“I wasn’t sure what I would do if they didn’t accept me.” He shook his head. “Or what I would do if they did.”
“Then how can you sit there across from me and say you want another chance when you don’t even know if you’re going to stay?”
Without asking for permission, she grabbed the envelope off the table and tore the edge. She stared at him as she pulled the letter out, daring him to stop her. He didn’t.
Em unfolded the paper and read the first line.
Congratulations. You’ve been accepted into the master’s program at the University of South Florida’s School of Business.
He got in. This was great news.
Or was it?
It was one thing for Grant to stay in Florida if he were to go to school at USF—he’d already said that he would. But would he still feel so passionate about another chance with Em if he wasn’t accepted into the program? She needed to know how much he wanted to be with her.
She turned her lips down into a frown. “I’m so sorry. You didn’t get in.”
His shoulders slumped. “I have to say, I imagined this going differently. I really thought I would get accepted.”
“It’s okay. You can always apply for a school back home.”
He shook his head. “No, I don’t want to go back to Kansas City. I still want to stay here. I’ll just have to figure out another plan. I can try online programs, put it on hold or something, but I’m not leaving Waterfront.”
Hope built in Em’s chest. “You aren’t?”
He leaned forward and looked her in the eye. “I’m serious when I say that I want another chance with you Em. What we have is special, and I’m not going to let silly rules or rejection letters get in the way of that.”
He wanted her—not because it was convenient or easy, but because of who she was. He’d hurt her, but she was willing to give him another chance because she wanted him too.
“Good answer,” she said with a small smile. “Because you got into the program.”
His brows lowered.
Em turned the letter around. “This is an acceptance letter.”
He snatched the paper out of her hands. His lips spread into a wide grin as he scanned the page. “But you said…”
“I wanted to know how serious you were about staying here. I needed to know it was more than a whim.”
Grant stood up and walked over to where Em sat. He grabbed her hand and gently pulled her up so that they were both standing. His hand reached out, and his fingers ran over her cheek. “You’re more than a whim. You are the most amazing woman I’ve ever met, and somewhere along the way, I fell in love with you.”
Grantlovedher?
Her heart felt like it would burst with his words.
She wrapped her arms around the back of Grant’s neck and lifted up on her toes so that her face was even with his. Dizzy with the desire to be near him, she pulled him closer so that their lips were almost touching.
He smiled, causing small crinkles in the corners of his eyes. “Does this mean you feel the same way?”
Yes. She absolutely felt the same way.
Even though she hadn’t named the feelings she had for him before this moment, she now knew that she felt the same. It was why it hurt so much when he’d said they couldn’t be together. She loved Grant. The thought rendered her speechless for the second time that night. Thankfully, she didn’t need words to tell him how she felt.
Em closed the small distance between their lips and kissed him with the unspoken words from the last few weeks. She hoped that he could feel the emotions in what she couldn’t say aloud. She was foolish to push him away for so long. She loved him. She never wanted him to go.
By the way he moved his lips against hers, he could hear her loud and clear. She tightened her grip on him as his hands slid down her arms and around her waist.
They were finally on the same page about what they wanted, and that was each other. Now that they finally realized this, nothing was going to stand in their way—not even a silly rule.
