Page 81 of Set to Love

My stomach does a nervous freefall, and I pull the phone away from my ear, staring at the lit screen to make sure the call hasn’t dropped. “Max?”

A breathless laugh breaks through the speaker. “Sorry. I had to make sure I heard you right.”

“I know the feeling,” I say, a small, relieved smile breaking across my face.

I hear the thud of his feet hitting the floorboards. He’s pacing now. “You’re actually coming here? To London?”

“I am.”

“When?”

“Tomorrow. My flight leaves in the afternoon.”

“Tomorrow? As in . . .” He lets out another laugh, sounding utterly dizzy.

“You’re joking.”

“No.”

Another stunned laugh.

“Katie, that’s . . . that’s the best thing I’ve heard in a long, long time.”

“I don’t know,” I tease, trying to keep my voice steady despite the massive flutter in my chest. “Being considered for a West End lead is pretty earth-shattering.”

“Let’s call it a tie,” he says softly, his voice thick with sincerity.

The last of the tension drains out of me. I slide down the brick wall until I’m pulling my knees to my chest. “I keep waiting for someone to wake me up and tell me it isn’t real.”

“Trust me,” he says, and I can picture the exact gentle look in his eyes right now. “It’s entirely real. How are you feeling?”

“Terrified.”

“Good. You should be.”

“Wow. Thanks. Exceptionally encouraging, Max.”

He chuckles. “Hear me out, Keller. What you’re doing is bloody massive. You’re uprooting your life for the thing you’ve wanted since you were a little girl. Being terrified just means you care enough to fight for it.”

I close my eyes, swallowing against the sudden tightness in my throat. “This isn’t because of you, by the way.” The confession slips out before my brain can filter it. “The move, I mean. It’s for my career.”

His answer is immediate. “I know.”

I blink into the darkness of the alley. Part of me hadn’t realized how badly I needed him to understand that.

For a long moment, neither of us says anything. The silence feels surprisingly comfortable, the distance between Orlando and London suddenly a little less impossible.

“I can’t wait to see you, Katie.”

“Me either.”

The kitchen door clicks behind me, and Randy pokes his head out, holding up a massive plate of tiramisu with a questioning look. I hold up one finger, nodding to let him know I’m coming.

“Duty calls,” I tell Max, standing up and brushing off the back of my jeans. “You need to get some sleep.”

“Right, you are. And you have a plane to catch.”

“I’ll text you when I land at Heathrow.”