I stare at him in shock. “You wrote a movie aboutus?”
“Yeah,” he admits, gaze searching my face. “It started out as a way for me to continue the healing process. I still go to therapy once a month. But it turned into something much more.”
The revelation hits me hard. All this time, I thought I was just a footnote in his past, someone he’d left behind without a second thought. Instead, he’d been carrying our story inside him all along.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” I ask, my voice barely above a whisper.
“I’ve wanted to. But you haven’t given me the time of day. And I don’t blame you.”
He’s standing so close now, I can feel the heat radiating from his smooth skin. Our eyes lock, and the world instantly falls away.
“I’m so sorry, Sunshine…”
Big hands firmly cup my face, and my gaze drops to his mouth. “Ro…”
When his nickname falls from my lips, his eyes darken right before his mouth crashes down on mine. Hot. Claiming. Devouring.
My hands move on instinct, sliding up his chest to wrap around his neck as he pulls me flush against him. His taste is mind-altering. His tongue slips between my lips, and I groan into his mouth, my body instantly remembering what it’s like to feel his touch.
Backing me up against the counter, his hands are everywhere—tangling in my hair, caressing my face, sliding down to grip my hips.
Arching against him, I can feel how hard he is, how much he wants me. The knowledge makes me dizzy with need.
Years of longing and hurt and want pour into our kiss as it deepens. My heart feels like it might explode. This is everything I’ve been dreaming of and afraid of.
Then a voice in my head starts screaming.
This is moving too fast.
We haven’t resolved anything. Not really.
There’s nothing stopping him from leaving you again.
With every ounce of willpower I possess, I break away, pushing gently against his chest.
“Wait,” I gasp, trying to catch my breath. “I can’t… do this with you right now.”
Rowan’s eyes are dark and hooded, his breath coming in short pants. “Lizzy...”
“I need time,” I whisper, stepping back to put additional space between us. My lips are swollen and tingling, my body humming, but my mind is a battlefield of conflicting emotions. “This is... it’s too much, too fast.”
He scrubs a hand over his face, looking as wrecked as I feel. “I understand.”
“Do you?” I wrap my arms around myself, feeling exposed. “Because I’m not sure I do. You can’t just walk back into my life after all this time, tell me you wrote a movie about us, kiss me senseless, and expect everything to go back to the way it was before.”
“That’s not what I’m trying to do,” he says, voice gentle. “I just... I’ve missed you. So damn much.”
Those words pierce straight through to my soul. I’ve missed him too—every single day—but admitting that wouldbe like surrendering to something I’m not ready to give into yet.
“I need time to process all of this,” I say, taking another step back. “You’ve had years to come to terms with what you did. I’ve just been hit with all of it at once.”
He nods slowly, respecting the distance I’ve put between us. “Take all the time you need. I’m not going anywhere. Not this time. I promise.”
I can’t help the small, bitter laugh that escapes me. “Until you’re done filming. Then you’ll be gone again.”
“Actually, that’s not true,” he says with a serious look in his eyes. “I plan on splitting my time between here and L.A. If things go well with this movie and…”
The look on his face makes the hairs on my arms stand on end. I know that sheepish look.
