Page 56 of Love on the Run

Anna sank another inch into the water. “I wish I’d known,” she whispered.

Beau lifted his head. “What do you really love? Not who. What.”

Thank goodness he was steering the questions back to safe territory. “I love my job. Well, parts of it. I love helping people, but I don’t like bending the rules to fit an agenda for my client.”

Yes, she’d initially become an attorney because it was all she’d ever known growing up with two of them. They were both cunning and fierce, and apart of her had hoped she could somehow learn how to be assertive and confident like them.

Too bad it hadn’t happened for her. She wasn’t cutthroat, and she didn’t manipulate evidence or people to win.

“As far as the fashion vlog goes, I love building people up and giving them confidence. I want people to see themselves the way God sees them—beautiful and perfect as He intended.”

Beau didn’t respond. He just waited, which only gave her more time with her thoughts.

“What do you think I’m doing wrong?” she asked. “The truth. I can handle it.”

He didn’t ask for clarification, but he took his time staring into the night before he turned to her.

“Nothing. Wait, there’s something. You’re chasing after love, but real love won’t make you chase it.”

A pricking behind her eyes had her inhaling a deep breath through her nose. He was right. He was so right that it scared her, and there wasn’t anything she could do to change it.

No one had truly loved her yet. That was obvious. No matter what she did or how hard she worked to make someone happy, she may never find someone who would love her back.

Why was she so worried about something she couldn’t control?

Because she wanted it. She wanted a pure, reallove more than anything, but that life might not be God’s plan for her. Could she accept it if that was the case?

“What are you afraid of?” Beau asked.

The answer was as clear as the night sky shining with hundreds of stars around them. “Not finding love,” she whispered. Desperate to move on, she looked up and asked, “What are you afraid of?”

Beau pierced her with an intense stare as he lowered his arms and crossed them over his chest.

Of course he wasn’t going to tell her what he was afraid of. Did Beau Lawrence even have fears? If he did, he didn’t show it.

“What are you afraid of?” she repeated, determined to push him to answer this one because she’d already told him hers.

“You.”

Anna sucked in a breath, but the air was too thick. Sweat dripped down the back of her neck and over her temples.

Her? But, why?

The alarm on Beau’s phone pierced the air, jerking her out of the present.

Beau stood in a rush and turned off the alarm. “Time to get out.”

“Beau.”

“Time’s up.” He grabbed a towel and stepped out of the hot tub. “I’ll get changed, then you can have the bathroom.”

Who cared about the bathroom or changing clothes or anything when she had more questions?

But Beau was gone, dripping water behind him as he stepped into the room. Even if he’d stayed, he wouldn’t have given her anything else.

Now, she wanted to amend her answer to his last question. She wasn’t afraid of dying before she found love. She was afraid she’d already found it and he wouldn’t love her back.

Chapter 16

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