Crossroad to Love (Fab Five Series) - By Anna Kristell Page 0,74

all these years. He wishes us well. He believes we are starting a relationship. I don’t think he considers the accident to be a factor in that.”

“You have had a few days to get used to this. I am, as you said you were, stunned. I need to think this thing through. Katy, you do mean the world to me, you know that, but I just can’t even begin to wrap my head around this right now. I need some time to put it all into perspective. Can you understand that?” Ryan looked down at Katy sadly.

“I will give you all the time you need, Ryan,” she replied simply. “I need time to think, as well. In time, maybe we will find a way to overcome this. In the meantime, we’ll be working together somewhat, although most of my work will be with Chloe. We can still work together, can’t we?”

Ryan came over to the couch, knelt in front of Katy and took her into his arms.

“Baby, I am so sorry. Sorry for your loss. Sorry that it had to be my wife in the other car. Sorry that this had to come between us. I am in love with you, it was not a fantasy. And yes, by all means, we are two civilized adults. We can work together and we can be friends. Anything beyond that… I just don’t know. I love you, but I don’t know if I can be with you. There would always be the accident in the background, standing between us.”

“But it doesn’t have to come between us, my love.” Katy gently touched his face.

She leaned forward and kissed his forehead, his cheek, and finally his mouth. He hesitated for just a minute and then returned her kiss with all the love that he felt for her.

“Katy, please forgive me. I’m going to take you back to the hotel now. We need to say goodnight before we go further than we intend to. Very many more kisses like that and we may easily lose control. That wouldn’t be a good thing right now.”

“Or it might be the best thing to happen to both of us in a long time,” she replied softly, her eyes willing him to make love to her.

“Ah, my yellow rose, don’t look at me like that. We have a lot of thinking to do and we’re both going to be very busy with our businesses in the near future. So, you get on that plane in two days and you fly home to Chicago. You think about everything that has happened this week. You think about the past. You see if you still feel the same way about me after you put some distance between us, and I will do the same. When you come back to Dallas to work on the project, we’ll talk again. That’s the best I can do for now, my sweet love.” He looked sadly into her eyes before turning away and reaching for his keys.

“If that is truly what you want. I do believe I love you, Ryan. But I will think about it and I will give you the space you need. We came into each other’s lives for a reason. I’m not sure what that reason was. That’s what we need to figure out. Neither one of us can deny the strong feelings that we share for each other. That kiss just proved that.”

“I wish things could be different for us. But, Katy, you have to be sure that months or years down the road, you won’t resent who I am. I’ll take you back to your hotel now and I’ll call you soon to make arrangements for you to fly back out here to work.”

Katy sadly gathered her things and let Ryan lead her out of the condo and back to his car. Things had gone pretty much the way she had anticipated, but it did not make it hurt any less. At least there was still a chance that they would be able to come to grips with it all. He had not ruled out a relationship with her. She would just have to wait patiently. The ball was in his court now. She had waited ten years for him to come into her life, what were a few more months? If he came back to her, then she would know it was meant to be. If we’d made love, maybe he would have decided to stay with me. She’d