Finding Mr. Write (Business of Love #5) - Ali Parker Page 0,38

in her seat to face me and put her hand over mine on the shifter. “I mean it. I didn’t feel pressured. I just need some time with my thoughts. I had it in my head what my life would be like when I moved to New York. I’ve been dreaming that dream since I was a girl in high school. And nowhere in those dreams was there ever a man. I dreamed of independence and freedom.”

There it was. The cold truth. There wasn’t any room for me in this life of hers and it wasn’t my place to hold that against her or beg her for something more. I didn’t want to be the reason she didn’t fulfill her New York City promise to herself.

We drove the rest of the way in comfortable quiet. Briar was caught up in her own thoughts and I was caught up in mine.

At ten fifteen I pulled up in front of her new building. It was nicely lit and there was a young couple sitting on a bench in one of the gardens, legs swinging, arms draped around each other, their own travel cups in their hands as they likely sipped on tea or hot chocolate or something of the like.

I envied them as Briar took off her seatbelt.

She smiled at me. “Thank you for driving me home. We’ll talk soon, okay?”

“Briar, if this is too much for you and you need to put an end to things with me, I understand. Just please, don’t string me along. I don’t need you to protect me or—”

“String you along? What do you mean?”

“Well, this is over, isn’t it?”

Briar blinked. “Why?”

I frowned. Had I misunderstood this entire thing?

Briar let out a laugh that was more surprised than it was humorous and she reached out to put her hand on my cheek. “I don’t want to end this thing between us, Wes. All I need is some time to come to grips with what this new chapter of my life is going to be. I didn’t plan for this and I’m not someone who can just throw herself into something new and unexpected. If you give me a little time, we can keep going.” Her cheeks turned red and her smile got a little flirty. “Please, can we keep going?”

“Yes,” I said hurriedly.

Briar grinned in earnest and pulled herself in close so she could press her lips gently to mine. She tasted like remnants of the wine we’d shared over dinner and the softness of her lips had me remembering the heat we’d shared on my sofa.

I immediately wanted more but I kept my hands to myself.

She stroked my cheeks and leaned back in her seat. The leather creaked and she opened the door to step out onto the curb. “Call me, okay?”

I nodded. “Okay.”

She wiggled her fingers in a farewell wave and turned from the car. I watched her walk up the path and past the lovebirds on the bench. She stopped at the front door, fished a new set of keys out of her bag, and slid them in the lock. After she stepped into the lobby, she looked back for one last wave.

I drove home the rest of the way smiling like an idiot.

When I stepped inside my townhouse, my original game plan was to make my way upstairs and go to bed. I could have done with a good night’s sleep. However, there was a yearning feeling that had been growing inside me on the way home. A desire to write so all-consuming spread through me, so I went to my home office upstairs. I turned on the lamp on my desk and sat down in front of the window. The occasional car passed by down below and I cracked a window to have a bit of cool air whispering across the page as I wrote.

My hand moved from column to column as I filled line after line. The words bled from the tip of my pen like they hadn’t in ages. Time blended together and I lost track of the night. Soon, birds were chirping and the watch on my wrist told me that it was quarter past four in the morning. My hand ached terribly but the will to keep going was still there.

I didn’t waste it. I used up every drop of inspiration I possessed before I made my tired way down the hall to my bathroom, where I had a cold shower to chase away the lingering heat