Miss Eleanor’s words rang through her mind. Follow her heart. And she thought she had. But as loneliness engulfed herand the hectic life in the city swallowed her whole again, she wasn’t certain.
She looked at her watch, seeing that once again she’d worked through dinner without taking a break. She should really wrap things up and head home for the evening. She cleared up her desk—but not without stuffing a handful of work into her bag along with her heavy leather binder. She flicked off the light and left her office. An office that had a desk that cost way too much, and rich leather chairs for people to sit in. There was also a conference room precisely decorated by a well-known designer where she could meet with clients. All this that used to please her didn’t anymore.
She left her office and took the elevator down to the lobby. The ever-present attendant at the reception desk greeted her. “Miss Kingston, there’s a gentleman waiting to see you. I told him you hadn’t left yet, but he didn’t want to disturb your work.” The attendant gestured across the expansive lobby.
She turned, and her breath caught in her throat. “Connor.” She flew across the distance and flung herself into his arms, not caring if anyone was watching, just wanting to feel his arms around her.
He held her close, his chin resting on her head, then leaned down to capture her lips in a tender kiss. “I’ve missed you,” he murmured.
“Oh, I’ve missed you.” She stood on tiptoes and kissed him again. “What are you doing here?”
“I have a meeting here in the city at… an art gallery. They want to showcase my work at an upcoming exhibition.” There was pride in his voice but also a bit of hesitancy.
“Connor, that’s wonderful news.” She hugged him.
Then his face turned somber. “And I came to see you. We need to talk.” The look on his face worried her.
“Okay, but not here. Come back to my apartment. It’s not far.”
They stepped out onto the bustling sidewalk, blending in with the sea of anonymous people passing by. Nothing like back in Magnolia, where people would call out cheery hellos as they passed.
She let him into her apartment, and he looked around the space. “Not what I expected,” he admitted, his gaze taking in her sleek, modern furnishing.
She sighed and kicked off her shoes. “I know. It’s not me, is it?”
“I’m not sure. I don’t really know the New York version of you.”
“I’m still just me.” But was she? Here in the city where she rushed around, ignored people in the street, and never took a moment to look up. She frowned as she crossed over to the floor-to-ceiling windows and peered out, trying to get a glimpse of the night sky between the buildings.
She turned back to Connor, who stood awkwardly in her sterile apartment. “Come here, sit down.” She crossed over to the couch and tucked her legs under her. He came over and sat at the end of the couch, looking uncomfortable and out of place. But then, the couch was uncomfortable, wasn’t it? It looked stylish, but who in their right mind picked style over comfort?
She had, she thought ruefully.
“So you wanted to talk?” She looked at him sitting straight and rigid on the couch, dreading what was coming.
“This isn’t working for me.” He met her gaze steadily.
Her heart sank. She knew it. But how could she blame him when they lived twelve hundred miles apart?
“There was something between us, right? You felt it?” he asked, watching her closely.
“Yes, there was…. There still is.” She paused. “At least for me.”
“Good.” He bobbed his head, the corners of his mouth lifting into a tentative smile. “Then we’ll need to solve this distance thing, won’t we?”
She frowned again, not sure how you could move Florida closer to New York.
“I was thinking.” He leaned forward. “I could… move back to New York.”
Her eyes widened, his suggestion catching her off guard. “You’d be willing to move back here?”
He scooted across the couch, right next to her, close enough that she could feel his warmth. “I’d do about anything to be back with you again. Where I see you every day. Where I can kiss you when I want.” He kissed her just to prove his point.
She melted into the kiss, savoring his touch, before reluctantly pulling back. “But you said you’d never move back to the city. You love your life on Magnolia.”
“I do. But if it means we can’t be together… well then, living there doesn’t work for me.”
“You’d give up all that for me?”
