“Her name was Brooklyn!” I call out before she has a chance to slide in behind the wheel.
Intrigued, she pauses, stealing a glimpse at me over her shoulder. But she doesn’t say a word.
“My ex. The woman Miss Clara heard I was going to marry. Her name was Brooklyn. And she broke my fucking heart, Londyn. Absolutely shattered it.”
She blinks, her motions measured as she gradually turns her body to face me, her SUV separating us.
“It’s been two years, but in those two years, I’ve been hesitant to take a risk. To put my heart out there. Especially with you. And not because you’re both named after a city, which is just a goddamn cruel twist of fate. But she had a shadow over her…” I pause, then add, “just like you do. I see your darkness, Londyn. I see it. I have since the beginning. Which is why I didn’t want this.” I gesture between our bodies.
“But then Julia reminded me of something Gampy and Meemaw always told us. Another one of their pearls of wisdom, so to speak.”
“What was it?” she asks softly.
I smile subtly, grateful to hear her voice. “That sometimes the right path isn’t the easy one.” I shake my head as my muscles tighten. “You aren’t easy, Londyn. Nothing about you ever has been. You’re frustrating. And stubborn.” My voice grows louder and more impassioned with every word I speak. “And there are a million things about you that drive me fucking crazy. So many things about you that scare the shit out of me. But goddammit, you are so fucking right for me. I feel it in my bones. In my heart.” I bring my hand to my chest. “In my soul.”
She licks her lips, her sad eyes peering at me with a mixture of confusion and denial. “Wes, I—”
“I’ll give you the space you need to figure this out. Lord knows, it took me a while to finally realize the truth.”
“And what’s that?” she asks shakily.
Sensing her defenses lower, I hesitantly step around to the other side of the SUV, stopping a few feet from her.
“That you’re worth the risk, Londyn. That if tonight is the only time I’ll ever get to feel your lips against mine, it’ll still be worth it. Will still be worth any heartache that finds me because for one amazing moment, I felt real. You make me real. So you can run away all you want. But I’ve never felt this before, not even with Brooklyn. And you can be damn sure I won’t give up just because you’re scared. Because you don’t think it’ll work out. I know something like this doesn’t happen every day. This thing between us is bigger than us. Bigger than your past. Bigger than your fears. I just need you to finally realize that. And I can’t do that for you.”
I stare at her for several seconds, willing her to respond. To admit this petrifies her, like it does me. That I can work with. That I can understand.
Instead, she shakes her head. “I can’t do this with you anymore, Wes.”
I open my mouth to plead my case further, but before I can, she ducks into her SUV, slamming the door and cranking the ignition. Her tires kick up sand and dust as she peels away.
But not before stealing a glance back at me.
And it’s that glance that gives me hope.
Chapter Seventeen
Londyn
Sweat beads on my forehead and trickles down my nape, my arms and legs screaming at me as I spar with Hazel in her garage that she turned into a home gym. In the winter, it’s cool and refreshing. In the heat of summer, however, it’s stifling, the air thick. But it’s what I need to release this pent-up aggression.
Since arriving home last night, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about Wes, growing increasingly frustrated with every passing second. Who does he think he is, claiming he could tell I wasn’t being completely truthful? So what if I wasn’t? That shouldn’t matter. He should have accepted my reason, no questions asked. Hell, I shouldn’t have had to even give him a reason. Not when he’s my client. That should have been reason enough.
Then why can’t I erase the taste of his lips from my memory?
Why can’t I forget the way my body sprang to life the second he pressed them against mine?
Why do I still crave more of him, having spent the past twenty-four