Keith glares at Austin but is too scared of him to dare to say anything as he walks out.
I watch him get in his car and peel out as he leaves, and finally I feel like I’m really and truly free of him and all of the helplessness he made me feel.
Austin
It’s never been so hard not to beat another man to a bloody pulp before. The whole time Keith was in my shop I wanted to kick his ass, but I know that Laney needed to be the one to deal with him.
“Are you okay?” I ask, trying to be sensitive to the way she may be feeling when all I want to do is sweep her up in my arms and tell her what a badass she is.
“I’m fine. I’m good, really,” she says as she turns to face me. “But I’ve got to finish what I started. I ended things with Keith because he wasn’t the right man for me and because he wasn’t going to give me what I want, what I need.”
I nod, smiling at her, proud of her. “You did great.”
She starts to fidget, looking everywhere but in my eyes. My stomach rolls when she says, “Thank you, but now I have to end things with you.”
I put my hand out and lean on the counter to steady myself. No combination of words have ever had so much power as those, just like a KO punch as far as I’m concerned.
“Why?” I finally manage to ask. “I’m not like Keith. I know you, I know who you are, and I’ve never tried to change you.”
She nods her head in agreement, but there’s still a stubborn tilt to her chin. “That’s true, but this has to end. It’s finished. We’re just friends now and that’s it.”
I shake my head trying to find words when I’m so mind blown as she moves past me and gets her purse. She goes out the door, and I follow her and stop her, kicking her car door shut. “No. I have a say in this too, Laney. Tell me why.”
She swipes at her eyes, wiping away tears and proving to me that she doesn’t want to break up either. “Because we have to. We don’t want the same things. You don’t want what I want, and I know that if one day I walk in on you and find you with some other woman, I won’t walk away. It’ll kill me.”
Since I’m blocking her way to her car, she retreats and goes back into the shop to get away from me, but clearly she’s not thinking it through.
I follow her back inside, and as soon as we’re by the front desk I pick her up, carry her into my office, and put her on my lap in the chair at my desk. “I’m not a hormone driven, stupid teenager anymore, Laney. I am a man who knows who and what he wants.”
She tries to struggle. “What are you doing?”
I hold on to her, knowing that no matter how much she wants to leave, I can’t let her go. I won’t. “If you’re going to break up with me, you’re going to do it from my lap. Face to face. No running. Just the truth.”
Her sexy lower lip quivers as she tells me, “It’s time, Austin. We have to move on.”
God, even as she says it, I can tell her heart is breaking in two. Why is she doing this? I put my hands on each side of her face and hold her, looking into her eyes and telling her as calmly as I can, “I can’t. There is no moving on. You’re the one for me, Laney. You always have been. I know that. There will not be another woman for me, ever. There won’t be because I can’t feel this way about another person on this planet. I love you, Laney. I love you endlessly.”
She closes her eyes, shaking as tears streak down her face. I’m holding my breath feeling like I’m going to die.
She looks so unsure, but my gaze doesn’t waver. If she doesn’t believe me now, I’ll never give up trying to convince her. Her hands go to my chest and when they do, I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding. She asks me softly, “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I didn’t want to scare you away. I didn’t think you were ready,” I say and kiss her, molding my lips to hers.
“I love you too,” she tries to tell me, but I already know. We sit there for the longest time, her in my arms, and I show her just how much I love her, not holding anything back.
Epilogue
Austin
Three Months Later
“Can I talk to you, sir?”
Jerry looks at me on the couch in surprise. “Sir? This must be serious. Let’s go outside. I’ve been waiting on this.”