Page 412 of One More Kiss

“You want that?” I whisper. “To come home here? In this little town?”

“If it’s where you are, then yes. I like you, Sammie Norris. I like you a lot.”

There are those damn words again.

My chest tightens, and I rub at the site, desperate to let myself fall while terrified of what will happen if I do.

“Tell me you don’t feel the same way,” he challenges, misinterpreting my hesitancy for indecision when I’ve never felt more sure of anything in my entire life.

And that’s what’s alarming.

“Tell me you aren’t curious about what this could turn into if we gave it a real shot, and I’ll leave. You’ll never have to see me again, and Broken Vows will still get their spot on tour. We’ll chalk last night up to a fun, romantic hook-up, and that’ll be it. But I felt something with you. Something I want to explore more. Like I said, Sammie, I like you. I like you a lot,” he repeats.

“I like you too,” I admit, terrified of how real the truth feels as it claws its way up my throat. “But…” My voice trails off as the same stupid what-if’s cloud my thoughts.

“But what, Sam?”

Chewing on my thumbnail, I peek up at him again. “What if I don’t keep you interested? What if you get bored––”

“With you?” He laughs. “Not possible. I told you, Sammie. My entire career is based on finding the diamond in the rough. And you’re a diamond. A princess. My princess, if you’ll have me.”

“Boris…”

“Tell me I’m crazy. Tell me you don’t feel the same way I do.”

“It’s been one night––”

“Yeah? Well, it’s been a decade of me searching for this feeling, and I’m not going to let you go without telling you how I feel. And before you get all freaked out by this conversation, I’m not saying I love you. I’m just saying that if we got to know each other better, I could. And I’m not going to let that go easily. What do you say, Sammie?”

The hope in his eyes––the vulnerability––almost knocks me on my ass before I press my forehead to his and breathe in deep, savoring his already familiar scent like it’s a fine wine.

How can I already miss someone when they’re right in front of me?

“I’m not going anywhere,” I promise, my voice nothing but a whisper.

“Neither am I.”

Then he kisses me, sealing our fate with a kiss that’s so sweet, so addictive, that I can almost see our future together. My days spent at SeaBird. My nights filled with Hawthorne. Traveling with him throughout the year. Listening to music. Loving life. And him. Loving him. With every fiber of my being. My Boris Hawthorne. And who knows? Maybe I’ll even convince him to take my last name.

A light laugh escapes me.

“Something funny?” he asks.

I shake my head, my heart close to bursting. “Nope. Nothing at all, Boris. Nothing at all.”

The End

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