How he knew what bothered her most—outside of leaving her family—without her having to articulate it was curious.
“I’d need to be able to practice in the next two months if I want to help.Then there’s my job at the hospital.I don’t love it, but I do a lot of good there.I’ve only got two more weeks scheduled if this isn’t resolved.”
“And the marriage visa?Would that come through faster?”
She choked out a laugh.“Yeah, if you don’t take into account meeting a man, then asking each other to have a drink, seeing if he’s kind or a psycho and maybe, if there’s a physical connection, waiting the requisite three days for him to call and ask me out again, then repeating this for months until we decide we want to spend the rest of our lives together, at which case we’ll start planning a ceremony for his family to attend, since, let’s be honest, none of my family cares what happens to me unless it’s for revenge purposes.Then we’ll fight over the caterer and the price of the floral arrangements, but we’ll stick it out anyway for the year it takes to be engaged and plan a wedding these days.After the ceremony, though, we won’t waste time.We’ll sign my paperwork that night, and yeah, it should go quick.One to two weeks.”
She was breathless, angry at a system that was rigged when she was here, fighting for her community and doing what she could to prevent its demise from someone who wouldn’t ever be asked to leave his home, his life, his family.
It was just so unfair.
“I wish there was something I could do.I mean, those can’t be the only two options, Aury.”It was so sweet how he’d adopted her nickname.But it didn’t help her situation at all.
“Unless you’re up for marrying me so we can single-handedly save the damn town, there’s not much you can do.And come to think of it, you do owe me for almost running me over.”
She laughed.Gosh, had that only been a couple days ago?So much had happened since.She touched her lips; when he’d pressed his to them, it had changed her more than all the months in Banberry combined had altered her.She couldn’t think too much on the how or why of it, though.Not without getting tripped up.
“That’s not a half-bad idea,” Jace said.
She coughed out a laugh.“You’re right.It’s acompletelybad idea.Just get me that cocktail you mentioned, and we’ll be square.It’ll numb things, at least.”
“How so?”
“Well, a good rum will—”
“No.Marrying me.Why is it acompletely badidea?Won’t it get you what you want?”
She kicked off her sandals and tucked her legs underneath her.What she wanted in that moment, yes, was stability, the knowledge that what she was building she would be able to keep.But there was also a very visceral need to kiss this man again.Even pretending to entertain what was an asinine idea threatened both in different ways.
“Yeah, Jace.We’ll just skip the pleasantries and go straight toI do.That always works out.Anyway, I need to get Maddie down, and then we can have that cocktail.”
Aurelie made her way into the kitchen, chuckling to herself.There, she grabbed a pot from under the island countertop, filled it halfway with water, set it on the stove to warm, and then placed the bottle in it.
She kept Jace in her peripheral vision.He watched her, his gaze unwavering.When the water was the right temperature, Aurelie dropped the bottle in and hummed a lullaby her mother had sung to her every night when she was a child.
Aurelie thought of her mother, how destroyed she would be to learn that Aurelie had to go back to the islands, about the circumstances that were shoving her toward that undesired move.After a few minutes, Aurelie took the bottle, tested the liquid on the inside of her wrist, and put the nipple in Maddie’s now-open mouth.
She closed her eyes, the lullaby soothing her as well.Standing in the kitchen, rocking her niece gently in her arms, she wished there were a quick, surefire way to stay in Banberry, see Maddie grow up, help build the clinic, and work with the local children and their families.The warm moisture of tears hit her cheeks, and she just let them fall.
Tears were always a sign of giving up in her mind, but not today.Today they felt like a release, a way to let the emotion of the past few days out so she could focus on fixing things—for her town, her friends, and herself.
A hand brushed her cheek, and she startled.Jace stood inches in front of her, his hand resting on her shoulder.His cologne wrapped around Aurelie’s senses, freezing her in place.Only her breathing changed, becoming quicker, shorter.
“What…” she began, but he bent down and lightly grazed his lips over hers, rendering her silent.
“Shhh.Let me get this out before I lose my nerve.”
Even if she wanted to reply, she couldn’t.She nodded instead, her voice and heart lodged in her throat.
“Marry me, Aurelie.Now.Your wild idea makes perfect sense if you think about it.”
Except it didn’t.Couldn’t.Sure, maybe if he were a friend of Brad or Owen’s, and she didn’t have any attraction to him.
HeisBrad’s friend.Paige’s, too.
Maybe that was part of the problem: Jace was too close to home.If she took advantage of his offer and things went south, she would become the outsider, not him.
Then there was the obvious attraction that she very muchdidfeel.
