Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 89183 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 446(@200wpm)___ 357(@250wpm)___ 297(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 89183 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 446(@200wpm)___ 357(@250wpm)___ 297(@300wpm)
“Nothing will change for us,” he insisted.
At last, she lost some of that tightly held control. “Of course it will. We’re brand new, not even a week old. I know we care about each other—”
“We love each other.”
She nodded, but couldn’t quite bring herself to say the words. “But I’m going to be transitioning into a new job in a new country as well, and both of us are going to be busy. We shouldn’t expect too much of our relationship.”
“What are you saying? You don’t want a long-distance relationship?”
“I don’t know. Maybe we should play it by ear, see how things go in the first couple of months. And of course I’ll move out of your houseboat.”
“No! I want you to stay.”
But she couldn’t. Even when she’d thought he was going to stay on Elderflower Island, she’d felt moving in with him would be moving too fast. It had been one thing to stay temporarily on his boat for a couple of weeks, but to move in permanently? No, it was right that she find her own place. “How soon do you need to leave?”
He ran a hand over his hair in frustration. “Today.”
The breath pushed out of her lungs.
“Genevieve and I are working on a presentation for a board meeting Wednesday. The CEO would like to hammer out all the last details in person, and then move immediately on the expansion plans.”
“Do you already have your plane ticket?”
Something that looked like guilt crossed his face. “I do. I have to leave in a couple of hours. I’m sorry to miss walking you to the reading retreat for your first day, but I know you’ll do an amazing job.”
She took a deep breath, working to center herself before speaking again. “I’m happy for you, Malcolm. It’s all your hard work that’s given you this opportunity. And I want you to make the most of it, just like I know you want to. You’ve been so much help with the cottages this week, and I’ve loved every minute we’ve spent together.”
“Why does it sound like you’re saying good-bye? We still have phones, and we can talk over video, and you can fly to New Zealand too.”
She nodded, not wanting to burst his bubble. “Yes, all that’s true. But promise me you won’t let us, or thinking about my being here, hold you back.”
“You’re not holding me back. It’s exactly the opposite, Josie. Ever since I’ve been with you, you’ve lifted me up.”
She went to her tippy-toes and pressed a kiss to his lips. At that exact moment, his phone rang, and she could feel the tension already between them.
“Go ahead, it’s okay. I know this is important. I’ll just take a shower and get ready for work, and then I’ll say good-bye before you have to leave for the airport.”
In the shower, she was glad for the water pouring down her face. Because that way, she could lie to herself and say she wasn’t crying.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Malcolm had been in a thousand airports waiting for a thousand flights. But he’d never felt like this. He sat in the executive lounge with Genevieve, who was wired on coffee and still working on the presentation to House in a Box’s board. But he could barely concentrate. Why the hell was he going to New Zealand?
It had been only an hour and a half since he’d been with Josie, and already he missed her. It was like an ache in the deepest part of him.
He couldn’t stop rewinding back to their good-bye. She’d left first, heading for the cottages alone, when everything inside him longed to be going with her. She’d put on a brave face, but he was pretty sure she’d been crying. Still, she’d encouraged him to go with an understanding that amazed him. She got how important this deal was to him. Maybe when it was over, when the year in New Zealand was up…
But how much did it really mean to him? Okay, so he’d spent a couple of years courting Kieran Taylor. Umpteen hours with one big goal in mind. From a purely business standpoint, this was the ultimate success. This would go down as one of the greatest deals in the history of his company. And yet…
While he should be flying with excitement, he only felt numb when he thought about the business, the deal. He didn’t feel anything. If he were subjected to a lie detector test right now and asked if he was happy about the deal, there was no way that he could say yes without the machine going crazy and labeling him a liar. But if he were asked whether he missed Josie with every fiber of his being, if he was haunted by the look in her eyes when he’d told her he was going to New Zealand for a year, any answer but yes would also be proven to be false.