Page 56 of Finding Happily Ever After

Natalie tipped her head, confused but needing to hear more.

“No one stood a chance,” he finished. “No one besides him. The two of you together…well, you don’t see that every day.”

“You don’t?” Natalie was acutely aware that she was probably sounding oddly every bit the inexperienced woman she was, but she no longer cared. There was only one thing she cared about, and he was walking away.

“No, Nat.” Jason’s voice was kind. “I’m no love guru, but I do know enough to know that you don’t see that kind of connection every day. And ifInoticed it, then I can’t even imagine what the two of…but, I guess it doesn’t matter, because my point is that any guy who would walk away from a connection like that…especially one withyou…” He shook his head. “He doesn’t deserve you.”

She let his words circle around and around in her head. Finally she said, “But what if I did the same thing?”

“You walked away?”

She remembered back to Sunday morning, when she’d been the one to run out of his house, wearing nothing more than her coat over his shirt and bare legs. What if she’d stayed? Would they have talked? Would they have been able to get past…dammit.

She would never know because she hadn’t stayed.

“I did.” Natalie shook her head, but jumped up from the table. “But I won’t do it again.” She grabbed her purse and her sweater. At the last minute, she turned to Jason. “I’m sorry. And thank you. I…”

“Go.” His smile was sad, but resigned.

There was nothing else she could say. She nodded and ran down the patio steps until she was on the sidewalk.

She couldn’t see him. He’d gone east. Away from the direction of his house, but…Natalie scanned the street and finally guessed. She hoped like hell her guess was right as she started jogging.

She’d been stupid and yes, she could blame her inexperience and her past. But she’d been doing that for too long, and she didn’t want to live in the past anymore. She didn’t want everything that had happened when she was in high school to dictate how she was living now.

And she sure as hell didn’t want to lose what could very well be the best thing that had ever walked into her life because of it.

No.

She pushed herself harder. She couldn’t lose him.

And then…Aiden.

“Aiden!” she yelled through her breathlessness. Natalie stopped running and dropped her hands to her knees, pulling in air and trying to catch her breath before looking up and calling out again, “Aiden!”

When she yelled the second time, he heard her and turned.

“Aiden, I…” She could hardly get the words out as she gasped for breath. Clearly she needed to work on her cardio if she planned to chase men down the street.

But notmen.Just one. And she’d chase him as long as it took. She knew that now with a clarity that would have scared her if it wasn’t so damn exciting.

He walked toward her.

“Nat? What are…are you…”

She nodded as her breathing finally started to return to normal, although she was certain she’d feel the burn in her lungs for a while yet. “Aiden. I need to…why did you walk away?”

Natalie certainly hadn’t planned to ask him that. But to be fair, she hadn’t planned anything at all, and suddenly it became important to know. If what Jason had said was true, or even if there were a thread of truth to it, then why had he walked away from her?

“Truth?”

She nodded. “Always.”

The urge to reach out to him, to touch him was a physical pull that caused an aching in her entire body.

“When I saw you sitting there, I was…” He looked down for a moment. “I wanted more than anything to talk to you, to…but then…” He shook his head. “I want you to be happy, Natalie. More than anything else, I want you to be happy, and when I saw that you were with…” He sucked in a breath and shook his head again. “I can’t stand in the way of your happiness. You deserve to have a relationship that’s open and free and honest. And so do I. And if we can’t do that…if that can’t be with me, then—”

“Itcanbe with you.” She almost yelled the words. Panic filled her. He wasn’t saying what he was saying. He couldn’t be, because he was wrong. “Aiden.” Natalie tried desperately to control the panic building inside. “I can be happy and open and honest and all those things with you.” Tears filled her eyes and spilled unchecked down her cheeks as she shook her head. “And maybe I didn’t tell you one thing, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t happy. No. That’s wrong.” She swallowed hard. “Aiden, Iamhappy with you. Happier than I’ve ever been in my whole life.”

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