We stood there with our arms looped around each other’s waists as a spring rain drizzled before us. It was the most romantic moment of my life.
“Zane?” I asked before I could talk myself out of it.
“Yeah?” He looked down at me, the magic of today shining on his face.
“Did you ever think about… us?”
Pain hinted in his eyes, a deep melancholy that was only visible for a moment.
“Sure, I did.”
My heart trip-hammered in my chest. Hearing him admit so casually that he’d had feelings for me was making my mind spin.
“Why didn’t you ever ask me out?”
He turned to look at me, love shining on his face. “I always knew you were going to leave this place, Mallory.Icouldn’t be the thing that held you back.”
And then it was justhimandme, and the steady beat of rain on the old barn roof. I tipped my chin up, begging him to close the distance between us, a silent plea.
For a moment it seemed like he would.
His arms wrapped around me, pulling me close until we were holding each other tight.
Zane’s lips parted, heat and hunger evident in his eyes. But also the slow beat of love. Everything in him said if we made love right now, here in this barn, that’s what it would be.
Love.
His mouth dipped towards mine, and I rose to meet him, standing on my tippy-toes, but at the last moment he veered off, brushing his lips across my cheek.
Then he wrapped me in a hug so tight I could barely breathe.
“Why are you holding back?” I whispered. “We’re both single. We’re both adults. If you want me… I’m right here.”
But he didn’t take me there on the hay floor of the barn on a perfect rainy day deep in the Ozarks.
No.
After a few moments, he released me, stepping back, regret shining through his eyes.
“You’re leaving again, Mallory.”
“But—”
He ran his fingers through my hair, dropping a kiss on my forehead.
Then he said something that may have changed the course of my life. “I don’t want just a quick fuck with you, Mal.”
“I’m not talking about just a quick—”
But he put a finger to my lips, stopping the conversation in its tracks. And was he right? What did I want?
It was true.
Iwasplanning on leaving.
So why did I feel so conflicted right now?
If Zane made love to me, what would it be like? When it came time to drive away from him?
