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He leans toward me, eyes bright. “Yes. That’s the only reason, Cassidy. But I realized something, when you and I split up, and when Sheryl started in on me…” He bites his lower lip for a moment, keeping his gaze fixed on mine. “She’s never going to give it up. She’s just going to keep moving the goal posts, to keep me attached to her by any means necessary.”
“That’s terrible,” I murmur. I know what it feels like to be controlled like that. To have someone dangle your wants and needs over your head to make you dance on their strings.
“Yes.” And then, to my confusion, Lark smiles. I blink, thrown, but he shuffles closer to me across the couch, his expression more intense than ever. I couldn’t look away if I wanted to. “But then you came along, Cassidy, and you made me see…” His eyes jump back and forth, searching mine. “You made me realize, I don’t need the company. I don’t need the security I built. I created that once; I can do it again. The way you did with your makeup—you didn’t have the funding you needed, you didn’t have the security when you set out to do what you loved, but you made it anyway. So can I.”
I swallow hard. “What… what do you mean?”
He catches my hands, and I let him. His hands are warm and solid around mine, and when he folds them against his chest, my heart jumps at the same rhythm as his. Erratic and jagged. “I’m going to tell Sheryl to keep the company,” he says. “You inspired me.”
My lips part. “But…” I can’t ask him to walk away from his dream. Not for me. It would make me just as bad as Sheryl. “But you can’t do that for me,” I start. “No one should give up on what they love for someone else, even someone they care about—”
He shakes his head, cutting me off. “It’s not for you, Cassidy. Although you’re the one who made me realize I could do it.” He squeezes my hands again, tight enough to hurt, but I don’t mind. I realize I’m squeezing his back, too. “It’s for me. I can’t let Sheryl control me anymore. I need to be free of her, so if the only way to do that now is to walk away from Anderson Investments, then that’s what I’ll do.”
“Are you sure?” I breathe. I don’t know when he moved, but he’s closer to me than ever now. Sitting just inches apart on this couch—the couch he bought me, what feels like a lifetime ago now. His leg brushes mine, and it sends sparks through my whole body. I remember the last time we sat like this, side by side. The way he pulled me onto his lap, spilling makeup everywhere.
Heat surges through me. I want him to do it again. Even though I promised myself I wouldn’t.
But I didn’t know the full story then. I didn’t realize he was in the same position I used to be in myself. And I know what it feels like—the fear, the uncertainty, the how can I do this on my own dread.
Lark reaches up to tuck a long strand of my hair behind my ear. His fingertips brush the curve of my ear, making me shiver. “I’ve never been surer of anything in my life,” he murmurs. And suddenly, I don’t think he just means his marriage or his business.
My eyes jump back and forth between his. It feels like the air between us is filled with sparks, heavy and electric. I tilt toward him, slowly, all too aware that he’s doing the same thing, mirroring me.
“Lark, I…”
He stops at the sound of my voice. Takes a deep breath, like he’s trying to remember his place. His promise to leave me alone. He starts to pull away, but I reach up to catch his shirt in one fist, stopping him. He freezes in place, his eyes going wide.
“Thank you,” I say. “For telling me.”
His throat bobs with a tight swallow. “Like I said,” he replies softly, “you deserved the truth.”
I nod slowly. “And so do you.” I lean back a little, releasing his shirt. Just far enough to get some air. Although neither of us shift apart on the couch, our legs still pressed together, as I look away. “I know how you feel,” I tell him, my gaze focused on my living room table now. “I’ve… been in a similar situation, before. It’s hard to get free from that, when you’ve been manipulated by someone you loved and trusted.”
Lark’s hand comes to rest on my thigh, searing heat through my jeans. “I’m sorry, Cassidy. I didn’t know that you…”
“My ex.” I shut my eyes, which are suddenly stinging. Then I laugh, a little bitterly. “Well. Not just him. My mother did it too, before him.” When I open my eyes again, I feel hot all over. Fierce, suddenly. “But you’re right. I made it on my own. And you can, too, Lark. We can get free together.”
