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The corners of her lips curled up. “I’ve heard about calls like that.”
He laughed. “Yeah. Me too.” He ran the tip of his tongue along his bottom lip, thinking about last night. “I like you, Cait. Really like you.”
“I like you, too.”
“But there’s something you need to know about me.”
She blinked. “There is?”
He felt his chest tighten at her gaze. So open, so warm. She looked as innocent as a flower. “I’m terrible at relationships,” he told her. “I guess that’s why I’m single. I haven’t had one yet where I haven’t let a girl down. I don’t want to do that to you.”
“You won’t.” She smiled at him. “I won’t let you.”
She didn’t get it. “I’ll give you everything I can to make this work. But if it isn’t enough, you need to tell me. Because there are some things I can’t do.”
“Like what?”
He swallowed hard, thinking about all the girls he’d met who thought they could change him. Make things better. He’d tell them he didn’t want to celebrate Christmas, that he wanted to be alone, but each one of them thought he’d be different with them.
And he wasn’t. Ever. And that’s why he sucked at relationships.
“I know how important Christmas is to you,” he said, his brows dipping down. “To your job, your home, your life. But I can’t be there with you for it. I can’t support you.” He shook his head. “I can’t even stand to think of the day.”
“It’s okay.” Her voice was soft. “I understand.”
But she didn’t. Not at all. He could tell from the way she was staring at him that she had no concept of the hatred he had for the day. No understanding that it was going to take every bit of strength he had to attend Lucas and Ember’s wedding.
And after it was over, he’d hide out at the beach until the whole damn holiday was over.
Her phone beeped, and she pulled it out of her pocket. “It’s Harper,” she told him. “Apparently the line for security is huge. I should go…”
“Yeah.” He nodded. No point in trying to explain the rest now. It could wait.
“I’ll miss you,” she told him.
“Not as much as I’ll miss you.” He lowered his head, brushing a kiss against her soft lips. “Call me, okay?”
“Of course.”
“And when the wedding is over, we’ll make some plans.”
Her phone beeped again, making her sigh. “That sounds good.” She pulled her lip between her teeth. “And let’s not tell Lucas about this. Not until after the wedding. Just in case he gets upset.”
“Okay.” He kissed her again, longer this time, pulling her close to try and memorize every fall and rise of her body. She kissed him back, her lips curling in a smile against his, before they broke apart and she grabbed her laptop bag.
“I’ll see you soon,” she said.
“And we’ll talk tonight.” He grinned. “And every night until I see you again.”
“That works for me.” She rolled onto th
e balls of her feet, pressing her lips to his one more time. “See you later, Breck.”
“Not if I see you first.”
* * *
Caitie was still smiling as she walked through the security scanner and headed to the end of the conveyer belt to pick up her things. Her whole body felt alive, in a way it hadn’t for a long time, all lit up like a firefly in summer. She slid her laptop into her bag and looped her belt back through her jeans, grabbing her phone, ready to stuff it in her pocket when she saw another message had come through.
