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“Oh hey, I forgot. Did you see Stone? I was supposed to text and give you a heads up but got distracted. You need to call me, anyway. Busy here, but we’ll make time.”
“Just saw him this morning. Headed back. Call you soon.”
So typical of Tyson. He’s so disorganized and self-absorbed that I’m shocked he remembered to text at all.
I drop my phone in my bag and close my eyes. My head aches. I rub my temples and groan at the shiver of relief the caress brings.
“I could do that for you if you’d like.”
I sit up with a start and find myse
lf face to face with the owner of that silky baritone. Stone is standing in the doorway. He looks amazing in his blue linen pants and white linen shirt, the deep tan of his skin setting both off beautifully. But his expression is dark and brooding, and I can’t tell if he wants to strangle me or rip my clothes off.
My throat goes dry.
“What are you doing here?”
“I wanted to say goodbye.”
He prowls toward me, his long legs eating up the ground between us. He drops into the seat next to me, rests his elbows on his knees and steeples his fingers under his chin, his eyes trained on the huge window that faces the tarmac.
“How’d you find me?” I ask.
If he hears me, he doesn’t give any sign of it. “Did you know the Transit of Venus happens just four times every 243 years? It’s the rarest of predictable astronomical phenomena. It’s how early astronomers mapped the heavens.”
I gape at him. “Uhhh. What?” I ask, genuinely confused.
“I’ve dated, had lovers---”
“This better be going somewhere good…” I mutter, irritated at the thought of him and lovers.
He sits up, turns to me, and takes my hands into his. His touch is heaven and hell, all at once. And even if I wanted to pull my hands free, his grip is so tight, I couldn’t.
“But before this last week, I’ve never really been in love.”
Panic and regret form a fist around my heart and squeeze. I clear my dry throat and shake my head. “But you said you didn’t want…”
“I know. But you’ve always been my game changer.”
I blink…and try to absorb everything he’s told me. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, I want to explore what’s happening between us,” he says, and I cover my mouth to muffle a scream. I dart around the room, not even sure what I’m looking for.
“Where is everyone?”
“On a break,” he says, batting my concern away like it’s an annoying fly.
“Did you pay them to leave us alone?” I gape at him.
“Yup.”
“Why?”
“So, I could make my Hail Mary.”
My heart feels like it’s being stretched in two different directions. The side that wants to say yes is pulling as hard as the side that knows I have to say to no.
“Stone, I have a lot to sort out. And…so do you.” I lick my dry lips and shudder when I remember Hayes and his knowing eyes… and the career Stone clearly loves that a scandal the size of what we’d cause could disrupt.
