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Twenty-Two
“I’ll take it.”
Blaine’s tone held a solid edge of finality, those three short words unashamedly direct within the open space of his workshop. He stepped up to her, his palm landing on her overly hot cheek, making her heart thunder in her chest. “I’ll take you, and whatever it is you say is making you an ‘impulsive mess.’ I want the mess, Emilia.” His irises lit up like lime citrine caught in the sun, the skin around his eyes creasing with a smile. “Besides, you didn’t do all that much leading the other night.”
An inescapable wobble took over her mouth, and a broken sort of laugh rushed through the taut muscles in her throat. “I’m pretty sure you saved my life the other day, and all I did was flip out on you. I should have let you stay. I should have canceled my plans with Ally. Should have let you talk. I don’t know why I—”
“You’ve had enough on your plate with your move and the accident.” His thumb continued its gentle brush over her cheek, that simple gesture enough to make time stand still.
Another laugh burst free of her. He didn’t know the half of what filled “her plate,” though she couldn’t blame him for his ignorance, not when there was so much she kept unsaid. “My faith in men is rotten to the core.”
He held a stillness she only wished she could have too, but all he said was, “I’ve figured that much.”
Her thoughts darkened, and she focused on the dip at the base of his throat. “Sarah told me about the breakup. I’m sorry.”
When she lifted her attention, his gaze didn’t meet hers, the strain on his face returning. “I didn’t want to hurt her.”
“I don’t think you did, not really. She’s smart enough to know that sometimes you have to disappoint others, no matter how unintended. In fact, she said pretty much exactly that. It’s a lesson I should have mastered a long time ago. Also, she said something else.” Emilia lifted her hand and pressed her palm over the wide expanse of his chest, the soft fibers of his shirt and his warmth slowing the fevered rhythm of her heart. “She wants you to be happy.”
Blaine gave a slow nod, his focus flicking back up to her. “And I want her to have the same.”
“Also…” Acute awareness rippled over her skin, a tingling that felt like an electric current bringing attention to every inch of her body. Now that Blaine had forgiven her, it was her turn to take a chance. “She wants us to be together.”
His sharp stare narrowed as if his emotions balanced on a knife’s edge. “And your thoughts on that are?”
She sighed, her own emotions teetering on a precipice, one that lead to an almighty fall into unforgiving, stony territory. How many more chances could this relationship take? There wasn’t any room for her to fail Blaine again, but she couldn’t promise she wouldn’t fail, either way. Not with all the chaos in her life.
“Well, for a small town, things in Harlow sure do seem to move fast. This is—you are—a lot to take in.” She paused, and as predicted, Blaine gave a lopsided smile at her observations about Harlow and him. “I keep telling myself that being around you is one huge mistake, but for all the risks, I don’t want to stay away. I can’t decide whether my whole falling off a ladder thing was fate or stupidity, but we’ve been apart for so long that now we’re in the same place, I’m a little glad my lapse in judgment happened. I don’t think we should waste this opportunity, do you?”
He dragged his knuckle over her jawline, his gaze poring across the details of her face, the tenderness causing her muscles to turn all weak and trembly. “Given your already ‘rotten faith in men,’ do you think you could come to trust this man?”
She kept her attention locked on his, wanting to ignore the sense of emptiness taking her over. “I want to. Believe me, I want to.”
His spare hand moved to her elbow, sliding her sweater sleeve up till he touched her bare skin. A shimmer of heat spread through her body. How could such a simple touch have her holding back a groan?
“Then the answer is easy. We’ll go slow.” Though his soft drawl spoke of a desire to go anything but slow. “It’s been a long time between now and back then. Let’s get to know each other again.”
Light flooded her eyes, only then alerting her to the fact she’d had them closed. So much for hiding groans; she wasn’t half subtle.And even with his offer to get to know each other again, another part of her acknowledged that perhaps no one had ever known her all that well to begin with. The sad truth being that Blaine, in their brief months together, had been the one person to get the closest.
She cleared her throat, hoping to clear her wandering mind in the process. “How do you suggest we do that?”
His hand moved from her elbow to her waist, and he pulled her in, her pulse, along with her next breath, skipping.
She’d warned herself not to let anyone close. But here she was, breaking her own rules, forgetting all her reasons for caution, and luxuriating in the caress of this all-too-lovely man. So much so, she made a conscious effort not to sniff at his cool scent wafting over her.
He pressed his nose to hers, his reaction to her melting into him. “Come with me on a date.”
The command was a rumbling whisper in her ear, one that reverberated through her entire body and left her mumbling, “Haven’t we already passed that phase?”
She felt his smile against her cheek. “I’m happy to sleep over again, but in your bed this time if that’s what you’re after.”
Her face burned, his words and the tantalizing rub of his body making it hard for her to think. She’d gotten disastrously swept up with this man more than once, and always to bad effect. Maybe the slow approach wasn’t such a terrible idea. “Umm. A date it is then.”
A chuckle rumbled through him and lightened the mood, awakening her to the emersion of yet another unique opportunity. “And I have a condition.”
His hand slipped from her waist, down to her hip, but she dropped her hand over his, stopping his slow exploration. He tilted his head to one side in a quizzical sort of stare.
A wayward smile pulled at her lips. She had a chance to turn his toying with her, back on him. “I haven’t been on a date in years. I want you to pick the place. I want a surprise. I want romance. I want a real date.”
