AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I unlocked the hotel door and pulled it open just a crack, leaving the latch at the top in place. “I’m going to bed,” I said.
“It’s not even dark out,” he said.
“I can sleep in daylight.”
He was right, though. It made no sense. I hadn’t even eaten dinner, and I was starving. I’d been so upset over the whole Jude thing, I hadn’t thought about what I’d do for dinner. I doubted I could get anything delivered in this town, and I certainly wasn’t going to march back over to the only restaurant within city limits. Not when it meant I might run into Jude again.
“I have your clothes,” he said.
Through the crack, I could see he was holding something. Not just my clothes, but my tennis shoes too. I wanted those clothes, but if I opened the door, he’d see I’d been crying.
I took a deep breath and said, “You can just set them down and…”
My voice stalled. And what? Go? I didn’t want him to do that. I wanted him to stay. But what did that mean for my life?
“Your sister and my brother have left for their honeymoon,” he said. “I couldn’t stop them. No, that’s not right. I didn’t want to stop them. They’re in love. It was love at first sight. Kind of like…”
Now his voice stalled. Like what he felt for me? No, that was impossible. He couldn’t love me.
It certainly wasn’t love at first sight for me. In fact, he was already inside me before I figured out I was in love with him. But that happened all the time. I read somewhere that having sex with someone released hormones that could make you think you were in love with someone when you really weren’t. Did that happen to men too?
“Hold on a second.” I pushed the door closed, then fiddled with the latch until finally I got the top part open.
I opened the door and faced him. He may as well see I’d been crying. He should see me at my least attractive. If he ran, that was a sign he didn’t deserve to be with me in the first place.
“Here,” he said, thrusting the clothes toward me. “You can get dressed. I’ll wait out here if you want.”
Those last three words were the key. He’d go away completely if I wanted. All I had to do was say the word, and he’d leave the building. He’d walk out of my life forever.
But I didn’t want that. I wanted him here in my life. I wanted to be with him.
I stepped back, gesturing for him to enter. “Come on in.”
He hesitated a moment, and I worried that maybe he’d changed his mind. But then he looked in either direction, probably ensuring the hallway was clear before stepping inside.
His presence filled the room. I saw that when I started back toward him, having closed the door behind me. He set my clothes on the end of the bed and turned to face me, and that was when I noticed he was still a little disheveled from our time on the walking trail earlier. His tie was undone, draping from either side of his neck, and his shirt was wrinkled. I didn’t see any dirt spots like my dress, but they probably were under the jacket somewhere.
“You just walked out,” he said, tugging on the lapels of his jacket. Was he nervous? “Did you decide to go home?”
There it was. The question of the hour.
I shook my head. “I needed a minute. It was all so overwhelming. Everything happened so fast.”
“I get that. Same for me. But my brother’s right. Your sister’s right.”
With that, he turned and walked all the way across the room. He sank into the cushy chair over by the window.
“Right about what?” I prompted, trying not to get distracted by how incredibly hot he looked right now.
“I could’ve gone my whole life without experiencing what I feel for you. I always thought I was just one of those guys who are afraid of commitment. There are plenty of those in this town. But when I met you, something just clicked. Something beyond the fact that you’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.”
“Your first view of me was almost completely naked.” I laughed. “Yeah, a lot of guys would say it was love at first sight in that case.”
Love. I’d actually used the “l” word. I wanted to suck it back in. What if that scared him off?
No, I had to face this head on. “I’ve dated guys like that,” I said. “It’s one of the reasons I was just fed up with dating. I’d think I was in a serious relationship, but there were always excuses. Fear of commitment was exactly how I’d describe it, but what I didn’t realize was none of them were right for me either. None of them was you.”
There. I’d put myself out there. If he got that look on his face, I’d know it was time to send him on his way. It would be devastating, but better to know now than to uproot my life, only to find out he’d changed his mind once the thrill of the chase was over.
