‘Yes, I said it,’ he said, his face serious again. ‘I’m falling in love with you, Taylor Calderwood. If someone had asked me six months ago to describe my perfect woman, I doubt I would have had the imagination to say a dark-haired, brown-eyed,extremelysexy, coffee-and-cheesecake-loving woman, who swims under the stars, rides a motorbike in a leather jacket, tattoos her art onto other people’s skin, bickers with her uncleconstantly,stands up in town meetings and argues for what she believes in, not to mention forgoes her own safety to hang off a cliff to comfort another human in their time of need. You are kind, and funny, and caring – stop me if you’ve heard all this before.’
I shook my head, unable to say anything.
He smiled. ‘And you dropped everything to come all the way home to look after your uncle so your mother could still have her holiday. That tells me everything I need to know about you right there.’
I blinked at him, feeling emotional. No one had ever made feel soseen.
‘You’re everything I never knew I wanted, or needed,’ he continued softly. ‘And now that I’ve met you, I can’t bear the thought of losing you already. Yes, it’s sudden. And yes, I know we haven’t known each other for that long. But it feels right. And it feels good, and I want to feel good, Taylor. I want to feel like I do when I’m around you,everyday. But…’ He exhaled slowly. ‘If being in the city is what’s going to make you happy, then I’ll accept that. Somehow. I want you to be wherever makes you smile. You deserve to be happy.’
I reached up and touched his cheek. ‘Youmake me smile, Jack. I?—’
I heard a gasp, and my voice trailed off as a figure standing behind him came into focus, just over by the tree. It was Hannah, staring at us, her hand over her mouth.
38
JACK
I turned to see what Taylor was staring at. Or in this case, who.
‘Hannah.’
She blinked at me, her eyes glassy with tears. ‘You love her?’ she said hoarsely. ‘How can you love her? You barely know her.’
‘I’m sorry you found out this way,’ I said, getting to my feet and holding out a hand to Taylor, pulling her up. ‘But yes, I’m falling in love with Taylor.’
Hannah shook her head, as if she was trying to make sense of what she’d heard. ‘You can’t be serious.’
‘I am.’
‘So what, you’re going to move to New York now to be withher?’
‘I think we should discuss this somewhere else,’ I said quietly, conscious that a crowd had started to gather, drawn by her loud and angry voice.
Hannah ignored me, staring at Taylor. ‘I knew you were trouble from the first moment I saw you,’ she spat. ‘Do you enjoy being a homewrecker?’
Taylor gave me an understandably confused look. ‘What’s she on about? Are you and her…?’
‘No.’ I shook my head emphatically. ‘Of course not.’
‘Maybe not yet,’ Hannah objected. ‘But come on, Jack. How long have we known each other? We both know it was going to happen eventually.’
‘I’ve never said or done anything to give you that idea,’ I contradicted her.
‘Oh please,’ she scoffed. ‘I’m not stupid. You’ve always had a thing for me, even when Alex was alive. Did you think I didn’t know?’
‘Maybe for a second,’ I admitted. ‘When we all first met. But you chose Alex, and I accepted that. We’ve only ever been friends, Hannah.’
‘You kissed me.’
‘No. You kissedme,when you were drunk, and I shut that down real quick.’
‘You’re only saying all this because of her.’
‘She has a name,’ I warned, unhappy with her derisive tone. Taylor had done nothing to her and didn’t deserve to be disrespected. I felt the urge to defend and protect her.
‘If you’re really “just a friend”, why did you move all the way across the country to this shithole for me, huh?’
‘I did thatbecauseI’m your friend, Hannah. And because I promised Alex I would look after you.’
