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“It’s not the same bed where it happened,” I said, “but I still can’t sleep in it. I was thinking maybe I could give it a try with you.”
Isaac nodded. He stripped down to his undershirt and boxers while I hauled my blankets up onto the queen-size bed. Isaac helped me smooth out the sheets and comforter, and then we climbed in together.
We lay curled on our sides, facing each other, our fingers intertwined, our legs tangled.
“I’m going to have to go away for a while,” he said. “Probably longer than I thought. Seems so naïve to think I’d hit the jackpot right out of the gate, and make millions of dollars to fix everything.”
“It could happen,” I told him. “You’re amazing, Isaac.”
“So are you.”
I shook my head against the pillow. “Not the same. Your talent is on a different level. It’s like you cast a spell, tricking us into believing we’re somewhere else. That’s a gift. Sometimes people need a break from their own lives. You give that to them.”
“That’s why I do it,” he said tiredly. “To get a break from my own life. Except for right now. With you.”
I smiled, stroked his cheek, brushed the backs of my fingers across his stubble.
“You’re going to be a star. It might not happen right away but it will happen. And I’ll wait for you. However long it takes.”
Isaac’s eyes fell shut as if he were in pain. He kissed me. “Willow,” he said, like a prayer or wish. He pulled me into the protective ring of his embrace, and we slept.
I dreamt of fire. A candle in the dark, a little light clinging to its wick. As I watched, the light grew and stretched—blue to orange to white—wavering but tall and strong.
And then it exploded in a fiery ball, hot and blinding.
I sat up gasping.
Just a bad dream, I thought.
But not a night terror. I could breathe. I was with Isaac.
I looked down at him. He was so beautiful in sleep, his brow smooth and untroubled. His lashes lay against his cheek, and I traced the line of them. The angular cut of his cheekbone, the hard line of his jaw under rough stubble. His full lips that had touched places I thought no man could touch again.
I thought I was lost, but he brought me back. He allowed me to find my way back to myself.
“Isaac,” I whispered.
“Mm.”
“I need to tell you something.”
He opened his eyes slowly. “Hmm?”
“I’m sorry to wake you but it’s important.”
“What do you need to tell me, baby?”
I drew in a breath and let it out. “I love you. I’m in love with you.”
His eyes focused. “Willow…”
“I love you. So much. You don’t have to say it back but—”
“I love you too,” he said. “I’ve been saying it for weeks with someone else’s words.”
“You do?”
“Yeay, baby. I do.”
