Their eyes met. His eyes weren’t the blue ice chips she’d feared. No, they were the blue flame a chef used to sear something.
“I’m sorry,” she managed, taking a few steps toward him.
“Me too,” he answered quietly, slowly walking toward her. “I can’t imagine how hard this must be for you. You were holding a lot in. Nanine must have pushed it over the top.”
She felt a burn of tears again as she looked into his treasured face. Only this morning, she’d playfully scrubbed at his five o’clock shadow, making him laugh. Now she was afraid to cup his jaw and feel him tense at her touch.
“Let’s agree on something,” she said. “It’s hard for both of us. But I love you, and Idobelieve in you—except when miracles seem to be called for, like now.”
His heavy sigh had her swallowing thickly.
“No miracle worker, huh? And here I remember you saying earlier that I’d worked a miracle by making you want to believe in me.”
“You know what I mean,” she said hoarsely. “I’m trying to be practical.”
His jaw tensed. “My self-image is really resistant to this negative talk, you know.”
She did, and she knew the roots. “Dammit, Kyle, you’re still the Golden Boy. Don’t you dare think that I have stopped believing that. Nanine or anyone else either. Also—and payattention. You’re my best friend, andthat will never change.Okay? We promised.”
He lifted a hand and stroked her cheek. “I’m a hell of a lot more. You said you want to believe I can change this situation. That’s good. Right now, that’s all I want from you. Because I love you too, and I’m going to keep fighting because I want you to have what you want: your star.”
Oh God, she’d never imagined anything could hurt like this. “There are things I need to tell you?—”
“Give me some credit.” His gorgeous, sad mouth tipped to the side. “I know what you’re thinking. I even know what Nanine probably said about you needing to pursue your dream elsewhere. Oh, and let’s not forget Rico looking out for you.”
She swallowed thickly. “So our mind reading is still intact, huh?”
“Yeah,” he said softly, his gaze roving over her face. “Right now, I don’t want to talk about other possibilities. The Michelin decision is only a few weeks away. All I ask is for you to give me some more time to make things work out.”
“What if it doesn’t work?” she whispered harshly, swiping at her eyes before she could lose it.
He took her face in his large hands, something awful flickering in his eyes too. “It will. I believe. I can’t accept anything else.”
When he crushed her to him, she held on tight. Then she thought about Sawyer’s quote and shipwrecks and wondered if they weren’t like two people out in a scary sea, clinging to each other, hoping for a rescue that would never come.
