Page 47 of Hidden Gem
His head touched her shoulder, and Marnie pulled him against her. “It’s okay,” she said. “I love being with you. It makes me feel alive, like I’m someone else. I shouldn’t worry about this not being real. Nothing lasts forever.”
His shoulders jerked as cries shook his body. Marnie brushed her thumb across his cheek, gathering tears suspended on his stubble, hardly believing a well-known politician was soaking her chest with real tears. She’d never seen a man cry, not up close. Marnie brought her thumb to her lips and tasted the salty liquid. They were real, even if nothing else was.
Jason lifted his head, flashing her a sad grin. “I’m sorry. This isn’t what I had in mind for our romantic getaway.”
“Don’t apologise. I started it. I find it hard to enjoy the present and not worry about the future.”
“But what if it’s great? Our future, I mean.”
Marnie smiled, a lump in her throat. He wouldn’t get it. She was about to respond when Jason’s finger silenced her lips. “Don’t say it. Just give us more time, okay? Let me love you and see if you like it?”
Her heartbeat skyrocketed at his words. He couldn’t keep dropping bombs like that. “Man, you can really spin those words...”
“Occupational hazard,” he smiled, tears still in his eyes.
Marnie tried to draw a breath. She’d never met anyone like him. The man was like a walking contradiction. How could anyone be so charming, persistent and fragile, all at the same time?
Jason opened the door to get back in the driver’s seat. “Anyway, before we get out of town, I want to make one stop.”
Chapter 22
Jason parked a fewpaces away from his cottage, hoping the rental car helped him blend in. With any luck, journalists would have better things to do on a Saturday afternoon than stakeout his home.
“Okay, we’re here.” He peered over his shoulder at the backseat.
Marnie’s curls appeared from under the blanket, and she blinked as she took in the surroundings, her thumb mindlessly playing with her lower lip. At times, she seemed totally unaware of herself, like someone who’d never posed for camera or had to be on guard because other were watching. He found it fascinating.
“This is your street, right?”
“How do you know my street?” He couldn’t help teasing her and was rewarded with the sweetest blush.
“I may have walked past a few times, wondering if you were home.”
“See! And all the while, I was looking for you, trying to crack that pseudonym you gave me. It was all meant to be!”
She looked out the window, her eyes dreamy, yet sad. “Meant to be, huh?”
