“And you betrayed my trust.” Silas lifted his brows. “So you can go ahead and call up the other agent and let them know I’m pulling it.”
“You’ll have to pay the penalty.”
“Not if I find something during the inspection. I’m sure there’s something that isn’t up to speed if we look hard enough.” Silas turned to McKensie. “And you, please leave me alone. If you like the Storm, then feel free to cheer for the team. But if you keep showing up wherever I go, I’m going to file a police report.”
McKensie’s eyes started to water. “Are you serious?”
Silas snorted. “Did you really think you could just follow me around, and that something would happen between us?”
“I thought it was fate.”
Fate? There were so many things Silas could say to that, but he needed to be done with this conversation. He’d already wasted too much time on it when he should have been talking to Miriam. “It’s not. I’m sorry.”
He turned to apologize to Miriam for the impromptu circus performance, but she was gone. Silas’ eyes searched and spotted Miriam just as she was getting into her car. No, she was not going to run away right now. They had too much to talk about.
He ran over to her and put his hand on the door just before she could close it. His breaths came loud and hard. “Wait.”
She shook her head. “Don’t do this, Silas.”
Silas crouched down so that his face was level with hers. “Don’t do what?”
“This.” She waved her finger between them. “It’s better if we don’t drag this out anymore.”
“I’m not with her. That’s not why I asked you to come out here.”
Miriam bit her bottom lip. “I know.”
Silas let out a small sigh. “You do?”
She nodded. “I wasn’t sure at first. I saw her at the gym, and she was acting like you were dating. So when I first saw her—”
“She told you we were dating?” Silas was incredulous. He’d realized McKensie was crazy, but he wasn’t sure how she’d managed to find out that Silas was in love with Miriam and was trying to sabotage it.
Miriam’s eyes were glued to the car keys in her lap. “No, she was telling another girl at the gym about how you two were basically dating. When that guy came out yelling at her, it was obvious that she’s a fan gone wild.”
That was a relief. Silas was thankful that Miriam was being so level-headed about the situation. That gave him hope that things weren’t beyond repair. “Then why are you trying to leave?”
She closed her eyes. “I can’t live in a constant state of uncertainty anymore. Not knowing if you’re going to try to kiss me or ignore me is starting to affect everything in my life. I can barely do my job because I don’t know what each new day is going to bring. It’s not fair, Silas.”
Her voice cracked with the last few words, and it felt like a punch to the gut. Silas hadn’t realized what his week of self-discovery had done to Miriam. He wanted to make sure he was the best version of himself when he finally put everything on the line. Now it was obvious that Miriam didn’t need the perfect guy, she needed one she could rely on.
Silas was neither.
He released a long sigh. “So this is it?” It couldn’t be.
She lifted a shoulder.
It wasn’t exactly a no. There was a slim chance that Silas could prove to Miriam that he was never going to hurt her again. If he let her drive away now, he knew he’d miss his opportunity.
He reached out and caressed her cheek with his hand. It was just as soft as when he’d touched it at the school. He leaned forward just enough so that their faces were perfectly lined up and held his breath. Then he closed his eyes and pressed his lips against hers.
It was a bold move that had a high chance of blowing up in his face.
Thankfully, it didn’t.
Miriam barely hesitated before she kissed him back. Her fingers combed through his hair and landed on either side of his face, keeping him there. Not that she needed to hold him. Silas wasn’t going anywhere. Her lips moved against his in a frenzy, the smell of jasmine invaded his senses.
This kiss was going to change everything.
He moved the hand that was resting on her cheek down her neck and shoulder until it rested on the top of her arm. Without slowing down, he pulled her closer.
He didn’t care that her car was parked on the road where anyone could see. Silas wanted the world to know they were together. Now that he had her, he never planned to let her go.
Slowly, their hurried movements turned into something sweeter, until the kiss stopped. Neither of them pulled back right away. Their lips barely touched as their breathing returned to normal.
When Miriam pulled back, there were tears in her eyes. “I’m glad you kissed me, Silas.”
Glad? The last time he checked, people didn’t cry after kisses they enjoyed. “Why—”
“I’ll never forget it.”
What was going on? One minute he was enjoying the most amazing kiss of his life. The next it sounded like Miriam was saying goodbye. He was in such shock that he didn’t fight when Miriam started pulling the car door closed.
As she started up her car and pulled away, Silas realized the kiss had changed everything, just not in the way he had hoped.
That wasn’t a make up kiss.
It was a goodbye kiss.
Miriam
“You what?” Allie screeched.
Miriam covered her face with her hands. “I know.” She couldn’t believe that it had actually happened.
Allie was silent for a long time.
The quiet made Miriam uncomfortable. She was dying to know what Allie thought about the fiasco from the day before. Miriam moved her hands and looked expectantly at her best friend. She was leaning against the back cushion of Miriam’s pink sofa. Her eyes were trained on the wall
