“Fuck, I’m sorry.” Pulling her into me, I hold her tightly. “I would have loved to have met her.”
“She was the best. She would have loved you.”
“I owe her a lot.”
She leans back and looks into my eyes. “Why’s that?”
“Because she brought me you.” The words drift from my lips so effortlessly that I almost say the other three words that have been on my mind these past few days.
“If I never would have fallen down at The Charming Bull, do you think we would have met?” she asks with a quirk in her lips.
“I’d like to think so.”
“Does that mean you’re beginning to think some things might actually happen for a reason?”
I frame her face with my hands and pull her within an inch of my lips, feeling her breath skate across my mouth. “Yeah, baby. I think I just might.”
Chapter 24
Vienna
A Meatball Sub & A Choice
As soon as I take my seat at my desk, ready to open up my mediocre turkey sandwich for lunch, the classroom phone rings. It’s Friday afternoon, tomorrow is Laney and Fletcher’s wedding, and my energy level is so low, I’m trying not to fall asleep at my desk.
“Hello?”
“Vienna? You have a visitor.”
“I do?”
Jessica, the front receptionist at the school, laughs. “Oh, yes. And he has a gun and handcuffs, so if I were you, I’d get here quickly.”
My heart is racing, but I don’t say another word before hanging up the phone, grabbing my keys, and rushing down the hallway to the front office, only to find Rhonan standing there in his uniform, holding a brown paper bag and looking far more delicious than anything he could have brought me to eat.
But then I see the logo on the bag, and my stomach does a little flip. “You brought me lunch?”
He holds the bag up higher. “Not just any lunch, but the meatball sub from The Happy Belly Deli.”
I cross the space to him. “You brought me your favorite sandwich?”
Nodding, he says, “And soon, it’s about to be your favorite too.”
For some reason, this gesture makes me want to cry. Cole never did things like this for me—the small things, the everyday things, the things that make me question if he ever truly loved me.
I think you already know the answer to that question though, Vienna.
Rhonan cups my face just as Jessica clears her throat behind us. “Why don’t you two go enjoy your lunch together while you still have time?”
Rhonan shakes his head, but keeps his eyes locked on mine. “I wish I could, but I’m on duty. I just wanted to drop this off and then I need to get back on the road. I’m on patrol today. Chief’s orders.”
“Well, this was very sweet of you.”
“I guess I just needed an excuse to see you,” he says before pressing his lips gently to mine.
My eyes close and I savor this feeling—the feeling of being cherished, appreciated—loved.
God, does Rhonan love me?
