Page 97 of The Love Hoax

Steph and Brad hold back while Adam, gasping for breath, approaches, keeping a respectful distance.

“What are you doing here?” I ask, stunned.

“I needed to see you.”

I shake my head in disbelief. How is Adam here?

I find my voice. It’s weak. “Why?” I whisper.

Adam runs a nervous hand through his hair. “Well, for two reasons.”

Everyone in our immediate area is watching us, the boarding line has slowed with passengers caught up in the soap opera.

“First,” Adam says, “I need to apologize. I should have intervened when my family blamed you for the hoax we pulled on them. I’m so sorry for letting you down.”

He looks achingly vulnerable. Just like me. Tears sting my eyes. “I forgive you. We were faking.”

Adam shakes his head. “I stopped faking a long time ago.”

The words are a direct shot to my heart. I pause, unsure if all of this is a dream. If it is, I would stay asleep forever.

I take a tentative step forward, testing reality. “What’s the second reason you’re here?”

In a millisecond, Adam closes the gap between us, his expression intense. “I am madly in love with you, Evie Lawson. For real. I only hope you feel the same way.”

I can’t believe what I’m hearing. I swallow hard, “You do?”

Adam’s face is inches away from mine. He smells of minty toothpaste. He’s staring at my mouth.

“When did you fall for me?” I ask. “When I nearly pushed you off the mountaintop?”

Adam’s lips lift upward into that devilishly sexy grin. “Maybe a little after that.”

A rush of warmth fills my insides. Something occurs to me. “I thought you don’t fly.”

His face is dead serious. “I don’t.”

“You flew across the country for me?”

Adam nods and lowers his voice. “In a snowstorm. I probably broke the hand of the old lady sitting next to me.”

The gate agent speaks up. “Ma’am? We’re about to close the boarding door.”

I look up. Without realizing it all the passengers are gone.

I don’t move a muscle. Adam’s eyes are pinning me to the spot. “Why are you going to Reno?” he asks.

“Because . . . you.”

“Me?” he says,

“I have a speech.”

He raises an amused brow. Breathlessly, he says, “Please, let’s hear it.”

I sense the gate agent leaning in closer.

I gaze deep into his soulful eyes. “When I met you, I had just turned fifty. Up there on Cloud’s Rest I was taking stock of what I accomplished in my life. Two remarkable sons, a successful career, a cute apartment, wonderful friends. But despite my good fortune, I knew deep inside that something was missing. Something visceral.