LOST WITH YOU - Lisa Ann Verge Page 0,55
woman rather than some selfish witch who worried more about her manicure than her marriage vows.
This day, it was full of rib-crunching punches.
“Your sister,” he ventured, clearing his throat, “must be relieved you made it out of the woods in one piece.”
“Well…I didn’t really tell her where we were going before we left.”
“What?”
“I haven’t been very forthcoming over the past few years.” She grimaced and wrinkled her nose. “That’s going to change, going forward. She and I need to have a long talk. Longer than I could manage on the phone.”
His chest constricted, shooting a dull pain from his injured rib. Casey had mentioned something, early in the trip, about having plans to see her sister. Was she still thinking of moving on? He glanced to the bedside table, where her notebook lay open beside the waterproof plastic bag it had been secured within. A pen lay across the words. There were a lot of them. He was too far away to be able to read any of them.
He turned his gaze on the old carpet at his feet. It didn’t matter what she’d written. What mattered was what she was going to say to him after his speech. He’d planned it, but now every rehearsed phrase left his mind. The distance from where he stood with his back to the bureau to where she sat on the bed felt like the width of the Saint Lawrence River.
He began, “So—”
She ventured, “So—”
His voice caught. She breathed a short laugh. He thrust his hands deep into the pockets of his shorts.
“So,” he repeated, rolling his shoulders. “This has been an interesting three weeks.”
She raised her brows. “That’s an understatement.”
“The expedition is done now.” He couldn’t tell whether she thought that was a good thing or a bad thing. “We’ve never talked about what we were going to do after it was all over.”
Her chest rose and fell, along with her shoulders. “I know.”
“When we get back to the cabin,” he said, widening his stance, bracing himself, “do you plan to head right out for your next assignment?”
He strained to hear every rustle of her clothing, every swallow, to read every flicker of her lashes. His attention was so intense he felt like he could sense the ringing whine of electricity running through the wires behind the walls.
She plucked at a string hanging from the hem of her T-shirt. “Is that what you want me to do, Dylan?”
“You know it isn’t.” His heart felt like a ball of lead. “You know what I want.”
“I really don’t.” She lifted her face, paler than ever against the deep brown of her eyes. “I can only guess.”
“Listen.” He spoke around a lump. “I know everything between us happened fast.”
“Lightning-fast.”
“It knocked me pretty hard.” He frowned and shook his head. “This was unexpected. Welcome. But it messed with my mind. I’m pretty sure it messed with yours, too.”
She tilted her head in acknowledgment.
“And yet it’s not the rush of a life-and-death experience that brought me here tonight. What’s on my mind…I’ve wanted to say it since the night we spent in the pop-up tent in the woods. Maybe even earlier.”
She nodded again, clutching her hands.
“I’ve been in this place before.” He swayed back a fraction. The edge of the bureau pressed into his thighs. “You know I married the last woman I went camping with. And that’s exactly how I know that this thing between me and you…it’s different.”
Her soft lips parted, her body stilled.
“Just to be clear, it’s not the drugs speaking. What they gave me at the hospital is strong, but I skipped my last dose on purpose. I need a clear head for this.”
Her eyes went shiny, luminous in her face. He gathered up every ounce of courage he had left.
“I love you, Casey.”
She looked like a deer stunned by headlights. She didn’t touch the bedside light, but the room seemed to dim nonetheless. In spite of that, a weight lifted from his heart. Even if she went her own way, even if she chose to run, at least he had this moment to remember, this stretch of silence as he laid his heart bare. Casey had brought his heart back to life again. He’d be grateful, even if she chose not to continue their relationship.
“I’m not here to change your mind, if you’ve already made it up.” He balled his hands into fists in his pockets, unable to penetrate the tight, still expression on her face. “I know there’s not a damn