Page 58 of Veiled Fantasies

A mirage. A beautiful mirage. She wanted so much for it to be real. To drink in his presence and never let go.

The mirage leaned in and whispered into her ear. “Love you.”

Jill squeezed her eyes firmly shut, feeling a hand curl around her fingers. She took a deep breath and opened her eyes again, back to the reflection. Erik. He folded the armrest up and slid an arm across her shoulders, touching his head to hers.

She’d been braced for tears of desperation, but the ones that came were pure joy. When words came, they were like her emotions, all jumbled up. The plane was in the air before she could manage a full sentence.

“What about Stockholm?” she finally whispered.

He shrugged. Then his eyes clouded. “Why did you leave?”

She swallowed, hard. “I had to.”

“You had to.”

God, it sounded ridiculous to her, too.

“Why?” he whispered.

All those tears must have dried her out because suddenly, her tongue could barely move. She moved her lips a few times before getting it out. “Because I love you.”

It seemed to her he caught a breath on that. “So why did you leave?”

A surge of stubborn pride welled up in her. “Erik, I’m not Anna.” She could never rest with that apparition hanging over them. She struggled to meet his eyes, then melted at what she saw. Pain. Self-directed anger. And alongside them, something completely new.

Hope.

He locked his chocolate eyes on hers. “I know.” A careful breath. “You’re a lot more.” He stroked her arm softly. “Please. Please give me a chance.”

With a silentpoof, the ghost dissipated and was forever laid to rest.

His touch jumped from nerve to nerve. Her whole body was gulping in the sensation of him, close to her. For real. Jill pulled his hand to her stomach and locked it there, tight, trying to swallow the gargantuan lump in her throat.It should be me begging you for a chance.

“What about Stockholm? What about work?” she managed.

“Oh.” Erik’s voice went very low. “I called my boss.”

Jill watched his lips tighten just enough to hint at what that call could have cost him. He’d done that…for her?

He covered up with a nonchalant shrug, like it had been nothing. “I told him the chance of a lifetime just opened up in London and I had to follow it.”

Jill’s eyes went so wide, it felt like they might split her head. “What did he say?” she managed. Any second now, she would melt completely away. With any luck, not into a pathetic puddle, but a moat that would comfort and protect him. Always.

Erik broke into a broad smile and laughed out loud. A medicinal sound. “He said, whatever they’re paying, he’d top it!” Erik’s eyes sparked bright then grew more serious. “So I told him, not that kind of chance.”

She just stared. He really said that?

Erik chuckled. “And then he said, ‘A woman, eh?’ ”

And? And?

His voice grew soft, a little emotion slipping past the tough exterior. “Not just a woman.” He paused to squeeze her tight. “Someone who brings me to life. Who reminds me of all the good in the world,” he whispered. “Someone I love.”

Jill felt the dry lump squeeze down the length of her throat and land in her stomach with a thump, but her head felt light. Dizzy, almost.

“And then he said we’ve gotten pretty good at conference calls, so I could work out of London this week.”

Her heart just about dropped out of her chest.

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