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“I hate working in risk assessment! It’s so boring!”
“No!” I faked shock, and she started to giggle.
“Seriously. I hate it. I have no idea what I want to do instead, but I’m excited to figure it out. And that’s all because of you.”
I was about to open my mouth and tell her everything that was bursting to come out. How she had changed my life too. How, for the first time inever,I saw a different life for myself, and in every scene, she was in it. How I’d never felt more alive than I did with her. Never cared so much about someone. Never knew I was capable of feeling all the feelings she had awakened inside of me.
But before I could say a word, she kept going.
“I lived a vanilla life before, but now I’m going for the whole damn sundae bar. And I wanteverythingon it! I want to try it all, and I never would have found the courage to take the risks I’m now prepared to take. I am so excited to see where this next leg of my journey takes me, and finally, I can do it without anyone getting in my way, myself included. For the first time in my adult life, I’m going to be single and find out who I really am. No holds barred. No fear. Just me, myself, and I out kicking ass and taking names living my life like you do. My own way. And it’s all thanks to you. You set me free.”
She didn’t kick me in the balls, but she may as well have.
When she tossed her arms around my neck and hugged me, I nuzzled her hair and inhaled her intoxicating scent, grateful she couldn't see my face. After her admission, I couldn’t keep my horrified and crushed emotions from playing across my expression like a theatre screen.
Set her free.
That was what she wanted, and as I let those words resound inside my tortured mind, I realized how selfish it would be for me to dump all my emotions on her now. Being tied down right at the start of her exciting new journey wasn’t what she wanted.Iwasn’t what she wanted. For the first time in her life, she wanted to be free, and it was something I understood so completely that I couldn’t bring myself to attempt to shackle her back down.
As we slowly spun around, I caught the group of guys all staring at us with excitement flickering in their eyes. Matt lifted his arms above his head to cheer for me, but I softly shook my head no as I continued rocking her back and forth. His arms dropped along with all their faces.
Just like my heart.
“So, what are we going to do for our last two days before we head back to Chicago?” Ivy asked, finally releasing her grip on my neck.
“Uh,” I answered, still stumbling to find the strength to speak. “We can do whatever you want, I guess.”
“Well, let’s make a little road trip out of it, and you can tour me around Door County and show me your hometown. I’d love to see all the cool stuff there is to do around here.”
“Yeah. For sure,” I managed out, finally starting to catch my breath and return to some semblance of normalcy. I only had two days left with Ivy, and to hell if I was going to spend them sulking in a corner somewhere. No. If I had two days left with this woman, I wanted to soak up every second with her and enjoy these last moments before we said goodbye.
Instead of letting my crushed dreams smash me into the ground, I took a deep breath and remembered the deal we’d struck. Rule number one ... we enjoy the hell out of each other, no strings attached, then go our separate ways.
I could do this ... I could.
After slapping a fake smile on my face, I stood up tall. “I’ll tell you what. Since Tim didn’t take off in it, how about we take Daisy May around Door County tomorrow? We’ll play tourist and hit all the big spots. Tour the lighthouses, ice cream at Wilson’s, Bloody Marys at Husby’s ... you name it, and we’re doing it. It will be our Door County road trip.”
She grinned widely. “Yay! That sounds perfect!”
I almost collapsed from the agony when she wrapped her hand around my neck and pulled me down for a kiss. A dizzying mixture of pleasure and pain that I knew would be my personal torment for the next two days I spent with her coursed through my body. But as much as I wanted to tap out and tell her I couldn’t withstand two more days of pretending my feelings for her didn’t exist, it was better than the alternative of saying goodbye tonight.
Two days. Just two more days to find a way to get this woman out of my system. Or two more days to enjoy her before I had to say goodbye.
Two days. I can do this.
But when we broke apart our kiss, and I fell into the depths of those emerald eyes, I had to swallow my internal groan.
Two days of pure torture. Fun.
