at this moment she loved him. Maybe she wasn’t aware. Maybe he was in denial. It didn’t matter. It was that thought alone that had him taking long strides until he was able to wrap his hands around her wrists and pull her hands away from her face. Stephanie looked up at him with glassy eyes.
“I want to know and feel what it’s like to hear you tell me that you love me, Stephanie,” he whispered as his lips collided with hers.
Julian tightened his hold on her wrists, preventing her from breaking away. The moment she kissed him back, he released her and Stephanie’s hands were in his hair. She thrust her body against his as their lips glided over each other’s. Breaths quickly inhaled between. Moans and sighs left them. And he felt his chest ache to hear those words. Ached to have her heart. Ached to be with her.
Stephanie’s lips had ceased movement before she pulled his head back with her grasp of his hair. Her eyes roamed his, as if she couldn’t believe that he had agreed to be hurt by her. The reality was that he’d live through any pain to be hers.
“Spontaneous,” she whispered before she took two steps back.
“What?” he breathed.
Her fists balled tightly beside her body. “Have you ever heard of spontaneous combustion?”
Spontaneous combustion?
Julian’s reply was a series of unbelievable blinks.
“That’s where we’re headed.” Her eyes filled with unshed tears. “That’s what’s so wrong with us. We’re so spontaneous that I’m scared there’s no substance between us.”
Julian closed the distance and cupped her face. His thumbs touched the tears that had slid down her cheeks. “This,” he uttered.
Stephanie’s eyelids fluttered. “What?”
“Your tears are proof that there’s substance between us, Stephanie. There is something real and physical. We have something. I know it. I felt it four years ago, and I feel it now. We have substance. We care about each other. We wouldn’t feel each other’s pain, want, and need if there wasn’t. We’re not spontaneous. We’re meant to be. Please, Stephanie. Please trust me with your heart.” He hoped the pleading in his voice would persuade her. Julian breathed in deep then rested his forehead on hers. “Believe in me, Stephanie.”
Her eyes fluttered shut. And Julian watched her inhale deeply. The way her nostrils flared slightly and her lips made a fine line; he loved every little natural movement she had made.
“I’d believe in anything for you,” she whispered. They were the words he had said back in Thailand. Within those words, he had laced and entwined promises. Words just for her.
His lips pressed against the tip of her nose. “We’re not spontaneous.”
“No?” Her eyes slowly opened, and he smiled at the vibrant blues that stared up at him.
“We’re natural,” he whispered his reply.
Stephanie’s hands rested on his hips, and she sighed. Her nose had grazed his before she pressed her lips softly on his. “I believe you said we were meant to be.”
He chuckled then tilted her head slightly higher. Just as he was about to comment on how right she was, his phone beeped.
“Ignore it,” he dismissed in a low tone.
Stephanie’s eyebrows furrowed. “It could be important.”
“It’s Rogers.”
“How could you know that?”
His thumbs brushed her cheeks, relishing the feel of her smooth skin. “I give most people their own alert sounds.”
“But everyone uses that chime tone.”
“Exactly. It’s a boring tone. That’s why I assigned that one to Rogers.” He grinned.
The sweetest laugh escaped her lips. “And what do you have assigned to me?”
He was a little embarrassed to admit which alert tone he’d picked for her. She’d no doubt think it was cheesy. Julian’s hands dropped from his face and he averted her stare. “I haven’t assigned you one,” he lied.
Stephanie tilted her head and squinted at him. Then she bent down, rummaged through her bag, and pulled out her phone.
“What are—”
She held up her hand to silence him and then her fingers slid with ease over her screen. Stephanie then stared at him as she was waiting. Then, suddenly, the sounds of birds chirping filled the apartment.
He waited for it. But instead of her giggles, he was presented with an awe-like expression. Stephanie’s lips parted, and her eyes widened. There was a gleam in her eyes that he hadn’t seen before. She was breathtakingly beautiful.
The phone in her hand slipped and landed in her bag. Stephanie slowly, with her eyes locked on his, closed the distance. When she reached him, one hand was on his shoulder and the other