Page 52 of Always a Chance
He sipped it with a sigh, and I couldn’t take my eyes from the scene. How did women like her happen? And why hadn’t I fought ten years ago?
She took a long drink as she reached me once more. “What?” she yelled over the rain.
“You.” I smiled against the rim of my cup. “Just you. You’re happy.”
“Of course I am. We’re out in the rain. I haven’t done this since I left.”
I couldn’t imagine Talia sitting inside a stuffy office watching the rain fall with a window between her and these moments. “Why not?”
She lifted one shoulder. “It’s… not exactly a New York thing. Plus…” She cut off her words by taking a sip and shifting her eyes away.
I tapped her chin so she’d turn and meet my eyes. “Plus what?”
“Playing in the rain… it was always a you and me thing.”
I couldn’t hear those words and not want to kiss her, but I couldn’t. It wasn’t what she wanted, and despite what Angelina or Aidan said, I had to be okay with that. Having her back in my life as a friend was better than not having her at all.
She protested when I took her cup from her and walked to set both hers and mine on a nearby picnic table. When I returned to her, I held out one hand. “May I have this dance?”
Her chest rose with a deep breath before she nodded, once again taking my hand. Renly’s tune slowed into something more melodic as I pulled her closer, settling my free hand on her back.
Fingers skated up my arm before landing on my shoulder.
Biting her lip, she looked up at me through long lashes, nerves flashing across her face. I never wanted Talia to be nervous with me.
I spun her out before bringing her in, and her chest collided against mine. She threw her head back in laughter, and I turned us together.
The warmth of her body seeped through her sopping clothes, and I let my hands roam her waist, reminding myself she was here with me for now. It didn’t matter what happened tomorrow or next week. That wasn’t how I lived my life.
This moment was important and then the next.
My cheek rested against hers, fitting against her like I wasn’t whole unless she was in my arms. “Do you feel it?” I whispered.
“Feel what?” Her breath warmed my neck.
“Everything is clean.”
She leaned away to look up at me. “You remembered?”
“Talia, I remember everything you say to me.”
Her grip on me tightened. “I’m not sure fresh starts exist anymore, Johnny. The past will always be there.”
A past part of her still blamed me for. “I’m so sorry, Tali. For what happened. For all of it.”
She gave me a weak smile. “I shouldn’t have blamed you. None of it was your fault.”
“I would take all the blame if it kept you from hurting. Until the accident, that was the best night of my life.”
Renly transitioned into another song, this one livelier. And still, we danced as if we had all the time in the world.
“Does Renly sleep here?” she asked, obviously needing a subject change.
“Oh, no.” I smiled at the old man. “He’s not homeless. His daughter will pick him up probably this afternoon. He just enjoys spending his days playing here in the park.”
“It makes him happy,” she breathed.
I couldn’t take my eyes from hers, from the colors swirling in their depths, the drops of rain hanging in her lashes. “And you? What makes Talia Hillson happy?”
