Chapter 5
CHAPTER FIVE
Amara
I stood in front of the window and watched him walk down the pathway like a guy who just lost his dog. My own tears streamed down my face. My heart and mind battled in a duel, and I didn’t know what I should do.
These past couple of weeks were torture. I couldn’t go through it again.
But how could I just let him walk away?
Thane got inside his truck.
This was it.
My last chance.
Before he left.
I didn’t think anymore. I turned around and booked it out of my apartment. I flew down the stairs and out the front door, running down the sidewalk just as Thane began backing out.
When he saw me, he slammed on his breaks and threw the truck into park, not caring that he was half hanging out of a parking spot. He jumped out of his truck. We met in the middle. He lifted his arms, but I took a step back.
His face fell. “I’m so sorry, sweetheart. I’m so sorry for hurting you. I should’ve contacted you sooner. Instead, I got caught up in the project and I hurt you. I waited too long to find you. Please forgive me.”
“Even if you didn’t want to continue a relationship with me, I still needed a shop for my business. Losing your phone makes sense. But with social media these days, it doesn’t take long to find someone you want to find.”
“I know.” He took my hands in his and this time I let him touch me. I desperately needed his touch though I wouldn’t admit it. “I’m sorry. Please let me make it up to you. Please let me show you what I did for you.”
“What even is this between us?” I searched his eyes, desperate for answers I wasn’t sure of.
“I don’t know, Amara. But what I do know is that I don’t want to spend another day without you by my side. I should’ve never let you go the first time. But if you don’t want this, then I would make myself understand. I would never force anything on you.”
“I know you wouldn’t, Thane. But I’m not going to stick around for something casual. That’s not who I am. I got caught up in the heat of the moment when I should’ve slowed down.”
“I don’t want casual with you. I want you. All of you. For the rest of my life. Be my forever, my lover, my wife, the mother of my children. I’ve never wanted anyone so much as I want you.”
His words took my breath away. Tears filled my eyes once more. A sob caught in my throat.
“Thane…I…I…yes. Yes, to all the above.”
He cupped my face between his hands and wiped my tears away with his thumbs as he leaned in close, brushing his lips against mine. “I’m falling in love with you, Amara.”
“Oh, Thane…I’m already head over heels.”
He let out a growl and covered my mouth with his, pulling us into a deep, earth-shattering kiss. All our pent-up passion and desire poured out into our kiss, making up for lost time, time we could’ve spent in each other’s arms.
“I missed you so much.” Thane whispered between hot, stolen kisses.
“I missed you more.”
We kissed again and again.
“You should probably move your truck.” I chuckled and kissed the tip of his nose.
“Will you come with me? I want to show you the project I worked on.”
Excitement sparked deep inside my belly, swirling like a tornado, a mix of nerves, anticipation, and wonderment of what he wanted to show me. “Okay. Let me go grab my purse and keys. I didn’t even shut my door.”
Thane laughed. “You made it just in time.”
Thane drove us to Appleridge, and we held hands, our fingers intertwined. Conversation didn’t flow this time as we enjoyed just being back in each other’s presence, a comfortable silence forming between us.
As we crossed over into Appleridge, Thane steered his truck through town, and I watched the streets pass by. I wondered what direction he might go in, wondered where this special project was.
There was no way he got a flower shop built already, so I didn’t think it was that. But what else could it be?
Thane turned onto a familiar street, and I looked around for the clearing of land, but it wasn’t that street we were on. It was his street.
And when we drove past his cabin, a little further way down the street, my curiosity heightened.
Where are we going?
A few more feet and he pulled over to the side of the road. “Close your eyes.”
I did as I was told even though I couldn’t see anything anyway, the street lined with tall bushes. I waited as he rounded the truck and opened the door, helping me out of it.
“No peeking, okay?”
“Okay.” I held on to him tightly as he navigated us along. I assumed it was the sidewalk or something, the concrete turning into grass rather quickly. “Where are you taking me?”
“You’ll see.” He chuckled. “Patience, sweetheart.”
A few more minutes and we came to a stop. He wrapped his arm around my shoulders and pulled me close against him. “Okay on the count of three you can open your eyes. One. Two. Three!”
I opened my eyes and blinked a few times, not believing what I saw in front of me. A loud gasp escaped from my throat, and I turned to Thane in disbelief.
“No way.”
“Yes way.”
“No way. How? I mean…what?”
Thane grinned as he threaded his arm through mine and gently ushered me towards the newly constructed building. A large sign on the front read Amara’s Flower Shop with a smaller sign beneath it that said Coming Soon!
“How? How is this possible?” I exclaimed as he walked me through the front door. The frame was up, the walls coming together with panels of sheetrock. It was exactly like how I showed him, my vision come to life.
I let go of his arm and ran around the place in absolute delight. “Oh my God, Thane! I can’t believe this!”
“Now you see why I was so busy. I wanted to at least get the bare bones done before I brought you here. I needed the vision to come to life first.”
I shook my head, still in shock that I was even here. In my own flower shop. That he built me. On his land. Land I didn’t have to purchase. How could I ever repay him?
Thane wrapped his arms around me from behind and rested his chin on my shoulder. “Move in with me, Amara. This shop is all yours. You can open your business and live out your dreams. Together. With me.”
More tears streamed down my cheeks, these ones only from happiness and nothing else. “How? How is this real life?”
“Sometimes we need to be a little patient, before it all works out in the end.” Thane said before pulling me in for another one of his mind-blowing kisses.
I’d never get enough of his sweet lips.