Page 49 of Fern's Date with Destiny
“Hey.”His voice cracked.
She stepped back to let him in.“No one’s home.They’re at the bookstore.”
He nodded.“Can we talk?”
“Yeah.”
He tried to start right then and there, but she didn’t let him.She sat on the couch and patted the spot beside her.
When he sat, his thigh trembled against hers.
He didn’t start with excuses.He didn’t even try to soften it.
“It’s Parkinson’s.”
She nodded once, steady.“Okay.”
“It’s progressive.”His jaw clenched.“There’s no cure.The meds help, but someday…”
She laced her fingers through his.“Someday isn’t today.”
He looked down at their joined hands.“You deserve someone who can promise you stability.Someone who won’t wake up one day needing help out of bed.”
Her chest ached.But she kept her voice calm.“You deserve someone who won’t run when things get hard.”
He blew out a shaky breath.“Maybe I should go in the bachelor auction.Make a clean break.Let you off the hook.”
Her laugh startled both of them.“Go for it if it makes you feel better.”She lifted her chin.“It’s not going to change anything between us in the long run.”
His eyes snapped to hers, searching.“You mean that?”
“I do.”She brushed her thumb over the back of his hand.“I can’t promise it won’t be hard sometimes.But I can promise I won’t leave.”
He looked as if he might break right there.She couldn’t stand it.
“Come here.”
She tugged him forward until he was between her knees.She lifted his chin, forcing him to meet her gaze.
“I choose you,” she whispered.“I’ll keep choosing you.”
When she kissed him, it wasn’t soft.It wasn’t pity.It was heat and want and the fierce certainty that she would stand beside him no matter what came next.
His hands fisted on her waist as if he couldn’t bear to let her go.
She pushed him to vertical then guided him up the stairs.Deliberate, intentional.A choice they were both making to be together.
Fern finally closed the door to her bedroom then eased him back onto the mattress, kissing him because she could, because she wanted to.
“You don’t have to prove anything,” she murmured as she unbuttoned his shirt.“You don’t have to be anything but mine.”
“Fern—”
“Shh.”She smiled, wicked and sure.“I’m going to make you forget everything else.”
So she did.
When he finally came apart under her hands, she held him close, kissing the curve of his shoulder.
