Not when she’d finally stopped hiding from what she wanted.
“I’m sorry I doubted you.”
Her throat burned. Whether from nerves or from running, she couldn’t tell. She kept her voice low, meant for him alone—but not so low she tried to hide from the cameras. They didn’t matter. Only he did.
“I shouldn’t have,” she went on. “Deep down, I knew it was real. I just...got scared. Like I always do. Expecting the worst, sabotaging things so nothing can hurt me. And I told myself it was being smart, but it wasn’t. It was cowardice.”
She drew a shaky breath, bracing herself. “I hurt you, Darren. And I’m really sorry for that.”
Something shifted in his eyes.
“I quit my job too, by the way,” she added, a little louder. “I’m done. I’ll leave things in order, but I’m choosing the life I want. Starting now.”
His brow lifted a fraction. “You really quit your job?”
She shrugged, glancing helplessly at the cameras. “Well...I’m assuming this will go viral, so I guess I kind of handed in my notice just now.”
The corner of his mouth twitched.
“And I’m sorry you don’t want to play Lucen,” she pressed on. “I respect the decision, of course. I just hope it wasn’t because of me.”
His face hardened again. “If this is about the casting, my answer is still no. But for the record, it wasn’t about you. And it’s still a great character.” He shrugged lightly. “I’m just sorry you came all this way for a no.”
The words hit like a blow—cool, professional. As if nothing else had ever existed between them.
“Darren,” Sienna called. The screen above her had flipped fromBoardingtoFinal call. Darren turned slightly, signaling this was goodbye.
Emma squeezed her eyes shut, every fear, every old instinct screaming at her to be quiet, to back away.
“And I’d very much like to have those tacos with you.”
Her voice rang out firm and clear.
She opened her eyes again. Darren had stilled, his back to her.
She stepped closer, breath unsteady. “If it’s not too late. Because I like you, Darren Cole. Not because I based Lucen on you—though I did. And not because you’re a gorgeous, famous actor I fell in love with from a distance. Because you’re you.”
He looked over his shoulder. A slow smile tugged at his mouth.
“So you did base him on me after all?”
Emma’s cheeks flamed. She was trembling from adrenaline, every muscle coiled tight—and he wasteasing?
“Okay. You know what, never mind,” she said, voice thick. “At least I had the guts to say something real for once.”
She turned, humiliation flooding her, the cameras scorching her from every angle.This is how they’ll remember me, she thought bitterly.A mortifying crash-and-burn in Terminal Two.
But then—
A firm hand closed around her arm.
“Oh no, you don’t.”
She froze, looking back. Darren’s fingers slid down to circle her wrist, warm and unwavering. His eyes weren’t cold anymore. They gleamed with that dark intensity she knew all too well—the same look that had always left her breathless, even from a screen.
“You think you get to drop that and walk away? After chasing me down in a bloodyairport?” His voice was low, rough, threaded with that heat she thought she’d lost.
“You’re the writer, Emma.” He moved closer. “You should know that would’ve been a terrible ending.”
