His hands are still on my scarf, his eyes locked on mine.“I don’t understand the question.”
“This was supposed to be fake.”My voice comes out smaller than I intend, and I hate how vulnerable I sound.How exposed.“A business arrangement.But now...things are changing.”
He studies me for a long moment, his expression unreadable in that maddening way of his.The way that used to drive me crazy in the office when I couldn’t tell if he was pleased or disappointed with my work.But now it just makes my stomach twist into knots.
Then, quietly: “Do you dislike the changes?”
I open my mouth.Close it.The truth lodges in my throat like a stone.I don’t know what I feel.I’m terrified and exhilarated and confused all at once, and standing here on these steps with snow falling around us, I feel like I’m teetering on the edge of something that will either save me or destroy me.
“I don’t know,” I finally admit, and the words taste like failure.“I don’t know what you’re looking for here.”
“What if I want everything?”
My breath catches.Everything.The word is too big, too much.I repeat it slowly, testing the weight of it on my tongue, trying to understand what he means.“Everything.”
He nods, and there’s something raw in his eyes that I’ve never seen before.Something that makes my chest tight and my eyes burn with the threat of tears.
“What if I told you,” he says carefully, each word measured, “that this was never fake for me?”
The world tilts.
I suck in a breath, the cold air burning my lungs, and suddenly I can’t get enough oxygen.My mind races back to the airport, to that moment when he’d appeared like some kind of Christmas miracle when I’d been at my lowest.Had that been—had he?—
“That day at the airport.”My voice shakes.“Were you there on purpose?”
“I’m clever, Olivia, but I can’t foresee everything.”A small smile tugs at his lips, but it doesn’t reach his eyes.“It was a coincidence that we met there.But I might have taken advantage of the matter.”
The admission hits me like a physical blow.I feel dizzy, unmoored.“What about needing someone to show your family?”My voice is sharper now, anger threading through the confusion because anger is easier than this raw feeling clawing at my chest.“You said you needed a fake girlfriend.”
“That’s true.It would be ideal.”He steps closer, and I can smell his sandalwood cologne mixed with the scent of snow.Can see the individual snowflakes caught in his dark hair.“But I would rather introduce you as my girlfriend than my fake girlfriend.”
I’m stunned into silence.My thoughts are racing so fast I can’t catch hold of any single one.The world narrows to just him, just us, standing in front of this massive Christmas tree with its twinkling lights casting shadows across his face, making him look almost ethereal.
“Why?”The word comes out as barely more than a whisper, and I hate how small I sound.How desperate.
“What do you mean, why?”
“What has this whole thing been?”My voice rises, and a couple walking past glances our way.I don’t care.Let them look.Let the whole town see me falling apart.“You’ve been lying to me.”
“No.”His voice is firm, almost harsh.“I haven’t been lying.”
“Then what?—”
Before I can finish, my scarf comes undone—whether from the wind or his hands, I’m not sure.He catches the ends and uses them to pull me closer until we’re barely inches apart, until I can see the silver flecks in his eyes and count his eyelashes.
“I’ve been waiting years for you,” he says, his voice low and intense, and I feel the words vibrate through me.“If I was a lesser man, I would have pursued you even while you were dating Chase.”My heart stops.Completely stops.I can feel the exact moment it happens, the pause between beats that stretches into eternity.
“I’ve loved you for six years, Olivia.And you never knew.”
Six years.
Six.Years.
I’m trembling now, and not from the cold.My whole body is shaking, and I don’t know if I want to hit him or kiss him or run away and never look back.“You never let on.”
“That’s why I kept my distance.”His grip on the scarf tightens slightly, and I can feel the tension in his fingers.“But when I found out Chase was out of the picture, I had to jump in.This was the only opportunity I had.”
‘The only opportunity.’Like I’m some kind of limited-time offer.The thought should make me angry, but instead it makes my throat tighten and my eyes burn.
