Chapter 27
TWENTY-SEVEN
KOR
I couldn’t stop looking at her.
Vivienne was sitting across from me at the kitchen island, sunlight pouring through the windows behind her.
Her dark hair was loose around her shoulders, and she was smiling as she ate the waffles I’d made her.
Every now and then she would close her eyes and make a little sound of pleasure when she took a bite of the strawberry sauce or the whipped cream.
It should have been ridiculous how much I enjoyed watching her eat breakfast, but it felt like one of the best mornings of my life.
Which sounds extreme, I know. I mean, I had just met her not two days ago. But somehow being with her just felt incredibly right.
I suppose that thought should have alarmed me—instead, it made me strangely happy. For the first time in my life, I felt like I was exactly where I belonged. That doesn’t make sense, I suppose, but I was too happy to care.
I took a sip of coffee and studied her over the rim of my mug.
She was beautiful—there was no point pretending otherwise.
But it wasn’t just her looks that kept drawing my attention.
It was the way she laughed…the way she blushed when I complimented her…
the way she looked at me as though she still couldn't quite believe I wanted to be here with her.
When she looked at me like that, it made my heart fist in my chest.
She’d spent twenty years with a male who had convinced her she wasn't enough. Not pretty enough…not desirable enough…not fertile enough. He’d tied her whole self-worth up in her ability to have children but there was so much more to her—so much more than anyone knew, including me.
But I wanted to find it out—all of it. I wanted to know all about Vivienne.
Every day I spent with her, I became more convinced that Carter Jamison had been the biggest fool who ever lived.
He’d discounted her intelligence and beauty and her genuinely kind heart because all he cared about was what she could do for him—what she could give him.
And when she couldn’t give him what he wanted, he made her feel worthless.
But Vivienne wasn't lacking—she had simply been given to the wrong male.
The thought came so naturally that it startled me, mainly because it felt so true.
I looked down at my coffee, frowning. What the hell was happening to me? Why was I feeling like this?
I'd been attracted to women before. I'd fallen in love before—or at least I thought I had.
Jennie and I had been together for years.
I had cared about her deeply. I still did, in a way.
We hadn't broken up because we hated each other.
We'd broken up because eventually we had realized we wanted different things, and she found someone she wanted more.
I would always be grateful for what we'd shared—it was wonderful. But if I was being honest with myself, I had never felt anything like this—never.
I had never found myself thinking about a woman from the moment I woke up until the moment I fell asleep. I had never found myself wondering if she was warm enough, happy enough, eating enough. I had never wanted to tell her silly jokes just because I loved seeing her smile and hearing her laugh.
I had never looked at a woman and felt as though some missing piece of my life had suddenly clicked into place.
And to be honest, that scared me a little—because none of it made sense.
Vivienne was a Moon Widow—untouchable. The Unbreakable Laws existed for a reason. Even if I disagreed with them, they were still there, and Vivienne was still off-limits.
Eventually reality was going to catch up with us…eventually we would have to decide what happened next.
But as I looked at Vivienne sitting across from me, smiling as she reached for her coffee, I found I didn't care—not right now.
The future could wait. The laws could wait. The doubts could wait.
For the first time in ages, I was happy—genuinely happy.
Maybe I was a fool…maybe I was making the biggest mistake of my life. But I was tired of borrowing trouble from tomorrow.
Vivienne had spent twenty years being miserable and I had spent years trying to build a life that looked right on paper while ignoring the fact that something was missing.
Maybe neither of us deserved that anymore—maybe we deserved this—at least for a little while.
Vivienne caught me staring and smiled.
"What? What is it?"
I smiled back.
"Nothing."
"You're doing it again,” she said.
"Doing what?" I raised an eyebrow at her.
She waved her fork at me in a vague motion.
"You know—looking at me like that."
I leaned back in my chair and folded my arms.
"Can't help it, baby. You’re beautiful."
“Kor…” Her cheeks turned pink, and her eyes were glowing as she ducked her head in pleased embarrassment.
The sight made something warm settle in my chest, and I decided something then and there. Whatever was happening between us—whatever impossible force kept pulling us together—I was done fighting it, at least for today.
Today I was going to enjoy breakfast with the most beautiful woman I'd ever met.
Tomorrow could worry about itself.