Page 22 of Must Love Fallen Angels

They clinked their glasses together, and Venice leaned over and brushed his lips against Tessa’s.“To new beginnings.”

“To us,” she said, quietly.

As the meal continued, with Tessa and Delaney talking about the bookstore, and Brody and Venice rehashing some issues they’d had at an empty warehouse with vandals, he marveled at how normal the whole scene was.

He’d longed for this and hadn’t even really known what he was missing.He’d had dinner countless times with Brody and Delaney, but it had never been like this.Never so sweet and warm, so accepting and loving.

When the meal was finished, and they said goodbye, Venice asked Tessa if she’d like to see his place.

“Yes, definitely,” she said.

He drove to the other side of town to the small house he rented.The owner lived next door, an older male who lived alone and kept busy in his garage tinkering with an old car he was attempting to restore.

“This is nice,” she said when they walked up the sidewalk to the red front door.“Do you own it?”

“Nope, I rent from the guy next door.”He opened the door and let her in, then closed it behind them.“I’m not much for knick-knacks,” he said, looking around the family room that was pretty bare save for the couch and TV that had been there when he’d moved in.

She turned in a slow circle and then stopped to look at him.“This isn’t home.”

His brows rose.“What do you mean?”

“You haven’t decorated it because it doesn’t feel like home.”

Something tightened in his chest.“Yeah.”

“It’s been six years,” she pointed out.

He hummed, noncommittally.

She moved close, her sweet scent enveloping him.“Sable Cove felt like home when I came here, and I’m convinced that it’s because you’re here.So where does it feel like home for you, Venice?”

“Truth?”he asked, his voice suddenly rough.

“Always.”

“The cottage with you.”

She smiled.“It feels like home to me when you’re there, too.”Then she took his hand and led him to the couch.“I want to tell you about why I came to Sable Cove.”

He sat next to her and put his arm on the back of the couch, resting his fingers on her shoulder.“I don’t want you to think that I didn’t want to know about your past, but I figured you would tell me when you were ready.”

“It was tempting to just tell you everything right away, but I still feel a little raw and weird about the whole situation.But,” she said, twisting her fingers together in her lap, “I want you to know about my past because we’re getting closer.I’m…falling for you.And I don’t think it’s smart to start a new chapter of my life with the best guy I’ve ever known, while still keeping some part of me in the past.”

Damn, she always said the most incredible things to him.How had he survived this long without her?He pressed his lips to her temple.“I’m falling for you, too, Tessa.”

Her shoulders lifted as she inhaled deeply, and then she exhaled on a sigh.

“I went over to my then-boyfriend, Evan’s house, after work one day, and found him and my best friend Lila in bed together…”

Note to Self: This is what being protected feels like

There was something supremely cathartic about sharing her past heartbreak with Venice.It had been just over a week now that her life had been upended, and she’d walked away from everything to take a chance on a small seaside town.She’d had no plans aside fromneverdating again and possibly getting a few cats.

And then she’d met Venice.

It was like something out of a romance novel.

“What is?”