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roman
“Two weeks?Back up a minute, Summer---I don’t think I heard you correctly. What did you just say?” My left eye twitches with rage. The non-stop grin I’ve worn since I arrived at Summer’s studio apartment and gathered her in my arms slowly fades. I grit my teeth to hold my smile in place and continue fishing for information. “You’ll be gone for two weeks?” I think I can work with that. Two weeks isn’t so bad in the grand scheme of things. It won’t be easy, but we’ve got our whole lives ahead of us, and small sacrifices must be made.
Frustrated but optimistic, I run my trembling hand through my shaggy hair and yank at the roots, trying hard to deflect from the pain in my lovesick heart. “When do you leave?” I stumble over words I don’t want to say, but this is a good learning experience. Summer is a vibrant young woman who will always have her own life. If I want to share that life---and goddamn, you know I do---then I need to rein in my possessive nature and let my little bird fly.
She clasps my hand and smooths her fingers over my knuckles, soothing my anger with her sweet touch as she closes the distance between us. “I leave in ten days. We have ten days to get to know each other better and enjoy each other’s company. Seven weeks will fly by before you know it.” Summer wraps her arms around my waist and settles her head against my chest. I close my arms around her, shut my eyes, and bask in her scent. She’s sheer perfection---a glorious woman who dropped out of the sky and fell right into my lap. If I prayed, I would have prayed to fall in love with someone exactly like her, and I doubt my imagination would have done her justice.
Wait a minute...did she say seven weeks?
“Darling? Summer? Sweetheart?” I loosen my grip and kiss the top of her head to get her attention. “Did you say two or seven weeks?”
She nods, then shakes her head before mumbling into my chest. “I leave in two weeks, ten days really, but I’ll be in Virginia for seven weeks. They said I could stay an extra week at my bungalow free of charge if I liked, but no doubt I’ll be anxious to come back by then.” A pair of deep brown eyes flicker wide and flash in my direction. How the hell do I survive seven weeks without this girl? Two weeks would have been torture. But seven? I’ll lose my ever-loving mind if she leaves me for the entire summer.
What’s summer without my Summer?
“Why so long? Why now? What kind of job is this?” It’s impossible to disguise my panic. There are tons of jobs available in New York. Why the hell does she need to go all the way to Virginia to dance? She can dance right here---with me.
Summer squirms out from my embrace and prances ahead, spinning back to face me. “You’re not upset, are you? I told you my parents’ place is shutting down for renovations. That’s a whole summer of rent money down the drain. This job came at the perfect time.”
I reach for her hand but miss when she marches forward, dismissing my concerns with a flip of her hair. “Sweetheart.” I sweep her into my arms and make her listen. “It’s so far away. Aren’t there other dance studios here in town? The city is huge---there must have been something.” I don’t know the first thing about the dance industry, but it seems logical that a city of eight million people has a bit more opportunity than the Appalachian Mountains.
She wags her finger and pouts. “Listen, I know this is a shock, but it’s been in the works for weeks. I applied to Mountain Ridge on a whim after a classmate told me she worked there last summer. I didn’t know you would finally ask me out, but I was hoping you would. I didn’t want to leave without figuring out if there was something between us.”
My lips instinctively land on hers. Her mouth parts and invites me in with a moan that sends the blood racing through my panicked heart straight into my pants. I refuse to be the kind of man who falls in love with a free spirit, then turns around and puts boundaries on his girl. I’m not an ogre who can’t part with his woman for seven weeks. But is she my woman?
We haven’t made any firm decisions about the nature of our relationship. She conveniently avoided the subject all evening.
“Please, don’t be upset. It’s more money than I’d make here, and my living accommodations are covered. And while I’m away, I’ll make extra money renting my apartment to tourists. You don’t know how worried I’ve been. I thought I might have to move back in with my parents! Who knew I’d come out on top at the end of the summer!” She jumps for joy and pulls me down for another kiss. I’m such a sucker for her affection. In the right circumstances, with the right number of kisses, this girl could talk me into anything.
Fortunately, she takes a tiny break between kisses, and I temporarily regain my sanity.
“First things first, little girl. You’re not renting your apartment out to traveling psychos who will sleep in your bed, rummage through your panty drawer and end up squatting there for eternity. If you want to rent it out, I have a guy relocating from our operation in Miami. He’s coming into the city for the summer. He was going to stay in a hotel, but I’ll set him up at your pad. Capisce?” I lean forward and press my forehead to hers, making it almost impossible for her to see the stink-eye I’m sending her way.
She nods and spins beneath my bicep to lighten the mood. “I’ll miss you, Roman. Thursday nights won’t be the same without my dance partner. Anyway, time apart could do us some good. I know you’ve got big plans, and I want to meet you halfway, but I’m not the kind of girl who likes to turn her world upside down overnight. This little break might help put things in perspective. You know what they say...”
“What do they say, doll?” I grumble, annoyed with where this is going.
“Absence makes the heart grow fonder.” She smiles from ear to ear, and my joyful heart breaks ranks with my brain.
I’m so whipped--- I’ll bet she knows it too.
“You’re not leaving yet. We’ve got ten days to fill, and I intend to fill them and then you every chance I get. Do you hear me?” I cup her face in my hands and silence her sassy mouth with a kiss. There are no words to describe the feeling I get when our worlds collide, our lips seal, and her tight little body melts into mine. It’s the best kind of high in the world.
This is only the beginning of our love affair. We’ve got our whole lives ahead of us, and I won’t let a little separation ruin things between us. I have ten days to make a lasting impression, and I intend to make the most of them.
I’m marking my girl and tagging her for migratory purposes. Distance be damned---Summer’s not getting away.
