She nodded. “Three feet or less.” She squeezed his hand. “I feel safe when I’m with you.”
He chuckled. “I feel all kinds of crazy when I’m with you.”
“Is that a bad thing?” she asked.
“It’s a I’ve-never-felt-more-alive thing.” He glanced toward her. “Like the sun finally came out.”
She smiled. “I like having you around.”
He arched an eyebrow. “Just to make you feel safe?”
“And so much more,” she said softly. “I’ve spent most of my adult life working toward a goal, a career, a business and haven’t taken the time to work on me.” She smiled at the road ahead. “You showed me what I was missing. Now that I know what it is, I can work on that.”
“And what was it you were missing?”
“Like you, I was missing someone who makes me feel alive. In my case, I wasn’t necessarily in a black fog of grief, but I was in a tunnel headed for my career goals, never looking left or right at the things that could make me happy along the way.” She drew in a breath and let it out. “Now, I understand the saying that it’s not the destination or the journey that makes life great. It’s the people.” She looked down at the scarred hand she was holding. “Thank you.”
All too soon, they entered New Orleans and navigated the busy streets, arriving at a parking garage close enough to walk to Jackson Square to reach their goal of the St. Louis Cathedral.
Amelie’s stomach churned as she pushed the truck door open.
Maurice appeared in front of her, placed his hands on her waist and lowered her to the ground in a slow slide down his body.
Her stomach churned in an entirely different way as her feet touched the ground.
Ever so gently, Maurice brushed a kiss across her forehead and whispered so softly she couldn’t be sure of the words. She thought they sounded like, Be careful, my love.
How could that be? He couldn’t commit. His love had died in his arms. He wasn’t ready to move on to anything more than casual sex.
Casual, mind-blowing, don’t-stop-now loving she didn’t want to live without but might have to when he sank back down in the black hell of survivor’s guilt.
She lifted her face and caught his lips with hers in a brief kiss. “Promise me something?”
He tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. “Promise what?”
“That when this is all over, you’ll forgive yourself for being alive and get on with the job of living.”
His lips tipped upward. “Every minute I spend with you, I get a little closer.”
“And if I’m not with you anymore? Will you still feel the same? Will you be done with oppressive sorrow? Ready to embrace happiness, however it best manifests for you.
Maurice’s eyes narrowed, and his brow formed a deep V. “You’re going to be okay. We’ll get through this.”
“Yeah. Of course. I just want to know you’ll be okay if we go our separate ways.” Because I won’t be. She bit down on her tongue to keep from blurting it out.
“What are you talking about? We’re not done, are we?” A ruddy red stained his cheeks. “If that’s how you feel, you picked a helluva a time to tell me.”
Amelie shook her head. “No, not at all. I just know this whole thing we’ve had was built on air. No commitment. I’ve seen you smile and laugh over the past few days. I care about you and want you to be happy with or without me.”
He stared hard into her eyes. Then he crushed her to his chest and claimed her mouth in a searing kiss that burned all the way through to her heart.
The earbuds in Amelie’s ears crackled. “X and K heading in. Here’s to breaking rules. See you on the wrong side.”
“We’re not done,” Maurice said, the fierceness fading into tenderness. He brushed his injured hand along the curve of her jaw. Once more, he gathered her close, this time gently and touched his lips to hers. “Not done.”
He took her hand in his and led her across Jackson Square to the entrance of St. Louis Cathedral, where he held up his cell phone to show the online entry tickets for both of them. After the gate guard scanned their QR codes, they passed through the metal detector without setting it off.
Inside the cathedral, Maurice touched a hand to Amelie’s back and guided her into the beautiful cathedral, aiming for the central clock and bell tower.
