Page 46 of Love Affair in London (Once Again #12)

She shook her head again, her hair fluttering around her face. “I don’t want that for you.” Swiping her hand over her eyes, she tried to wipe away the tears that threatened to spill.

He reeled her in a fraction. “Here’s what I don’t want,” he said, his voice barely a whisper.

“I don’t want to be alone in five years, ten years, or twenty years.

I don’t want to miss out on an opportunity with you because I’m afraid of what might happen in the future.

Young people don’t think that way. They just forge ahead.

Why do we have to do anything different?

Why do we have to give up just because we’re getting older? ”

“You’re in your prime. I’m way past my sell-by date.”

He cupped her face gently—enough to make her look at him. “Never say that. You are not past your sell-by date. You’re beautiful. You’re in great shape. You’re healthy. There’s nothing wrong with you. Why do you keep thinking there is?”

She sniffed. “I don’t think there’s anything wrong with me. I just think I need to be with a man my age, so we can grow old together.”

“ We can grow older together.”

She couldn’t help fighting him. Couldn’t help her own fears. “I’m already old. I’ve even got my AARP card.”

He laughed and leaned his forehead against hers. “Everyone gets their AARP card at fifty. It’s just what they do.”

“But you don’t have yours.”

He closed his eyes, his hands resting on her arms. “I don’t know what to say to change your mind.” Then he looked at her. “But I’ll say this. I had lunch with my ex-wife today. That asshole boyfriend of hers told her I’d been cheating on her while we were married.”

She gasped, momentarily forgetting her fears. “I’m so sorry. That’s terrible. She didn’t believe him, did she?”

“No.” He shook his head for emphasis. “And she dumped him right there at the lunch table. I’m glad. He was an ass. And the kids hated him. He treated them abominably. But you know why she was with him?”

“No,” she whispered.

“Because she was lonely. She was with a guy like that because she didn’t want to be alone for the rest of her life.”

He let that thought sink in. And it did, settling like a stone at the bottom of her stomach.

“I don’t want to be lonely,” he said. “And when I’m with you, I’m not lonely.

I don’t think you’re lonely either. How long we’ll be together, I can’t say.

Weeks or months or years, I don’t know. But I’m not willing to walk away from you and give up how good you make me feel.

” He squeezed her shoulders. “I’m not just talking about the sex.

I love being around you. I love listening to you talk.

I love the way you laugh and how you smile.

And I want to see how much better we can be together.

I don’t want to be like my ex-wife. Erica divorced me because she felt lonely even while we were married.

Isn’t that the worst thing a woman could ever say?

That she was lonely even when you were there?

I don’t want to do that to you. I want to make you happy.

And that would make me happy.” His voice broke as he whispered, “Be with me. Please.”

And her heart broke wide open.

Jared waited for her to launch into another litany of excuses. Instead, she said, “I didn’t love Roger—my fiancé. But the sex was good, and we were good companions.”

Hope shot straight into his heart. “But sex is better with me, right?”

“Infinitely better.” She laughed and the tension in him loosened.

“Thank God,” he muttered, raising his eyes skyward.

She went on, her tone serious again. “I didn’t want to be alone for the rest of my life.

I thought for a long time that I could put up with how nasty Roger’s girls were to me because not being alone seemed worse.

But then I saw how they’d eventually break us apart.

And I’m afraid of that.” A tear trickled out of her eye before she quickly wiped it away.

“But I’m not lonely with you. You make me feel special.

” She smiled softly. “In addition to all the other sexy things you make me feel.” But the smile faded.

“I don’t want all those outside forces to break us up.

You said you don’t want to give other people that much power, but sometimes it happens, and I don’t want to end up leaving because I can’t handle all of that. ”

Jared said the only thing he could, even though he was afraid it wouldn’t be enough.

“I’m not Roger. And my kids aren’t like his girls.

I would never let them say you couldn’t come to Christmas.

I would never take their side over yours when they were being ridiculous.

But the thing you’re not even considering is that maybe it won’t be like that.

Maybe you need to give me a chance, to give my kids a chance.

My coworkers. And my boss and his wife. Conrad and Olivia think you’re the bees’ knees. ”

She choked out a laugh at the outdated euphemism.

“I’m not asking for forever.” He moved in on her, breathed her in, let her breathe him in, to remember. “I’m asking for us to figure it out. To see if it could work. To give our future a chance. To give love a chance. Don’t throw it away before you even know what it could be like.”

“The only thing you’re asking,” she murmured softly, “is love?”

He pulled her in until their bodies were flush. “Yes. Love. I love you. I know it without a doubt.”

“But it’s only been a week.”

“It’s been the most amazing week of my life. You make me feel right. You make me feel like a good man. You make me feel like I’m more than just an automaton going to work every day. You make me feel like I can do anything if you’re with me. And that’s love.” He waited a beat. “What do you feel?”

Her body stiffened against his. But then she said, “I knew right from the first moment that I didn’t love Roger.

That it was never about love. But with you.

..” She stopped, drew in a breath. “You make me feel like the most beautiful woman in the world. You make me feel young again. You make me feel like I want to hope again.”

“Is that love?” he asked, his voice barely more than a whisper.

“I don’t think I’ve ever felt like this before. Not even with my husband.”

“Are you willing to throw away this chance just for the few years that stand between us?”

He waited, his blood pounding, his stomach churning, his heart screaming.

Until finally she said, so softly he had to tilt his ear to her lips to hear, “No. I’m not willing to throw it away.”

He couldn’t help kissing her then, tasting her, relishing her, wanting her. He didn’t care who was watching. Didn’t care about his age or her age. Didn’t care that they’d known each other only a smattering of days. Because when you know, you know.

Finally, he pulled away, just to breathe, just to see her beautiful face. “So do you?” He whispered.

She understood. “Yes. I do. I love you. I want to give us a chance.” She kissed him gently. “I want to tell everyone the story of how I ran away from my wedding and fell in love in London when I was on my honeymoon.”

He wrapped her tight in his arms, picked her up off her feet to whirl her around.

They were just like every other couple kissing and hugging and crying with joy at the San Francisco Airport.