Page 4 of Yours, Finally

He gazed at me like he truly couldn't compute what I was saying.

"You're all of those things, and if someone is intimidated, then it says something aboutthem, doesn't it? Weakness of character, in particular. That wouldn't be a good guy, at least not one good enough for you."

And he gave me another crumb. I sometimes wondered if Jake himself was intimidated by these things. It was either that, or he simply had never seen me in any way other than a friend.

A friend who agreed with me being pretty and confident, and a friend who seemed happy to make me laugh.

"If you're looking for love," he said, "I'm sure you'll find it."

I shivered again, this time only because of the cold. Probably.

I rubbed my arms again. "You may have more trust in that than I do. Or I'm just in my feelings tonight and needing to be dramatic to release some frustration. The idea of going even higher in the company… it makes me a little hopeless. But I won't turn down being the VP of Legal just because it might make me a little less intimidating to potential partners."

"Of course you shouldn't. The right partner will be happy for you, and they'll celebrate you. Support you. Someone will love you right, Vi."

I shivered again.

"You're cold." He stopped in his tracks and took off his jacket.

I faced him. A mix of nerves, hope, yearning, and affection scattered in my diaphragm. His intentions were clear and heat infused my face.

He held the jacket at shoulder height, and I put my arms in the sleeves. I turned and his hands stayed on the collar, arranging the garment around me.

It was big for me, and warm from his body. He looked down at me with a frown, his eyes on the jacket or my chest— I didn't know. In the low light, I didn't know if he blushed; he did, sometimes.

His cologne reached me as expected, and I filled my lungs with it the way I wish I could fill my soul with the whole of him.

"Anyone would be lucky to be loved by you." His frown deepened, and his hands stilled on the collar. "Never doubt it. The right person will show up and make it clear, you're everything they could ever want."

That's what I wanted, and what I had to believe in. I wouldn't give up, and I wouldn't settle. The fact that Jake was the person to comfort me with those words didn't escape me. It only made me want him to be that person even more.

My heart raced in my chest. "What if the person I want to feel that way for me never does?"

He lifted his eyes to me. "Impossible. You could make anyone fall in love with you, Vi."

"Anyone?" I bit my lip.

His eyes dropped to my mouth. "Anyone. Even someone who shouldn't love you that way. If you show them who you are, with your friendly, giving heart and that smile of yours… eventually, they'd break and fall to their knees."

The soundwaves of his words hit my chest, compressing my lungs.

"That's a lot of power to have, Jake." My voice came out a whisper, but it was okay. We were alone in a beautiful garden at night. "All I want is for the right person to love me back."

He let go of the jacket and sighed. His eyes locked with mine again. "And you'll get that. Someone else will get to look at you, know you, discover how wonderful you are, too. It's inevitable."

Sadness and regret became shadows in his eyes, and he made to turn away. I stopped him with a hand on his arm.

"Someone else?" Hope sprung among my ribs. A whole system of roots took hold of my guts.

"Fuck," he muttered. He turned to me again. "We should go back."

"What did you mean, someone else?"

"Other people have loved you. People will love you again."

"People? You mean my parents? Gabe?"

Restlessness moved down his powerful shoulders and thick arms. He shrugged as if his shirt was suddenly too small for his big body.