Page 47 of Blossoms of the Heart
Chapter 10
Tai
* * *
Jesus Christ.
I knew,knew, I shouldn’t have kissed her.
But there was no way that I could have helped myself.
I remembered where we left off eleven years ago. I remembered how I felt.
That pure feeling that surrounded my heart came back, as did the memory of her lips on mine.
When that happened that was it. I had to have her.
In that moment I felt like I had to have her. I was desperate for her.
I’d never wanted anybody more than I wanted Phoebe last night.
Fuck. She had me jacking off in the shower just to get her out of my damn head. I’d had about an hour’s sleep. My emergency hour. It was how I trained my body from back in my Marine days. One hour’s sleep to rejuvenate myself and give me the energy to get through the next day. It was bad practice and I didn’t just run on an hours sleep. Only in emergencies like last night.
If I hadn’t stopped feeling her tits up, which felt seriously amazing, I would have taken her right there on the beach.
What stopped me?
Candace.
Damn it. Why was I such an idiot? Yesterday at the café I should have set her straight and told her that I actually didn’t see a future for us and I wasn’t likely to change my mind.
Now I didn’t think I could just do that because in my head I hadn’t given it any thought and I felt I hadn’t been fair to her.
I didn’t want to make any decisions I’d regret later. All because I was bamboozled by Phoebe.
Phoebe the girl who plagued my mind for a majority of my life.
Literally the girl who got away.
She’d been a fantasy to me, one I couldn’t entertain and that made me want her more. No one had ever looked at me the way she did. It was a look I couldn’t describe, other than by saying it was magical. Her eyes would grow large and liquid, sparkling with the tenderness of adoration and passion.
But it was for me. Just for me.
That was how she looked at me years ago, and last night.
Maybe I really was an idiot to think that it was just for me, but that’s what I wanted to believe.
The magical look and her damn gorgeousness would be the death of me.
Fuck, how was I going to work with her and not touch her?
But, after last night I was pretty certain that touching her would remain a fantasy.
When I took her back to Akito’s, she handed me the helmet and rushed inside the house, completely pissed. No goodbye—she just left.
I couldn’t blame her. It was my fault.
I got into work early. Coffee gave me some additional energy, giving me the chance to finish up the reports. Once again, I sat my ass down in the archives room. Needed to be alone for a while.
