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Before I’m quite prepared to see him, the door opens.
It’s Oliver and he looks exhausted. And mildly panic stricken. His gaze goes to the luggage near the door, a suitcase, a carry on, and one of those squishy soft neck pillows. My tongue tastes sour. My mind goes a mile a minute.
He’s leaving? I pushed him away yesterday, and now he’s taking me at my word?
I’ve ruined everything.
I fight the urge to succumb to complete madness.
This is it, folks. The part where Sophie Lawson’s every fear comes true, and she goes bat crap crazy.
But just like that, his smile appears, the one reserved just for me. He steps to me and wraps me in a tight hug. “Good morning,” he says in my hair. Before I can answer, he moves back enough to see my face, like he’s asking for permission.
The body is willing, but the mind still has about a hundred questions to ask.
“Where are you off to?” I ask him.
He glances at the luggage again. “I was planning this whole big thing as a way to tell you.” He lets go of one arm that’s holding me close and tugs at his hair. “But that’s okay. I…we can do this right here, right now, if you want.”
“I want…you,” I say. Bravery from who knows where fills me up. “I want a life with you, Oliver. That’s the only life I’m interested in. I don’t care where we are or what we do, I just want you. That’s all.” I dig in my pocket for the paper and hand it to him.
He takes it and unfolds it, his eyes scanning the page. His mouth drops open, and then his goofy grin appears. “You applied for a passport?”
I nod. “It should be here in about eight weeks, and then I’m all yours. I’m willing to go wherever you need to go.” I feel my eyes narrowing, and my heart starts to pound. “But it looks like you’ll be leaving to go…somewhere…way before that.”
He swallows and licks his lips. “I have to go to Capri. I’ve scheduled some meetings to wrap things up there. But I won’t be gone more than three days, I can promise you that.”
“Oh,” I say. “Why? Why now?”
“Someone else can be boots on the ground there. It doesn’t need to be me. There’s a lot I have to finish before I can put someone else in charge of this project, though.” He tugs me tighter to him. “But I want to take you there, when you get your passport. There’s so much I want to show you.”
I wrap him in an embrace, my hands sliding along his strong back muscles. Pure heaven. “I want to see it all.”
The traffic light in my mind’s eye is a bright, glowing, neon green now. I can do this. I can have hope in a future with the man I love.Kiss me already, Oliver. Everything else can wait.
Like always, he reads my mind. He moves in to kiss the bare edge of my shoulder. For a second or two, I can’t think straight because all that’s in my mind is one pressing thought: Oliver’s kissing my skin.
Kiss.
Kiss.
Then, another kiss at the base of my throat. “So what do you think?” he asks quietly.
It’s so unfair of him to ask me questions that require brain power when he’s wielded me incapable of anything more than a moan.
Which escapes my mouth before I can stop it. In answer, he presses his mouth to mine. I feel him laugh a little against my lips. After exploring my lips with his, he breaks away. “I think I can safely take that moan of yours at face value.”
I nod. “Yes, yes you can.”
His smile is rakish as he moves back to me, nibbling at my jawline.
“I’m asking Sebastian about a more permanent position here at the Longdale Lake Resort.”
A hundred tiny cheerleaders start doing back handsprings and waving pompoms in my head, but I rein it in. I do want to support him in his passions. Oddly enough, for the first time, I feel free…ready to leave Longdale for however long we need to.
“What changed your mind?” I ask. “Are you sure you can be here for awhile?”
We pull apart and he studies me carefully. “I talked to Stella last night. She thinks my hesitations with Longdale have something to do with some childhood trauma. This is where we came when things got really bad at home—every time.” He shakes his head, chewing on his lip. “I don’t know what to do with that, exactly, but at least I can see what she’s saying. However…” His wolfish grin has me tingling. “Longdale’s starting to grow on me.”
