Page 59 of A Heart to Find
On this day, at this diner table across from this man, she knew she was a goner.
But no matter what arguments her feeble mind tried to raise, there was nothing she could do. Her heart had seized the weapons and demanded a truce, and she was powerless to stop it.
Feeling like the heart-eyed emoticon he sent in that first text to her days ago, she watched him describe the process of making gnocchi as he had learned it in a class in Naples.
“I want to go with you.”
And without the slightest hesitation, she outed herself as a goner.
His teasing smile faded. An earnest look took its place.
Without saying a word, he reached to the center of the table where her hand had—without her permission, mind you—waited for his touch.
Warmth spread through her fingers as his tentatively touched hers. Lightly. Gently. No pressure, he simply waited for consent. Her index finger lifted and touched his, and the rest of his fingers followed suit. Wrapped in the comfort of his well-traveled, rough fingers, she’d never felt more protected. More cherished. More understood.
Probably her own fantasy and the consequence of being under the influence of an island designed to create romance, but he won her over with barely any effort on his part.
Though she tried to convince herself of that, she knew she lied to herself. He had been nothing but wonderful to her, and it was time for her to let go of old grudges and accept the fact that he was the one for her. Past, present, and, she hoped with every inch of her suddenly overeager self, future.
It was no wonder that none of her other relationships had worked. None of them were Jared.
She could forgive his young self. She could let go of the feelings of abandonment—they had been based on misperceptions and misunderstandings. They could work their way through any communication issues that came their way.
He wanted her as badly as she wanted him, and that was something she had never experienced in any relationship since she first learned to love him.
“Keira…”
“Shhh. Let’s just let this be. I don’t want to talk about it. I don’t want to rationalize it. I just want this moment. Please.”
His fingers wove fully between hers, squeezing lightly. He lifted her hand into his and brought his other hand over to fully wrap her in his touch.
One side of his face tilted upward with the half smile she’d always loved. The familiar crevice reappeared in his cheek, and if she didn’t get the opportunity to run her finger over it by the end of the day, she’d be forever disappointed. His eyes glistened with emotion, but she could barely see through her own rose-colored heart-eyes.
The rest of the time in the diner was a fog. At some point, the waitress came over and slipped them the check. They must have paid it, but all she could see was Jared. Her Jared. The man she pined for since she was a young teenager. The man who taught her what it meant to know love. The man who made all other men impossible to fall fully in love with.
At some point he led her out of the diner and onto a sunshiney Main Street, where they joined the other masses of couples holding hands while walking romantically into the sunset.
Okay, the sun wasn’t yet setting, but that didn’t change her fantasy one bit.
His hand clutched hers like it was a lifeline, and even though her nose and ears felt cold, the hand he held was as steamy hot as the emotions coursing through her blood.
She didn’t know what had changed. Was it maple syrup intoxication? Had Cupid drugged her hot cocoa? Or had the lock on the ancient gate around her heart burst free to allow the present to rule in all matters of the heart?
She smiled up at him as he told her some goofy story about something. His words didn’t register. The only thing that registered was the floaty feeling he inspired and the realization that his touch was the only thing anchoring her to the ground.
She hadn’t imagined at the beginning of the day that she’d feel so madly, insanely, gushingly infatuated, but here she was.
And she vowed not to let anything get in the way of this feeling.
Megan linked her arm with Keira’s as they strolled out of the afternoon relationship information session and ventured out in search of caffeine.
“Let’s try that place that does the English tea. I’ve always wanted to do something fancy like that.”
Keira couldn’t deny Megan’s wish, and to be honest, it sounded fun to her, too.
As they poured tea from dainty, floral teapots, Megan and Keira recounted some of the wiser points made in the informational session.
Megan sipped her tea and then looked up at Keira. “I do think it’s cool that they try to teach us how to be better partners. Heaven knows I haven’t been able to figure it out on my own.”
