It was really nice to meet me? What the fuck?
Gritting my teeth, I take her hand because she looks like she’s ready to make an escape. “Come with me,” I demand, and she makes a hmph noise but follows me anyway. My eyes dart around, looking for a quiet place where we can talk. Not the easiest task in the busy Miami International Airport, but I remember a kind of quiet zone from when I had a long layover here a couple years ago. I think it was in this terminal.
Spotting a familiar corridor, I turn right and see couches lined up against the walls. A few people are resting on them, most wearing noise-canceling headphones.
“Reno, my flight,” Juliette whisper yells.
“You have an hour and a half,” I tell her quietly, walking past the couches and finding a relatively secluded area. Then I swivel to face her and rest my hands on her hips. “Juliette, I want to see you again.”
“But rule three…”
“Fuck the rules,” I snap. “We made the rules; we can change them.” Softening my tone, I step into her warmth. “I don’t want this to end, Juliette.”
Her beautiful face morphs into something resembling pain. “I can’t, Reno.”
“You can’t or you don’t want to?” I question.
“Both,” she replies, dipping her gaze to my chest like I have a puzzle printed on my black V-neck shirt. The lack of eye contact tells me she’s not being completely honest, which is unlike her. Juliette is the most guileless person I’ve ever met.
“Can we still be friends?” That’s the furthest goddamn thing from what I need, but it would be better than nothing. And perhaps we could build on that. If I get my foot in the door she’s trying to slam, I know I could win her heart.
Her aqua eyes are filled with tears when she lifts them to mine. “I-I think a clean break would be best.”
A stiletto of agony cramps my stomach, and I pull in a long breath through my nose before releasing it slowly through my mouth. It doesn’t soothe me in the least because she looks as broken as I feel.
“But why?” I sound like a needy little bitch, but I don’t care. I am needy when it comes to Juliette McNamara. In a few short weeks, she’s become my addiction. Her smile. Her endless chatter about soundtracks and goats. Her softness mixed effortlessly with her strength. I don’t know how I’m supposed to live without her.
She swallows. “Because it’s what I need.”
What about my needs?I want to ask, but I love her so fucking much, her needs trump my own.
Cupping her exquisite face with both hands, I ask, “Can I kiss you goodbye?”
A tear slips down her face, and she nods. I close my mouth over hers, doing my best to show her how well we fit. How perfect we are together. The kiss is poignant and sweet, filled with an emotion that threatens to undo me in the middle of an airport.
Her arms wind around my neck, and our tongues tangle into a mass of passion and want—on both our parts. I can taste the saltiness of her tears, and I kiss her harder, pouring myself into her with a desperation I can't remember ever feeling.
When we break, her lips tremble when she swipes a tear from my cheek. I didn’t realize it had fallen, but I’m not ashamed in the least. She’s worth all my tears. She’s worth everything.
“Goodbye, Reno,” she whispers.
And then she’s suddenly striding down the corridor away from me, but I don’t miss the hitch of her shoulders that tells me she’s sobbing. Why is she shutting me out if she’s this upset?
My fingers brush against the tingling sensation on my lips. Would that be the last kiss we ever shared?
I bend at the waist against the raw ache inside me, placing my hands on my knees as I watch the love of my life leave me.
Then she turns the corner without looking back and…
She’s gone. Dragging my shattered heart behind her.
Chapter 27
Down the drain
Afteraquicksobbingtrip to the restroom in the Miami airport, I manage to hold myself together during the three hour flight to Dallas. And then for the thankfully traffic-less drive home to Pine Tree Falls.
By the time I reach my adorable little house, I’m ready to collapse into a heap of sorrow and regret. But…
