“Did you know he’d be there?”
“No, not at all. I found out when he brought me towels.”
“Dear God, Pres. You are not making sense.”
Presley took a deep breath and explained about her first day here.
“I was shocked to see him. I had no idea he ran this guest ranch. Anyway, I asked to go on the camping trip he was leading, and that was when he kissed me. Denise, I’ve never been kissed like that in my whole life. After we returned from the trip, we started seeing each other and…”
“You slept with him,” Denise said.
“Yes. I’m so in love with him.”
“Does he feel the same?”
“He hasn’t said, but I just came back from telling him I had to leave tomorrow and he didn’t ask me to stay. He just told me to go. He’s afraid to love anyone because he’s afraid to lose someone again.” She hiccupped a sob.
“We all take chances every day.”
“I know, and I told him he was losing me anyway but he just told me to go. I’d be willing to give up that job for him.”
“Wow. You must be in love if you’d do that. I know how much you talked about wanting that job.”
“That job doesn’t mean as much to me as Jaxon does. But he didn’t ask me. He told me from the beginning that it could only be a sexual relationship and like an idiot, I agreed. But I fell in love.”
“Oh, hon, I’m so sorry. Maybe you need to figure out how to convince him you’d stay.”
“I’m not sure he’d want me.”
“I’m so sorry, honey. Jaxon sounds like a stubborn man.”
“He is, but I love him so much. I don’t want to leave him but if I stay, I think he’d just ignore me.”
“When are you supposed to leave?”
“Tomorrow. I’ll leave here early.”
“Why are you coming back early?”
“Bev called and said they need a decision because other nurses were interested in the position, and they need to know what I want to do. I told Jaxon about it, but he didn’t seem to care.”
“Come back, Pres. Let him miss you for a while. Maybe he’ll come after you.”
“I told him he knew where I was if he changed his mind, and he said he wouldn’t.”
“Damn, he is hardheaded. But listen, just come back and see what happens. If you stay there, he’s not going to happy about it. He needs to get over his fears and missing you might do that. Maybe then, he’ll be able to love again.”
“I need to pack, but I needed to talk to you.”
“I’m always here for you. You know that. I’ll see you when you get back. Chin up, boobs out.”
Presley laughed. “I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
“You’ll never find out. Talk soon. Love you.”
“Love you too.” Presley hung up. Denise was right, there was no reason to keep staying here when Jaxon wouldn’t be happy about it. She’d leave, make her decision, and move on with her life. The thought of moving on withher life without Jaxon had her heart aching. She called Josie to let her know she was checking out.
“We’ll be sorry to see you go,” Josie said. “Jaxon did call me about you leaving and we’ll be refunding the last week of your stay to you.”