Page 129 of My Silver Lining

“Well, here’s the thing, Lulu. I told you my bracelet broke during pickleball, and I had it fixed. But when I got it returned to me, I had a hard time getting it clasped with my damn wristbeing out of commission. So, I was trying everything to clasp it, and it kept falling on my desk.”

“Did you come here to tell me to change the way I make the clasp?” I said, my voice teasing.

He pointed at it on his wrist, showing me his name that I engraved on the rare stone. And then he slowly turned it over and looked up at me.

I love you.

I engraved it on there the day before I left. I wondered if he’d ever notice it, or if he did, whether he’d acknowledge it.

“I came to ask you if you wrote this,” he said, arching a brow in question.

“You flew to Paris to ask if I engraved that on the back?” I chuckled. “Do you think it just came with the stone?”

“I flew to Paris because I was too much of a pussy to tell you that I loved you before you left. So I was hoping you weren’t going to tell me that all the bracelets had this sentiment on them and that you feel the same way that I do.” He smirked, and I smiled up at him because I was the happiest I’d been since I arrived here.

Because everything was better with Rafe Chadwick by my side.

“I wrote it because I love you.” I shrugged.

He put a hand on each side of my face. “I’m fucking miserable without you.”

“Really?” I shouted as our server set down another glass of wine.

“Well, you don’t have to be so excited about it,” he chuckled.

“I’m miserable, too,” I said, swiping at the tears that continued to fall. “I mean, I love it here. The MSL launch was more successful than anyone had expected. But I can’t enjoy it because I miss you.”

I said it. I put myself out there. My heart was his to break.

“I’m so proud of you, Wildcat. You’re exactly where you need to be.” His thumb stroked along my jaw. “But I miss the hell out of you, too.”

“Maybe we can make the long-distance thing work. Maybe I’ll only be here for six months,” I said, desperate to find a solution. “We could FaceTime every day.”

“You shouldn’t rush home in six months if things are going well.”

“So, we just talk on the phone for the next year and try to visit every few months?” I asked, shaking my head because we both knew that that would never work.

“Here’s the thing. I want to see you chase your dreams, and I can chase mine at the same time.”

“I don’t see how it works.” I sniffed.

“Well, I’m currently self-employed, so I can work from anywhere, I mean, if you know of any good rentals in the neighborhood. This seems like a nice place to settle down for a few months or a year.” He turned and took a sip of his wine as if he hadn’t just dropped a bomb.

“Rafael.” My voice was shaking.

“Yes?”

“What are you saying?”

“I’m saying that I can crunch numbers from anywhere. I was thinking of renting out my house and spending some time in Paris. It’s the most romantic city in the world, right?”

“You’re moving here?” I whispered, my heart racing.

“If this is where you’re going to be, this is where I want to be.”

“You would move here for me?”

“Lulu,” he said, wrapping a hand around the back of my head and pulling me close. “I would move to the fucking moon to be with you.”

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