Page 20 of Honey Bun
She brightened. “I’m texting them now.”
Damn. I was drawn to him even more. I wanted to hug him, but I held back. “Does your mother still have that library?”
Aurora’s gaze narrowed. “Library?”
Roxanne waved for us to follow her. “Come, Aurora.” We climbed the corner stairs to another level and then headed into a huge room. My daughter held her breath. Roxanne flipped on the lights. Books were everywhere, and there were ladders. “Feel free to read anything you want in here.”
Aurora gazed at the books stacked near the vaulted ceilings. “I’m never leaving here.”
“We have more in our New York home.” Roxanne’s phone rang, and she said, “Arman will have to show your mom her room. It’s directly across from yours.”
Aurora reached for a book. “I’ll see you later, Mom.”
Roxanne walked off to take her call. Arman and I backed out of the room and climbed down the stairs. On the bottom step, I got goose bumps. We were alone. I lowered my voice. “You’re good with kids, Arman.”
He directed me downstairs to a room with a beach view. “One day, I want my own.”
My heart thumped faster. He would be a wonderful dad and husband. “That’s great.”
The next oldest brother, Cyrus, passed us without a word as he rushed out the door. He’d always been a reader, like my daughter. As the engine roared outside, I asked, “What’s going on with Cyrus?”
Arman and I headed through a door and into the galley kitchen, which a chef would have loved. “He entered a dance competition.”
“Seriously?” I had a hard time imagining his serious brother dancing.
Arman held the door open. “He’s more stressed about that than about heart surgery.”
I smelled the salty air as we glanced down the bluff that the house was built on. We walked toward the edge, where we stared at the ocean and the opening to the cave we’d been in earlier. I wanted to hold his hand, but I resisted. “Why?”
We climbed to the rocks where we could stare straight down a cliff at the ocean. I found a spot to enjoy the view. I wanted to hear more about his family.
“I don’t know,” he said. “He took the classes because he wanted a kind of stress relief, and now he’s practicing on vacation.”
I glanced at the ocean, which seemed endless. “Hobbies are nice. I wish I’d followed through on a few of my hobbies.”
He tossed a small rock into the ocean far below us. “There’s still time. What’s the first thing you want in your life?”
For the past few years, I’d learned that I could depend on myself and get by with very little. If I had someone like Arman in my life and heart forever, I would never get used to the stability. I’d lose who I was and disappear like a ship in the night.
And I had no answer for his question. I wasn’t sure if I had a dream, so I only said, “To get started on work.”
His nose wrinkled. “Part of me wishes I hadn’t offered that to you.”
My heart froze, and I sucked on my bottom lip. I would have nothing if he took his offer away. “Oh no. Why?”
He placed his hand on mine. “Because I’d like to date you.”
He was mine, and I was his. The spark between us was there, and this was more than I’d felt in years. I took my hand back and hugged my waist. “I’m not ready for that. Being friends is better.”
He stared out at the ocean. “Fair enough. I’d never pressure you, and you’ll be a great a party planner for me.”
My shoulders slumped. I’d disappointed him. His entire family had raised him well, and I needed to prove my worth. I moved closer to him. “I’m on it.”
“I know you are.”
The smile on his face made my body ache. I was sure that if we kissed, he would make me feel whole. He’d be the opposite of the cold nothing I’d been living in for a decade. If I hadn’t thought he deserved better, I’d have followed through on my instinct to find out. But the truth was, if he pressed, I would give him everything I had.
Madeleine
