“Hey,” she said.
Hey? That was it? They hadn’t seen each other in half a decade and all she had to say was hey?
“You look good,” he said. She did. Her hair was longer and a little lighter. Her amber colored eyes were just as bright and deep as he remembered. She looked…curvier. Womanlier. He probably wasn’t supposed to be noticing things like that but, hell, he was a guy and she had always been his ideal.
“Thanks. You do, too.” She fidgeted with the hem of her t-shirt.
“How long have you been in town?”
“Only a few days. Mom had a medical scare.”
“Is she okay?” He took a step closer. The pulse in the base of her neck throbbed and he heard the small, sharp intake of breath.
“Yes,” she said. “The tests all came back clear. I’m actually heading home tomorrow.”
Shit. That wasn’t enough time. His mouth was as dry as if he’d been stuck in the desert for years and was suddenly being teased with a cold bottle of water.
Before he could say anything else, she said, “I need to go.”
He grabbed her hand before she could turn around. “It was good to see you, Rowan.”
She slowly pulled her fingers out of his grasp. “You, too. Take care, Luke.”
Lacing his fingers on top of his head, he watched her push through the double doors leading outside and disappear. Fuck. Hearing her voice had been bad enough, but seeing her again was like a knife to the chest. It had taken everything in him not to drop to his knees and beg her forgiveness. The wariness in her eyes had gutted him. She’d never looked at him like that—as if she didn’t trust him.
As if she didn’t trust herself.
He dropped his hands and stared at the exit. Everything happened for a reason—he was a firm believer in that. Maybe this was life’s way of telling him to take another chance. He hadn’t seen or talked to her in years and now he’d done both in the space of two weeks.
A kernel of an idea formed in his head. It was crazy. So beyond stupid it wasn’t funny and could very well end his career, but he was tired of wondering what if. Tired of feeling like a big chunk of him was missing.
Fortune favored the bold. And the stupid. Lord knows he’d never been accused of being a genius.
