He nodded, strangely loving the feel of her delicate fingers over his lips.
“Since kindergarten?”
Another nod.
She frowned. “When… When did your crush go away?”
He stared at her. Life could have been so much easier had his feelings ever waned, but every time he saw her, she was more beautiful than the last, more kind, and something inside of him demanded she was the only one for him. He lowered his gaze, and her hand fell away.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
His words, like so many other times, stuck in his throat. Thousands of confessions floated through his head. He could flatter her for days, possibly years, if his voice just once wouldn’t betray him. He swallowed around the secrets clogging his throat and rasped, “It’s difficult…”
Her gaze searched his. “Do you still have feelings for me?”
He was terrified by how much this woman could make him feel. “You’re not easy to forget.”
She seemed startled by his confession, almost in awe that he could feel such a way. Surely she had to realize how special she was. Even if she only knew half her value, she had ordinary women beat by miles.
Her face tipped, her gaze falling to her lap as a delicate blush crested her cheeks. Was that a smile? He gently tipped up her chin. “I wanted to tell you.”
“Tell me now,” she whispered.
He fought back a shiver. “I think about you…” Every day. “Nothing compares.” There weren’t words to accurately sum up the depth and breadth of his feelings. “I’d do anything for your happiness—”
His words cut off as her lips sealed to his and something buoyant and painful exploded in his chest. She pulled back, blinking up at him, waiting for him to say something, but he was speechless.
“You should have told me,” she whispered, but any sign of hope was quickly doused by the sight of regret in her eyes. “It could have changed everything.”
“It still can.” He didn’t want to think like that. He didn’t want to live in the possibilities of the past. This was monumental. She finally knew. Now, they could talk about it and… His mind was going a mile a minute. “You kissed me.”
Soft pink shaded her cheeks. “Sorry.”
“Don’t apologize.” It had been an innocent kiss, just a peck really, but at the same time, it was the most important kiss of his life. “Do it again.”
She laughed, the sound bashful and unsure. “Really?”
He nodded. Words were literally beyond his IQ at the moment.
Slowly, she closed the distance. Her eyes followed his, searching for reassurance. Her mouth curled with the threat of a nervous laugh. Then the warm press of her lips met his and their eyes closed as a thousand shock waves fizzed and danced between them.
His hand lifted, sliding beneath the curtain of her hair and tracing the delicate line of her jaw to pull her closer as he tilted his head. Her mouth was warm and sweet. He coaxed her lips apart with gentle dips of his tongue, which she shyly welcomed with her own. Then it happened, that moment when two people figure out the perfect rhythm and their body language begins to sing.
She rose onto her knees and pressed deeper into the kiss. His hands explored her arms and shoulders, wanting to touch as much of her as humanly possible. Her kisses tasted amazing, and he was finding it difficult not to lose himself in the sweet sensuality of it all.
“Patrick…”
His name was a potion she whispered, a spell she cast. “Julie…”
“We’re kissing.” She giggled against his lips, the sound full of playful awe.
“I know. I don’t ever want to wake up from this dream.”
“You’re not dreaming.”
“Sure I am.” He trailed his lips down her throat, breathing in and tasting the sensitive skin over her rapidly thrumming pulse. “I’ve had this dream a million times before. I always wake up.” He nibbled her ear, and she pinched him. “Ow!”
“See, not dreaming.”
He drew back and looked into her eyes. She smiled, lips swollen and cheeks flushed. “Are we really doing this?”
She bit her lower lip, her shy glance momentarily skating away. “I was enjoying it.”
Fear held him back. “Are you really through with him?” He hated dousing the light in her eyes, but he needed to know. He wasn’t a fan of affairs, but more so, he couldn’t have her, only to lose her in the end. He wasn’t that strong of a man. “Can you truly say it’s over?”
“Can you give me a reason to stay?”
Not what he wanted to hear. He could give her a million reasons, but he needed her to make this decision on her own.
“If you’re truly finished with him, Julie, I’ll spend every day convincing you this is where you belong. But you need to make the choice on your own. It’s not about me. It’s about you and what you want.”