eyes, soaking in his support. “I’ve held that secret for so long, I didn’t realize how much it was weighing on me. I feel a lot better having told you. I hated keeping a secret from you, and I know that’s crazy after all that we’ve been through, but it’s the truth. I know now that what happened was probably for the best. I was in no position to raise a child, and I doubt you were, either.”
“That’s probably true, but I still wish I could have been there for you.”
She studied his face for a quiet moment, and it was all there looking back at her. The truth of how tortured he’d been by leaving, how much more he wanted in Mexico, and even the love he still had for her. “Knowing what I do now about how you felt in Mexico, I wish you had been, too. We’ve both made big mistakes.”
“I feel like I’ve lived a lifetime in the last two hours.”
“Is that good or bad?” Please say good.
“It’s good, Carls.” He caressed her cheek, pressed a kiss to the freckles on the bridge of her nose. “I’ve been wanting to do that since the wedding.”
When they were younger, she was insecure about those freckles, but he’d always loved them. She wanted to climb into his arms and let him kiss her worries away, but she was still confused, wanting to let him in and scared to do it.
“Where do we go from here, Zevy?”
“I don’t have all the answers,” he said softly. “But does that mean you want there to be a we?”
She smiled. “You say that like I have a choice.”
“You always have a choice, Carls.”
She shook her head. “Not when it comes to you.”
“Am I allowed to gloat over that?” He laughed softly, hugging her against his side, and said, “I’m only here until Sunday. We’ve got six days to figure out what this is. I know I’ve made bad decisions in the past, but I will do everything within my power not to hurt you again. You said you’ve changed, and I want to learn about all those changes. I want to get to know the person you’ve become, and I’d like for you to get to know the man I’ve become. What do you say? Will you give us a shot?”
Her heart said yes! but she’d learned to listen to her head. “I’m scared to spend time with you. I already feel myself falling back into us. I really loved us.”
“I loved us, too,” he said tenderly.
That made her tear up again, but these were happy tears. She blinked rapidly to keep them at bay and said, “Honestly, I think I’m more scared of not spending time with you. I know what life is like without you, and no matter how far I’ve come or how many friends I make, something’s always missing.”
“Thank God,” he whispered, full of relief. “I have always felt that way. That’s the power of us, Carls. You’ve always been the treasure, and without you I’m just an empty chest, hoping for a shot at more. We’ve got six days, babe.”
“My life is here; yours isn’t. Six days can only lead to heartache.”
“We can’t know that. I’m not that broken, stupid kid anymore, Carly. Believe it or not, I’m a pretty smart guy with a much clearer perspective on life than I had back then.”
That’s the problem. It’s too easy to fall in love with grown-up you.
“We can figure this out. It doesn’t have to be an all-or-nothing scenario, does it?” He caressed her cheek and said, “Where’s the spontaneous always-up-for-an-adventure girl I fell for all those years ago?”
She shrugged, unsure if that girl still existed and trying to rein in her hopes that six days could really lead to more.
“That girl showed up here tonight, Carly. She’s in there somewhere, stuck beneath the hurt and worries of our pasts.” He brushed his thumb lightly over her lips, spreading heat through her like wildfire. “Six days could set her free.”
Oh, how she wanted to believe him!
She clung to his words like a lifeline, and later that evening, after he walked her to her truck and kissed her so tenderly it felt like the first time, only better, she drove home and curled up beneath her blankets feeling a little less lonely as she let his words carry her off to sleep.
Chapter Seven
THE COUNTER CUT into the backs of Carly’s knees, but the pain only added to the pleasure