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hers and squeezed reassuringly. “But I feel this connection. I can’t explain

it. Maybe that’s not the right word.”

“I feel it. Right from the second I saw you. It caught me so off guard.

That’s why I was so…so off putting. I was trying to deny it. Block it out.

Tell myself that I didn’t feel anything. I couldn’t. I didn’t know that you

were even available. I never dreamed you could be, and I still felt

something. Something deeper than just seeing you and realizing that you

were beautiful and that I wanted you just for that reason. That would never

have been enough. There was something else. Something deeper. More

elemental. Something more.”

Romi shuddered. She knew she should pull her hand away, but she just

couldn’t. “I’m scared. All my previous relationships have been me falling

for the wrong person. Not that I want a relationship or that I’m saying this

could be that. I’m just saying that I’ve made all the wrong decisions over

and over and I’ve been so battered and bruised by it. I don’t even know if I

have a whole heart to offer you.”

“That would make two of us, then.” Kiera smiled, but it was a sad

expression.

It hurt Romi to see it. There they were, two people who might want

something more. Two people standing on the precipice of leaping again into

the unknown, because it felt impossibly right. Different. Real. That didn’t

make it any less scary, though. In fact, it made it even more frightening.

Romi’s gaze fell to Kiera’s mouth. Her full lips were irresistible. She

wanted nothing more than to taste her mouth. To see how soft those lips

truly were. She knew it would be magic. It would be impossibly wonderful.

Life changing. It would be the beginning of the end of everything for her,

because she was sure that one taste would never be enough. She would

always want more. That was the problem. Someone always wanted more

than the other person. Someone changed, someone outgrew the other.

Could she risk it all again? This time she’d be risking more than just her