Page 48 of A Lady's Heart
She was quiet for a long time before she finally spoke. “It’s probably selfish and wrong, but I’ve given up so much of my life. I don’t want to be all sacrificial again. I want to go explore the world, sleep in in the morning and read late. I want to get a dog—”
“Seriously? Adog?”
Her lips twitched. “Just making sure you’re still listening.”
He twisted her to face him fully. “I’m listening with everything in me. I don’t think there’s anything wrong in what you want.”
“Is it selfish?”
“What makes it selfish? Just because you were born into a certain family that doesn’t mean it’s got to be you.”
“If I don’t…
“Then someone else will. Danielle’s spent the last eight years on the island. Don’t you think she might know a little better what’s right for your people?
“That’s blunt.”
“Not that you wouldn’t do an amazing job if you decided you wanted to, but, Mandy, that’s why I asked the question. What doyouwant to do? And if it’s sleeping late and reading books or traveling all over, you should do it.”
“It’s not that easy.”
“It never is. But no matter what, you can take the time you need. You don’t have to decide this moment.”
Although he really wanted her to. He knew exactly what he wanted her to pick, but it was up to her. All he knew for certain was whichever road she took, he’d be right there beside her the entire time, no matter what.
From the moment she’d spotted her sister, all of the decisions she’d been putting off seemed to rise up like a tsunami wave, pulling her in a million directions.
Justin thought it was so simple. But Mandy had been gone long enough to barely know what Kodiak Island was like since she’d left.
She’d married Todd all those years earlier because it was how bear shifters did things. Finding out his true colours had meant she’d chosen to sacrifice her happiness to keep her family safe. She’d gone away, making sure that the mean bastard never knew what kind of money or power she could have accessed. Her silence had a huge cost, but it had been worth it.
Could she turn around after all that and deliberately walk back into a world where she wasn’t in charge of her own life?
Then Justin was kissing her, lips brushing hers in a way that set her heart pounding and sucked the air from her lungs. Distracted her from the concerns swirling in her brain.
She let him tug her to the nearby lookout bench. “What was that for?” she asked.
“Because you looked as if you needed it. You looked as if you needed a reminder that I’m here, and that I promised to help. Offer still stands.”
She stared back at the great big grizzly bear, with his massive arms, and huge torso, and his enormous heart that she swore she saw reflected in his mezmorizing eyes.
The daydreams she’d had about running around the world, and the dreams of exploring fabulous places, mixed with the dreams that she had about lying in bed on lazy mornings—they all were nothing until she imagined him there with her.
And that’s when it hit her. She knew what she wanted, deep in her heart, and ultimately it wasn’t a place, or a thing, or even a job description.
She looked into his big grey eyes. “Whatever I decide to do, what’reyougoing to do?”
A soft laugh escaped him, and he shook his head slowly. “You’re the one who’s not listening. Wherever you go, and whatever you do, I’m going with you.”
Mandy’s heart fluttered. Hope rising. “And this is because?”
He smiled. “Because I’m a bear of many talents and few vices. The only real obsession I’ve got…is you.”
He still wasn’t saying it, and she wasn’t sure she was brave enough to say it first.
Then, suddenly, she was.
“Justin, can I tell you something?”
