The Boss Deal

‘Please, let’s talk.’ I text him again, hoping to get something from him.

Nothing.

He has to be pissed.

Nick wanted one thing, and I denied him. He wasn’t afraid to tell me how he felt, and all I did was shove an open palm in his face. I feel like an asshole. Like I strung him along, and now I’m done with him.

I’m not that kind of girl. I don’t play with people’s feelings. I was just trying to respect my friend, but in the end, she’s on our side anyway.

Reaching the hotel, I get to the room, and slide my card through the lock. The door lock buzzes, and I run into the room, expecting to see him there.

“Nick!” I call out, checking the small space. “Nick!” I say his name again, and open the bathroom door, but it’s empty.

My suitcase is still on the floor by the window, but he’s gone.

Dropping down onto the bed, my hands fall weightlessly into my lap as tears spring up in my eyes.

He’s gone.

I drove him away.

My phone pings, and I pull it out of my pocket. Opening the message, it’s from him.

‘I’m heading out early. You made your choice and I’m going to respect it.’

Tears fall down over my cheeks, plopping onto the phone screen. Wiping them away, I read his message again and again. I’m such a fool. I had something good, I had something real and true, and I let it walk away.

You can’t let him go. My inner voice speaks up, and it grows louder and louder.

Take what you want, that’s how this love works. If you want him, go get him.

Running back down to the bakery, Vanessa is still inside, just checking things out.

“Vanessa,” I say winded as I gasp for air. “I need your car.”

“My car?” she asks, quirking a brow.

“He left, he’s heading back to New York right now. I need to catch him.”

Pulling her keys from the pocket in her jacket, she tosses them to me from across the room. “Bring it back in one piece.”

“Thank you.” Tipping my head, I give an anxious smile and head for her car.

I don’t know the road as well as the ones back home, but I know it enough to go a little faster than I should. Taking corners, I can feel the rubber gripping the pavement as I lean into the turn.

I’m going to find him, he can’t be that far from here. The trees are blurring as I drive past, turning into a giant green flash. Rounding a bend, I finally see his car parked in the same dirt runoff where we stopped when we drove to New Hampshire a week ago.

Slowing down, I pull in, and see him leaning against his hood with his head down. He’s just standing there, a look of concentration on his face. He jerks his head in the direction of the car and stands up straight.

Parking the car, I jump out, and start to move toward him.

“What are you doing here?” he asks, not moving away from me as I get close.

“I was wrong, Nick.” I can’t lie to him, and I won’t. He deserves the truth. “I know what I want, and it’s not this. It’s us, I want us, I want you. I can’t pretend like I feel nothing, because that’s a lie. I love you, Nick, and I know that might sound crazy, but damn it, if I don’t tell you, I might regret it, and I don’t want to live with regrets. I love you.”

My eyes meet his and he stares down at me. But I can’t tell what he’s thinking. I don’t know if I just scared him to death or if he feels the same. I stand quietly, giving him time to take in everything I just laid at his feet.

I wait, my fingers anxiously spinning over each other. But I can’t wait any longer, I need to know what he thinks, he has to say something.

“Well?” I ask, arching my brows. “Say something, anything. Just don’t stand—”

Nick throws himself forward, grabbing my face in both hands, and kisses me. He kisses me hard, passionately, and with so much emotion I can feel it in every bone in my body.

His tongue pushes past my lips, and I open my mouth to let him in. Our breathing is heavy, and ragged. Nick’s hands slip down my face and he pulls away.

His eyes connect with mine and they’re so full; full of emotion, and happiness, it makes my heart stop. “I love you too,” he says. “I was just waiting for you to realize what I already knew.” He kisses me again, wilder and more unhinged, and walks me back until my legs hit the bumper of the car. “I could never go from what we had here together, to being just friends back home. Never.”