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He might have chipped away some of that ice, but my body language was designed to send the message that he couldn’t just waltz right back in here and into bed with me whenever he wanted. He had some explaining to do.
“I couldn’t tell you I was returning,” he said. “I’ve spent the past two weeks trying to figure out how to get in touch with you.”
His words made me all too aware of the phone in my back pocket. As usual, it was deathly silent.
“My cell phone would have been the best way,” I said.
“Yeah, well, whoever owns the number you gave me didn’t know your number either.”
Now I was really confused. I’d read my number off to him and he’d programmed it into his phone. I’d been naked at the time. He’d been fully dressed and rushing out the door to the airport.
Cruz held up a finger and walked over to the island, picking up his phone and turning it over. Then he pulled up his contacts and walked toward me, holding it out.
Still staring at him, I took the phone. My eyes remained wide as I shifted my gaze down to his screen. I found my name under the Js and tapped on it. Sure enough, the last two numbers were transposed.
“It’s nine-eight, not eight-nine.” I held it up to show him.
He cursed under his breath. “I should have tested it before I left. Then you would have had my number in your phone.”
That would have been helpful too. I’d answered every unknown call and even a couple of texts over the past two weeks, hoping against hope that one would be him.
“You didn’t have my number,” I said.
He looked around. “And there’s no way to call you here. I don’t have a landline, of course.”
“Of course,” I said.
Wait…this meant I’d spent the past two weeks growing increasingly panicked for no reason. I started to kick myself, but there was still no guarantee that he’d return my feelings for him. He only said he hadn’t been able to call me and let me know he was on his way.
“I asked my real estate agent to get in touch with you and tell you,” he said. “I guess she didn’t.”
I shook my head. “Your property isn’t on the market yet. I’ve only talked to the staging person.”
He winced, squeezing his eyes closed briefly and shaking his head. “I’m such a moron. I could have called her up. We don’t know each other very well, though.”
I relaxed a little with that news. The staging agent was gorgeous. Far more beautiful than I was. She was the tall, thin sort of woman a man like Cruz should be dating, not a curvaceous, understated person like me. I’d never had injections to make my skin look smoother or my lips look plumper, and I only wore makeup when I absolutely had to.
“I’ve missed you.” He set down the potholders and walked around the island toward me. “I haven’t thought about anything but you for the past two weeks.”
I still had my arms crossed over my chest, hesitant to believe this was real. That he wasn’t about to break my heart.
“You thought I’d ghosted you,” he said. “Did you really think I could forget about what happened between us?”
I took a deep breath. “I’m used to being let down by the people I love. I’ve grown to expect it, actually.”
At the change in his expression, I knew immediately what I’d done. I’d blurted out words I’d never, in a million years, intended to say. If he hadn’t been scared off before, he definitely would be now.
But a smile spread over that gorgeous face of his. “You consider me a person you love?”
I opened my mouth to correct it, to give him some silly explanation. But he took another step closer to me and put a hand on either arm.
“I’m falling in love with you too,” he said. “I’ve never felt this way about anyone. I know it’s early, and I didn’t want to scare you, but when we were together in that hot tub, something changed in me. I suddenly realized what I’ve been missing all my life. Wanting to build a life with someone. I want to build a life withyou.”
My arms dropped to my sides, but I didn’t make the move toward him just yet. “I’m just—I’m so afraid I’m going to be hurt again.”
He shook his head. “No one will ever hurt you again, especially me. In fact, I canceled my next two business trips. I want to stay here with you. We can scratch the idea of selling this condo and live here or we can move somewhere else. I don’t care as long as we’re together.”
“But what about the job?” I asked, trying to piece together where my staging career fit into this.
