you the job. She knew it was the right thing to do, but that you needed to make the decision on whether to take it or not. When she told me that, I told her I had a similar mind frame. That you needed to pick where you went. Because I knew no matter your decision, that’s what I was doing, too.”
It takes Izzy a second to process what I just said, and when she does she almost falls off the couch.
“Whoa. Hold the fucking phone. You came all the way out here on the chance that I wasn't coming back with you? Were you ready to move here?”
