Page 61 of Meant to be Mine

I pressed my face harder into his chest so he couldn’t see me freaking out.

“You okay?” he asked, feeling me go quiet.

“Yeah,” I said. “Just thinking.”

“About?”

I hesitated. “About how much I don’t want to mess this up.”

His arms tightened around me. “Then let’s not mess it up.”

Like it was that simple. Like two people who’d spent ten years perfecting the art of not being together could just decide to be something else entirely.

I wanted to believe it could be that simple but nothing ever was.

21

DREW

This was what walking on air felt like. I’d heard people describe it. I’d rolled my eyes at Callum when it became clear he was crazy about Victoria. I didn’t understand it then, but damn, I had seen the light now. It turned out the feeling was real and it was annoying how good it felt.

I didn’t know what to call what was happening between us. Boyfriend and girlfriend felt like words for teenagers, too small for a decade of history. I knew her better than a lot of young married couples knew their spouses. Kensey was my best friend, which made me privy to all those little details a woman might not share with her boyfriend.

I didn’t want it to stop, so I decided to do something I basically never did. I planned an actual date.

Not the kind I used to throw together for women I was trying to sleep with. I didn’t make a reservation at the best restaurant in the city that required me pulling strings. That was all flash and no substance. Kensey deserved better.

I thought about what she actually loved. Not what impressed people. What made her smile. It had nothing to do with steak dinners and expensive bottles of wine.

The following day, I closed my laptop just after two. I stood up and walked out of my office like a man who had somewhere to be. Because I did.

Kensey looked up from her desk, eyebrows raised. “That’s it? You’re done?”

“We’re done.”

“We are?”

“Yep. Let’s go.”

“Go where?”

I grinned. “I planned a date for us.”

“You did?”

“Let’s go.”

She looked at her laptop and then shrugged. “If the boss says so.”

We headed downstairs and were stopped by Edith. She looked at me, then Kensey.

“Already done for the day?” she asked, in that tone that wasn’t really a question.

“Yep.”

“It’s barely two.”

“I’m aware of the time.”