Page 128 of The Rose (The Godwicks 2)

“Forget about me,” Lia begged. “You said you would rather die than bend your knee to your parents, than give up your freedom and your life here to marry a woman you don’t know, like or love. And now you’re doing it.”

“I was being selfish and stupid when I said that,” he said. “I cared only about me and my feelings and my freedom. Then I took you to the island and the way you looked at Pan and the way you looked at me... I saw you there in that sacred grove in that white dress with tears running down your face, and I thought my heart would burst from love. I would have married you in that grove, built you a palace of gold or a cottage of river stone, and we would have lived there and loved there until the end of days.”

“Marry me? Because I got weepy when you put me inside my favorite book?”

“Because I love you, Lia,” he said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. “And I’m not afraid to tell you that here and now in the real world with you standing in front of me.”

“You love me?”

“Yes,” he said, then louder, “yes. I love you.”

She laughed. “Why? I’m surly.”

“Charmingly surly.”

“I’m bitter.”

“Tart.”

“I’m a kitten with a switchblade,” she said, weeping openly now.

“I like kittens. I’m not afraid of your switchblade.”

Lia slowly stood up. She picked up her bag and slung it over her shoulder. She was still shaky but steady enough to walk and see and drive home.

“I should go.”

August came to his feet, and when it seemed inevitable that he’d try to hold her one last time, she held up her hand to warn him away.

“You’re engaged,” she said. “For the sake of whoever she is, please don’t touch me. Enough girls have gotten their hearts broken this week. Let’s not throw another on the pile, all right?”

“I don’t even know who she is. She might not even be a girl. Could be a nymph. A satyr. A fawn.”

“A cloud?”

“Could be a cloud,” he said.

“Whoever it is, they’re still your fiancée. You should respect that.”

“Prissiest madam ever,” he said. “I’m sure my cloud and I will be very happy together.”

“You are?”

“No,” he said. She appreciated his honesty.

“I don’t think you’ll believe me but it’s true... I hope you’re very happy. You made me very happy, happier than I ever thought I could be again.”

“You do love me, don’t you, Lia?” he asked, his voice almost breaking on her name. “Even a little?”

She looked at him and shook her head, not to say no, but so he’d know what an idiot he was being asking her that.

“Of course,” she said. “Of course I love you, August. Of course I do.”

Lia started to leave again. She made it as far as the door where she turned around and looked back at him. One last look. One last smile.

“I’ll never see you again, will I?” she asked.

“No,” he said. “When I go back, it’ll be for good.”

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