I let out a sigh and smiled before both of us went silent.
"It's been a great day," she said. "I really enjoyed it. It was really fun."
Silence fell between us again, and I knew that she was waiting for me to say more.
But I didn't.
I couldn't, and I didn't want to. What was I supposed to say? Should I ask for her number? But I knew that it wasn't in my plan. I wasn't interested in having a long-distance friendship with her, because I would definitely want more than that.
And the last thing I needed was a distraction. A relationship with a girl wasn't my priority right now.
"Take care, Luke." She smiled but couldn't hide the sadness behind it.
I ruffled her hair. "Don't starve yourself," I joked.
Cassie pouted, irritated because I'd just ruined her hair, but at the same time, her cheeks turned pink. It was amusing to watch how my little gesture affected her that much.
I turned on my heels, walking away from her even though she seemed to have more things to say. Right, just like that.
I kept walking farther from her, because I knew that if I didn't, I wouldn't be able to let her go. I didn't glance back at her at all, ignoring my heart that was beatinglike a drum in my chest.
26
________
LUKE
Seven years ago
Istared at the ceiling of Victor's bedroom. What was I doing? I should have been getting ready to go to the airport, but my body wasn't being cooperative—it just couldn't move.
I glanced at my watch again and noticed that if I didn't get my ass off this bed, I would be late and miss the flight.Damn it.
I couldn't get Cassie off my mind. Her smile, her laughter and her angelic voice kept playing in my head. Her sweetness and kindness sipped right into my heart, taming it.
It seemed ridiculous to just let a girl like her go. Other men would have thought that I was crazy for walking away from such a precious girl. But who said that I wasn't crazy? With all the problems that life had thrown at me—the tragedy that had struck my family—I didn't need any distractions.
There were so many things that I needed to do to prevent the business from collapsing—I didn't even know whether I would be able to survive it.
And it wasn't like Cassie would want to stay with me once she learned about who I really was. I kept reminding myself of that.
I shouldn't let my heart contaminate my brain. As a man, I shouldn't let my emotions take over my logic and rationality.
However, my grip on the phone in my hand tightened. I'd been thinking about postponing my flight.Perhaps, tomorrow afternoon is a good idea.
I knew that I couldn't keep Cassie forever, but a little bit more time wouldn't be that harmful, would it?
Maybe I could ask her for dinner tonight, breakfast tomorrow morning and strolling around the town for a while before going to the airport tomorrow afternoon.
Yeah, I think that I can do that.
So I pressed the button on my phone, dialing the flight carrier to postpone my schedule. I spoke to the flight assistant, and all was settled. Sighing, I sat up on the bed, thinking about the impulsive decision I'd just made.
I walked from the bed and looked out my window, thinking about going to Cassie's motel again to ask her out for dinner. But then, the view that I was witnessing made my heart drop. Outside, a snowstorm was happening.
How could that happen? Hadn't it been nice weather before? What kind of nonsense was this?
The snowstorm outside perfectly explained the turmoil I suddenly felt inside my heart. I guess fate wasn't on my side.
