The Troll Bridge #7
“Just a chance.” He moved, standing in front of her, and clasped her shoulders with his hands.
“You told me you don’t have any family left, so what’s back there for you?
Nothing much that I can see. Here you could have something important – we could have something important – but if you leave we’ll never know. Isn’t it worth some time to find out?”
She looked past him at the vortex. Was it pulsing a little faster now? Lia took a step forwards, but Troll tightened his hold just enough to grab her attention.
“You’re frightened, I get that, but you know what scares me more? The idea of spending the rest of my life wondering what we might have had if you’d stayed. Wondering if Gram was right and you were my destiny. Can you walk away and live with those questions?”
“But this might be the only opportunity I have. What if I pass on it, things don’t develop between us, and I can’t get home? What then?”
Troll framed her face between his hands.
“I promise you, if you want to go back to 2010 later, I’ll get you there somehow.
” He shook his head. “Hell, if the wormhole is tied to the pyramid in some way, Kendall can probably control it. If not, I’ll break us through security for an accelerator in 2050 if that’s what it takes. ”
The vortex flickered and Lia sucked in a sharp breath, afraid for an instant that she’d lost her only chance. Troll made staying sound easy, but it wasn’t. “Your colonel thinks I’m a spy. He’ll lock me up or torture me or something if I remain here.”
“Sullivan is a problem, but we can figure out what to do with him. We can enlist the rest of my team and their wives if we have to. Someone will have an answer.”
Again, Lia looked over his shoulder at the vortex, then returned her gaze to Troll. His blue eyes were intense and she could see he meant every word he said. “But what if—”
“There are no guarantees in life, but sometimes you have to take the risk anyway. Stay with me, take this chance. We could have everything.”
“Or nothing.”
“That’s a possibility,” he admitted. “But we’ve got this on our side.”
Troll’s kiss made her toes curl and Lia clutched at him, hanging on as if he were the one who might leave her. She wanted him to distract her, to keep her occupied until the wormhole was gone and she didn’t have to make a decision, but long before she was ready, he broke free.
“It has to be your choice,” he said. And then he stepped aside, leaving her path to the vortex clear.
His actions paralysed her and Lia stared at the lights, watching them spin faster.
She wanted to stay, but how could she? Troll was gorgeous, funny, smart, interesting, sexy – everything she wanted in a man – but even if he didn’t feel like one, he was a stranger.
How could she turn her back on her home when this time was foreign to her?
When she was under suspicion? When either she or Troll could decide that they weren’t meant to be?
The wormhole began to contract and she stepped forwards.
In that moment, Lia realized she was more like her parents than she’d known.
They’d been afraid to risk anything, afraid to go for broke, and she was about to leave the only man who’d ever made her feel alive because of the fear.
Maybe it wouldn’t work – he was right, there were no guarantees in life – but if she left, it was over right here, right now.
Lia stared at Troll, then at the gateway home.
Her job, her car, her apartment, a life that was familiar and safe.
Or a man with whom things might not work out, a possible charge of espionage held over her head, a horrible colonel who thought she was guilty, and a world that was mostly strange to her.
Just the thought of staying made her nauseous.
The vortex shrank farther, and with a gasp, Lia rushed towards it.
But before she crossed, she stopped short.
Life wasn’t supposed to be mundane and routine.
It was about change, about experiences, about dreams. About love.
What if Troll was her destiny? What if she spent the rest of her life comparing other men to him and none of them measured up?
What if she regretted her cowardice every day until she died? What then?
No promises, but a chance.
She couldn’t live with the what ifs; she had to know whether or not Troll was the love of her life. With her heart lodged in her throat, Lia let the wormhole close.
Tremors shook her body when it disappeared, and she breathed deeply until the urge to vomit passed.
It took another couple of minutes until she felt steady enough to walk over to Troll.
She stared up at him, letting his steady gaze calm her.
“I’m scared that I just made a big mistake, but I’m rolling the dice, Chris. ”
Wincing, he wrapped his arms around her and gathered her close. “You won’t regret it, I’ll make sure of that.” He kissed her, but before she was ready for it to end, he stepped away, took her hand, and led her back inside the pyramid.
“Chris!” she protested.
He shook his head. “Why don’t we make a pact? You can call me Chris when we’re home – alone – but otherwise it’s Troll. Deal, Ophelia?”
Now she winced. “Deal. You give as good as you get, don’t you?”
His smile was wicked. “Always. You’ll appreciate that when I have you in bed.”
Heat settled low in her belly and Lia forgot her terror and uncertainty. Life really was an adventure and hers was about to begin.