Page 82 of Blame it on the Kiss
“Does she know what happened with us?”
“No. Not yet. I didn’t want to keep drudging up the past. So, anyway, I’m glad we ran into each other.”
Honor chuckled. “Ran being the operative word.”
He smiled. “Yeah. Take care of yourself.”
“I will. You, too.” She smiled back, nothing big, but more genuine than she’d felt in the last week.
She resumed her run, but a funny thing happened as she picked up her pace. She felt light on her feet, like the weight of her biggest mistake had finally been lifted from her shoulders.
It had.
Her breath hitched. Perfect didn’t exist, not even close, but forgiving herself once and for all, was a big step toward a better tomorrow. She made a sharp right and ran up the beach toward the boardwalk. Cut through an alleyway, headed up Ocean, and landed on Main Street. The smell of coffee and cinnamon wafting through the air like vapor from a genie’s bottle tried to lure her toward the Beach Café.
She fought the temptation, telling herself she risked running into the Street Team if she didn’t hightail it. Those pesky ladies hadn’t let up one bit this past week, asking where Bryce was and commenting on how “hunky” they found him and what a great catch.
He was that and more. And even if it was too late, it was time she told him how she really felt.
…
Bryce sat at his desk getting absolutely nothing done. He could not wrap his head around a damn thing. Correction. He had laser sharp focus when it came to Honor and driving himself crazy with memories of her laugh, the softness of her skin, the texture of her hair. Her kiss.
He’d set out to shed his good guy image. Have some fun without getting serious. Save his heart from another break. Idiot.
Pressing a hand to his temple to stop the throbbing, he wished like hell he wasn’t still so conscious of her smell, her taste, the way her eyes smiled before her lips followed. The way she walked and the sweet, sexy sound of her voice. Without being near, she surrounded him.
He… he loved her.
Despite her fear of love and commitment, he’d fallen completely in love and never should have let her walk away. That was on him and he hated himself for it.
She challenged him. Made his life worthwhile. She’d saved him from believing he didn’t have a heart left to give. He ran his hand across his chest. She owned his heart and it was time to fight to win hers.
“Cooper’s here,” Danny said, walking through the door of Bryce’s office with Coop trailing behind him.
“Hey, Cooper,” Bryce said. “Thanks for coming in on such short notice.”
Danny took one of the two chairs on the other side of Bryce’s desk and motioned for Coop to take the other. Once seated, his newest client looked around the room before saying, “No problem. If this is about the contract, my dad said he had one minor change and you should have it in your email later today.”
“Great. Thanks. But I asked you here to talk about your sister.”
Danny glanced at him, then Coop, then back to Bryce again. “What’s going on?”
“I was about to ask the same thing,” Coop said.
Bryce looked straight at Cooper. “I wasn’t exactly honest with you about Honor. The truth is I’m in love with your sister and if that means you sign with another agent, then that’s the way it goes. Because I can’t lethergo.
Coop scratched the side of his head.
Danny raised his eyebrows.
“It’s been a hell of a week and I haven’t stopped thinking about her. She’s the one for me. I’ll never do anything to hurt her so if you decide to stay with me, you’ll never have to pick sides.”
“That’s it,” Cooper said with dawning recollection.
Bryce leaned his arms on his desk. “What’s it?”
“Why she’s been a total sad case this past week and wouldn’t tell me why. It’s you. But the past couple months make sense now, too. It was like she’d swallowed a happy pill and I think you’re the reason. She’s been broken for a really long time and you fixed her.” He brushed at the corner of his eye, and Bryce kind of fell in love with the kid.
