Love In Secrets (Love Distilled #3) - Scarlett Cole Page 0,74

her things on the rear seat. Her cabin baggage was definitely fuller. And her tote was crammed to capacity.

Jake hopped into his side of the truck and pulled out of the hospital lot. When he placed his hand on her knee, she thought back to the day he picked her up from the airport all those weeks ago. Even back then, she’d felt something between them.

She linked her fingers with his, studying the way they looked together.

There were so many questions she wanted to ask. Questions that would make her feel so much better about her choices. There were promises she wanted to make too. Like begging him to wait for her . . . but nobody would wait years. Or begging him to leave his job and come with her. They were all unreasonable. She’d been called unreasonable by Elijah. Perhaps it was true.

She glanced over to Jake, who wore sunglasses to keep the late September sunshine out of his eyes. He was focused on the road, but his jaw twitched as he ground his teeth.

Her stomach was a mess. She’d not eaten breakfast.

She tried to think about what she was heading back to, in a bid to end the awful sadness she felt. A meeting with Elijah next week. A lead on another opportunity she might be able to apply for, if her meeting with Elijah was unsuccessful.

The ride was silent aside from the roar of the truck’s engine and her own thoughts whirling constantly through her mind like balls bouncing around a roulette wheel.

Jake pulled his truck to a stop at the drop-off point and killed the engine. He focused on the plate of the white Ford ahead of him and Cassie held her breath.

Just a few more minutes. She’d be tucked inside the terminal and could fall apart in a stall in the restroom.

“Remember the day I found you on the sofa, Cass? When you’d made your decision to stay? You told me you were so angry but had nobody to direct your anger at. Sitting here with you now, with your cases in the back, I feel the same way.”

He understood why she needed to go back, and yet, he was mad she wasn’t making a different decision. “I totally understand. I’m sorry, Jake.”

“Fuck my life,” he muttered as he climbed out of the truck and slammed the door. The pain in her chest was getting worse. Like the iron bands around the barrels in the distillery, it was getting tighter under pressure.

He opened the rear door of the truck and pulled her luggage out before carrying it to the curb.

Cassie hadn’t moved, she remained in her seat. Once, she’d challenged him on inertia. And now she felt it. Felt the tug to suspend them exactly where they were, because even though she was about to walk toward the departure gate with her luggage, her heart would stay behind in his hands.

One of them needed to be the strong one.

He opened her door. “It’s time to go, love.” Gently, he took her hands in his, and she felt the rush of energy she always felt when they touched each other in big ways and small.

She’d miss it. The feeling of this kind of intimacy she hadn’t even realized she needed.

“I don’t know what to say,” Cassie said, the misery she felt etched in her voice.

“You could tell me you love me. You know. One more time for old times’ sake.”

She looked up at him now. “You make it sound so easy.”

Jake shook his head. “No, love. I know it’s not. You can’t say ‘I love you, so I’ll stay’, and I can’t say it’s okay. I understand why you need to go. I don’t agree, but I understand.”

Cassie sighed. “I’m sorry, Jake. All the way here I was hoping there’d be some Hail Mary pass, some divine way of solving the problem.”

He tugged her to him, and she was wholly aware this was the last time she’d get the chance to stand in his arms. Her head tucked into his shoulder, her arms around his waist, her body lined up against his so perfectly she was certain no one else would ever fit quite the same way against her again. And if they did, it would be as if someone had forced the wrong piece of the puzzle into the jigsaw. It might look as though they fit, it might even work for a little while, but eventually they’d realize the piece was in the