Page 36 of Love Around the Corner

That had to be Captain Wentworth, fromPersuasion. Alfie’s favorite Austen hero. He found the book right there, in the display withEmma. Picking it up, he wondered if it was the same copy Leo had carried that night at the Whiskey Jack. Had he hidden it in his bag when he sat down at Alfie’s table? What would have happened if he’d brought it out, placed it next to Alfie’s copy and told him the truth? He considered the idea with a cooler head than when Leo had asked him the same question, and grudgingly admitted that he would have felt upset, shocked, and pretty disappointed. He might even have walked away. It was an unsettling admission.

Shaking off the thought, he turned back to the book and found the lines Leo had marked. And as he read, his fool heart leaped in his chest.

You pierce my soul. I am half agony, half hope. Tell me not that I am too late, that such precious feelings are gone forever.

Wentworth’s ardent love letter, the most romantic moment in all of Austen’s novels, and Leo was directing that heartfelt plea to Alfie. Directing all of this to him, all these snatches of books they’d read together, discussed together, loved and hated together. He was telling the story of their love affair through the books they’d shared, and the impact was…dizzying.

Thoughtfully, he pulled out the next clue. Only it wasn’t a clue, it was a letter in Leo’s now familiar spiky script. Alfie read it with a heart beating high in his chest, hardly knowing what he wanted it to say but no more able to stop reading than to stop breathing.

Alfie

I’ve been an utter fool. That night at the Whiskey Jack I was a judgmental prick. Later, a gutless coward. But understand this: yours is the most exciting, amusing, perceptive mind I’ve ever known. I’ve loved talking to you, I’ve loved listening to you. I respect you utterly.

I offer a thousand apologies for fucking up, but I don’t dare ask for your forgiveness. That’s for you to offer, if you wish, and I fear I don’t deserve it.

The Callaghan’s Christmas party is tonight at Hanworth Hall. I’ll be waiting outside at seven. If what we’ve shared has meant half as much to you as it has to me (which is to say the whole world), then meet me there and, perhaps, we can begin a new chapter together. If not, I’ll understand and wish you only happiness.

Yours, always.

Leo (LLB-LeoLovesBooks)

A strange sound filled the room and it took Alfie a moment to realize it was his own rasping breaths. Leo’s note trembled in his hand while all around him books lay open, their words rising up to fill the air—an apology, a declaration, a love letter in literary quotes.

It was touching. It was romantic.

But was it enough?

Chapter Eleven

From the huge house behind him, bright light spilled over the lying snow, golden and warm.

Leo paid it no attention, his gaze fixed on the dark gravel driveway and the starry sky above. The night was clear and cold, the kind of cold that dug into your bones and took up residence. His toes had gone numb a good twenty minutes ago, his gloved fingers, tucked deep in his pockets, weren’t far behind. But Leo wasn’t leaving.

It was only seven fifteen, after all. There was still time for Alfie to show.

On reflection, he was afraid his demonstration of how much he respected Alfie’s literary mind had been juvenile. What if Alfie hadn’t gone to the shop? What if he’d walked out when he realized Leo wasn’t there? What if he hadn’t bothered playing Leo’s stupid game?

Argh.

A bubble of happy noise burst from the house behind him, drifting out with a warmth Leo could hear but couldn’t share. He’d go home, he decided, if Alfie didn’t show. He couldn’t bear to return to the party alone. But he wouldn’t leave yet; he’d wait a little longer. Alfie had waited over half an hour in the Whiskey Jack, maybe even longer—he had no idea how long he’d stayed after Leo had left him there alone.

He clamped his jaw against a churn of guilt. Nothing to be done about that now, but it felt like penance to be standing there in the frosty night, breath held as he waited for his impossible hope to be answered. And Leo relished it—he wanted to pay for his mistakes.

Trying to keep warm, he paced across the driveway, snow crunching and creaking under his boots. Grayson had tried to apologize after Leo had caught himin flagrante delicto, but Leo hadn’t given him the time of day. At no point had he even considered forgiveness. Perhaps Alfie felt the same; perhaps there was nothing Leo could say to change his mind. Leo’s offence hadn’t been quite the same as Grayson’s, but it had been a betrayal nonetheless.

Behind him, the front door opened. “Leo?” Dee stuck her head out. “What are you doing out here all alone?”

He stopped, staring at her. Briefly, he considered lying. But lies had gotten him into this mess in the first place. “I’m waiting for Alfie.”

Dee lifted an eyebrow from where she hovered in the doorway, keeping in the warm. “You guys made up?”

“I don’t know.” He offered a shaky smile. “That’s what I’m waiting to find out.”

She glanced around the empty driveway, a mortifying sympathy on her face. “Well, don’t stay out here too long, okay? It’s freezing tonight.”

He nodded. “I’m alright.”

After a hesitation, as if she were considering saying more, Dee retreated into the house, pulling the door closed behind her.

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