Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 94531 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 473(@200wpm)___ 378(@250wpm)___ 315(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94531 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 473(@200wpm)___ 378(@250wpm)___ 315(@300wpm)
My stomach was in knots. “Yeah, so this situation sort of sucks, doesn’t it?”
“I wasn’t expecting this, to find someone here I truly wanted to get to know better, spend time with. That wasn’t part of the plan.” He closed his eyes briefly. “At the same time, I wish I’d met you at the very beginning of this journey and not the last leg.”
I wanted so badly for him to lean in and kiss me. But I also hoped he didn’t. Confusion tore through my heart as a soft evening breeze sent his delicious, masculine scent toward me. I felt like this moment of silence was a crossroads, one where I decided whether I’d escape getting my heart broken or dive headfirst into the fire. Ultimately, fear won out.
Say it. “I think it’s best if we don’t continue to see each other,” I finally managed. “I feel something inside my chest whenever I’m with you. And it’s telling me we’d better not take things any further.”
He looked deeply into my eyes, then took my hand and placed it over his heart. “Feel that. I think we might be feeling the same thing.”
His heart beat so fast against my hand.
“Wow,” I whispered.
“That’s what’s happening almost any moment I’m with you. For that reason, I fear you might be right about this whole thing…as much as I don’t want to face that.”
I took my hand away and looked down at myself. “I was hoping this red dress would magically transform me into a carefree woman for a night.”
“I don’t want you to be anyone other than who you are, Felicity.”
Every additional second made it more difficult to leave, but I knew it was the right thing to do.
“I think I should go home.”
The disappointment on his face was clear. “I’m sorry this night turned awkward.”
“It wasn’t awkward. It was real. I appreciate your honesty so much. And dinner was amazing. Thank Sig for me.”
When I started to walk away, he followed. “This is it, then? We won’t see each other at all? Even just as friends?”
My eyes stung as I turned to face him. “I think it’s easier if we don’t.”
He blinked like he was searching for an answer but couldn’t find one.
We resumed walking in silence to the driveway where my car was parked.
“I have a favor to ask,” he finally said.
“Okay…”
“I want to see you one more time before I leave—even if it’s just for tea. I don’t know offhand when you’re leaving for school?”
“Probably the end of August.”
“That’s around the time we’re leaving, too. We don’t have an exact day. It’s still up in the air. But would that be okay? To see each other once at the end of the summer?”
I didn’t know how that was going to help, yet I didn’t have the heart to say no. “Yeah. That will be okay.” I smiled, looking down at my phone. “I just realized we don’t even have each other’s numbers.”
“Well, who needs numbers when you have a boat to travel across the bay, right?”
“That’s right. I’m just a ten-mile-an-hour boat ride away.” I winked.
“Might be quicker if I swam, yeah?”
The tension in the air felt thicker by the second.
“May I?” He reached for my phone and entered his phone number. When he placed it back in my hand, he folded his fingers over mine. The warmth of that touch resonated throughout my body. I’d never been more terrified of someone kissing me in my life. I didn’t want to know what that was like, if we were parting ways. It would haunt me. Yet I craved it as well.
But alas, instead of moving closer, he let go of my hand, and a coldness seeped in.
After I handed him back his jacket, I rushed to open my car door.
Leo looked morose as he stood and watched me enter.
I turned on the ignition and offered a simple wave. My heart clenched as Leo touched his hand to his mouth and blew me a slow and gentle kiss. There it was. The kiss I was sure he’d wanted to give me but chose not to. I would cherish it, even if it never physically reached my lips. It had reached my heart.
I knew I’d made the right decision, but as I drove away, I felt more and more unsettled and incomplete.
* * *
Leo
Track 7: “Hello Again” by Neil Diamond
“Where’s Little Red Riding Hood?” my cousin asked as I entered the house.
“She’s gone.”
“Gone? Where did she go?”
Feeling bitter, I gritted my teeth. “She went home. It’s done. Your plan to scare her away worked. Are you happy now?”
His eyes widened in shock. “She left because of what I said at dinner?”
“Wasn’t that your intent?” I shouted. “Laying out all of my dirty laundry to scare her away? She asked me to elaborate out there, and it led to a conversation about how feasible it really was for us to keep seeing each other if she’d only end up getting hurt by my leaving. She came to the conclusion that ending it before it started was best.”