If the Sun Never Sets (If Love 2)

She was a cheap birthday candle, disintegrating into a puddle of wax.

Don’t do it, her brain warned. He has a way with words, but he can’t be trusted.

Do it, her heart urged. He’s right there! Go to him. You know that’s what you want.

Meanwhile, her body purred, choosing to show instead of tell by peppering goosebumps all over Farrah’s skin and stoking the fire in her belly.

Farrah grit her teeth. After an eternity of indecision, she flung open the door. “What are you doing here?”

“I told you. I want to talk.”

“You

didn’t want to talk when you kicked me out of your apartment. You said I should walk away from you and that I deserved better. So, what changed?” She tightened her grip on the doorknob. “Do I not deserve better anymore?”

Blake swallowed. “I messed up. I’m sorry it took me so long to realize it. But—”

“You were a complete asshole to me and Paul.”

Blake’s lips thinned at the mention of the other man. “He deserved it.”

His foot shot out and wedged itself between the door and doorframe before she could shut it again. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” he said quickly. “You’re right. I was a complete asshole, but—” His jaw tensed. “Are you really dating him?”

No. Farrah and Paul never had their talk. He’d stopped contacting her after the night they ran into Blake, and Farrah didn’t blame him. She’d been selfish and manipulative and used him to further her own petty agenda. She would’ve kicked herself to the curb had she been in his shoes.

Not that Farrah was going to tell Blake this. He didn’t deserve to know.

“I don’t see how it’s any of your business.” Frost wrapped around each word. “You let me go, remember? I can date whoever I want.”

Blake’s shoulders drooped. “I know.” He resembled a puppy who’d just been kicked, and dammit if her heart didn’t squeeze at the sight.

Farrah tapped her foot against the floor. Finally, unable to take it any longer, she opened the door wider. “Come in. The last thing I want is to be my floor’s subject of gossip for the next month,” she muttered. “You already made enough of a scene.”

Blake perked up at the small sign of her relenting. Confidence returned to his eyes, and he flashed her a dazzling grin as he breezed inside and placed the teddy bear and flowers in the living room. The bear was so large it made the nearby armchair look like a piece of dollhouse furniture.

Farrah stroked the bear’s soft fur. “How did you get this here? It’s almost as tall as you.”

Pink stained Blake’s cheekbones. “Uber XL. They closed off your street for construction, so I carried it the rest of the way. I almost knocked over an old lady coming out of your building. I’m lucky I made it here alive—for someone who was probably born before World War II, she’s quite aggressive with her cane.”

Farrah couldn’t hide a smile at the mental image of Blake dodging a sweet old lady’s cane while balancing a giant stuffed animal and flowers.

Blake saw it and pounced. “That’s how sorry I am. I almost died for you.” His teasing smile melted into a puppy dog stare. “Can you please give me—”

“No.” Her mirth disappeared, and she stepped back, the frantic little beats of her pulse dancing along her skin before he could finish his sentence.

She knew what he was going to ask her.

She wasn’t sure she could deny him.

Despite everything that had happened, Farrah still loved Blake. She could build the walls around her heart so high they reached the heavens, she could arm it with a thousand soldiers firing flame-tipped arrows, and she could surround it with a moat filled with crocodiles, but if Blake persisted—if he got close enough—those defenses would crumble faster than a sandcastle at high tide.

Once, he was her greatest savior. Now, he was her greatest downfall.

The only way Farrah could protect herself was to keep him so far away he couldn’t touch even the outermost perimeter of her defense.

“Don’t finish that question.” Her words were bullets, shot point-blank at Blake’s chest. “I made myself clear—our second chance is over. If you think a couple of gifts will change that, you’re sorely mistaken.”

“I know. I’m not asking you for another chance,” Blake said softly. “I’m asking you for an opportunity to explain. I’ll tell you everything. What happened in Texas, why I pushed you away. I’ll tell you anything you want to know.”