“Wow, that sounds like quite the night. So are you seeing him again or did he hoist anchor after you turned him down?” Jonathan inquired, failing miserably in his attempt to sound casual, much to my delight.
“I haven’t closed the door on anything, but I got the impression that he might not be able to keep up,” I replied, shuddering at the memory of Sean’s performance issues and the unsatisfying end to our night.
“So, what did you think of Kazakhstan?” I asked blandly as I attempted to permanently delete all images of Sean from my memory.
“It was bleak, lonely and frigid. Pretty much exactly as promised in the tourist guidebook,” Jonathan replied with a weary grin, looking a bit fatigued but otherwise none the worse for wear.
“And here I thought that those were the ideal conditions for cold, ruthless lawyers such as yourself,” I responded, trying to be playful but perhaps coming across a bit more pouty than originally intended.
“To be fair, I am still pretty new to the profession,” Jonathan replied, wrapping me up in his arms until I squealed in mock protest.
Pressing myself up against him, I was quickly reminded how much I had missed his scent and having his arms around me.
“So you’re on your way to becoming completely heartless then?” I asked, a hint of the hurt I had felt still evident in my voice.
“I’m a slow learner but, just in case you’re right, maybe I should give you my heart for safe keeping for the time being. That is, if you still want it?” he replied, his eyes boring into mine intently.
Wow, way to put a girl on the spot there, bud.
I hadn’t seen that question coming at all.
Between the shock of seeing Jonathan again and the agony my assumption that he had moved on had caused me, I was already emotionally drained and I was probably in no condition to pick out an ice-cream flavour, let alone to decide if I was ready to let Jonathan back into my life. However, I knew that if I ran now, there was no going back.
Taking a seconds to gather my thoughts, I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and I answered straight from my heart, “I want to be with you. No games, no exceptions. I want us to be together.”
It had been a long time since I had let myself be vulnerable with someone, but after finally convincing Elyse to take a chance with Sam, I couldn’t very well chicken out now myself.
Thankfully, as I was saying the words I knew in my heart that this was truly what I yearned for and, wherever this journey took me, I was ready for the ride.
THE END
Good Vibrations Page 26