Page 142 of Go Back to December

“Worse. Because somehow, that boy found me, and showed me that the mistakes we made in our past don’t define who we choose to be. And I love him so much for it.”

“Not as much as he loves you.”

His lips clamp down on mine.

It’s oxygen, this kiss. Clean and energizing and life-giving.

And to demonstrate exactly what kind of trash she is, Mother Nature tears open the skies and hurls hailstones at us.

One pelts my shoulder, and I wince, breaking the kiss. Lightning flashes behind the bell tower in the distance, and Baz drags us across the small deck and back inside.

We’re both panting, and shaking, with cold and want.

I grip his toned shoulders. “What if it’s a sign?”

“Or, what if it’s the manifestation of our insatiable desire for each other.”

“Did you just say manifestation—”

He answers me with a kiss that’s tongue and smoke and spice, and my knees bow; he has to hold me up.

“You don’t think it’s an omen?” I pant.

“Melody.” His voice has that warning edge that makes my toes curl. “I don’t give a fuck if it’s Doomsday Eve out there. All that matters is that I love you. I am dying a thousand deaths waiting to show you how much.”

With a groan, I yank my favorite shirt up and off his shoulders, silently apologize for manhandling it, and seal my mouth against his. As my chilly hands hit the heat of his chest, he hisses.

I mumble an apology, which he truncates with more tugging of lips and tangling of tongues. It’s so intoxicating, I don’t register we’ve traversed the short distance down the hall to my bed.

Baz lands first and pulls me to straddle his lap. Our bodies lock into that place where they fit and we both moan.

The room shakes with the thunder outside, making the table with the leg lamp rattle. Baz throws it a murderous look.

“Wait,” I gasp, pushing at his chest. “Hold up.”

“There is no correlation between our relationship and the weather.”

I give a strangled laugh. “It’s not that. And I’m not crashing out, I promise. But we should finish talking. Before….showing.”

He heaves a heavy sigh. “You are crashing out.”

“Not like before. And I want this Baz. I want you. All of you.” I caress his beautiful face. “But I haven’t told you everything.”

“You mean about the café and your angel investor?” His eyes spark. “I bow down in worship, hustler queen.”

The admiration in his voice and his gaze makes my cheeks heat. “When the sale closes on the building, the café will move to the River Center.”

“But you’ll be packing for Paris, Lightman Fellow.”

I can’t fight the smile that stretches across my face. The official notice came yesterday, and it feels like a fairy tale. But it won’t have a happy ending if I have to go without Baz.

He beams back at me. “Never doubted for one minute you’d get it.”

“I don’t have to go.”

He frowns. “Of course you’re going.”

“I could defer for a year.”