Page 141 of Only After We Met
You can’t imagine how happy I am! The launch was amazing. Everyone came to the office: Donna, James, Anne, my parents;even Dean got away from work for a while. Kate uncorked a bottle of champagne, and we sprayed it all over the floor in the hallway, but who cares? The booksellers have been amazing. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine things could start off like this.
I have to let you go because we have more celebrations tonight. We have a reservation at a new restaurant nearby.
We’ll talk tomorrow. Kisses.
From: Rhys Baker
To: Ginger Davies
Subject: RE: Soooooo happy
I’m so happy for you, Ginger. Enjoy this moment. Maybe soon we can celebrate together. Who knows? I hope you feel proud. I still remember sometimes that girl I met who was lost in Paris and laughed when people talked about their dreams.
Sometimes the turns life takes are okay.
83
Ginger
I reread the sentence for the fifth time, making sure it was perfect and that each word expressed exactly what I wanted to say. Then I looked up when I heard a knock at my door and saw Kate peeking in. She looked nervous.
“You’ve got a visitor, Ginger.”
“Let them in.”
“Okay…” She looked a little unsure. Turning her head, she stuck her head back in through the crack in the door. “I’ll be smoking on the balcony.”
“Sure. No worries.” I got up.
Then I saw him. I watched him walk like a hurricane through the door of my office, a lazy smile on his face, his blond hair uncombed, in worn jeans that slid off his hips as he took step after step toward me. He stretched out his arms. For a few seconds, I froze, paralyzed, knees on the verge of giving out. It had been almost a year since I’d seen him, and… I still wasn’t ready. Especially not now. This was the moment when I was least ready.
“What’s up, Ginger Snap? Aren’t you happy to see me?”
“I…” I brought a hand to my chest. “Rhys…”
Finally, I reacted. I ran toward him and hugged him. I felt his hand on my head, my cheek on his hard chest, his minty aroma enveloping us amid a rush of memories and shared secrets, moments frozen in time, nights in front of the keyboard.
I pulled away and looked at him. He was thinner, he had bags under his eyes, but he was still every bit as handsome as I remembered, eyes glimmering, with that special way of leaning down to bridge the distance that always separated us. I don’t know…he was just him. Darkness and light at the same time. Dazzling and also the opaquest person I’d ever known.
“Have I changed that much? You’re looking at me weird.”
“No. Not at all. You’re the same as always. You’re…fantastic.”
“You, on the other hand…” He stepped back and examined me. “You look different in that suit. You cut your hair. You never told me.”
“I just haven’t had any time lately…”
“I know. It looks good. You look great.”
“Thanks.” I gulped. I was nervous.
Rhys reached up to touch the tips of my hair. Then he stroked my chin and cheek, and we looked each other in the eye. We were both full of longing, memories, desires. I closed my eyes and felt his fingers rubbing my lips, tracing their outline, making me tremble.
He groaned.
And kissed me. Kissed me intensely.
Our mouths united in a kind of fury. Starved. Something quivered in my chest, something good and bad at the same time. All I still felt for him, all I’d always felt, fighting against what had to be.I shook from pleasure and sorrow. Rhys picked me up and sat me on the desk. His hands were wild as they sought me out, grasping my legs, trying to unbutton my blouse.