Tae was strolling through the park. He must enjoy torturing himself. He had recently walked by the restaurant where Tia had gazed longingly at Jin. Tae’s heart broke every time he recalled it. Why, oh, why hadn’t he texted her sooner? If they’d been in contact, maybe they could have kept that special something that had sparked between them that night at the Eiffel Tower.
He smiled sadly as he remembered the way her hair had glowed in the lights of the tower. Her skin too. And her eyes. Her amazing eyes of fire. Passionate flames leaping in them. He wanted to be the recipient of that glorious blaze. He was willing to be consumed by it. He shook his head. That was no longer his destiny. It might have been once…had he been smarter.
How was he going to avoid seeing her again now? If Jin started to date her sister, their eventual meeting was inevitable. Tae feared it. He was astonished to discover that he actually was afraid of seeing her again. Dreading the pain that he knew such a meeting would unleash in his core.
—
Jin whistled as he walked back into Julieta’s apartment, carrying an armload of groceries. He was wondering if there was any way she would change her mind about celebrating with him today. He fell silent as he nearly bumped into her.
She swung around and faced him, her eyes growing wide as she gazed into his eyes. Was she blushing? He was forcefully reminded of the last time they’d been alone together. He’d been kissing her. His eyes found her lips again.
He set the bag of groceries on the counter behind her. He looked around the room. Where was her guard dog?
“Where’s Tia?” he whispered.
She smiled at him, having an inkling of what he was thinking about. “She’s in the shower.”
“Excellent,” he whispered as his smiling eyes met hers.
His worldwide handsome countenance stole her breath away as did the look in his eyes. He reached for her and pulled her up against him, sliding his arms around her. Then, slowly, his eyes lovingly traced every line and curve of her face. Such tenderness she found in that gaze! He bent towards her and gave her an Eskimo kiss, his nose gently brushing her own.
She laughed. That wasn’t what she’d expected. Then the expected came at an unexpected moment. He claimed her lips again in mid-laugh, her joy echoing into his own mouth. Her heart leapt!
Julieta stood, enraptured by Jin’s sweet kiss. He was lingering lovingly on her lips, clearly not in a hurry to let her go. After a few blissful moments, his lips found her ear, and he whispered, “Julieta, would you go to dinner with me tonight?”
She drew slightly away from him. “Just you?”
“No. Actually, I’m meeting my parents to celebrate my birthday, and I was hoping you and Tia would both come.”
She drew a deep breath but never broke their eye contact. Then she nodded. “I’ll be there.” She gave him a shy smile.
He breathed a sigh of relief even as his heart rose into his throat as he prepared to jump another hurdle. This one would be harder to overcome, he suspected.
“Julieta,” he whispered. “Would you please allow me to celebrate your life today too?”
Then as she gazed up at him, he bent his head and nuzzled her neck before his breath whispered across her ear, “Please. You are so precious to me.”
His words spiraled deep down into her core, cutting through ground that had long ago cracked from her soul’s drought. Now those seeds buried themselves deep within her, instantly sprouting to wrap around her as fresh, green vines of a blooming love. She felt queasy in the pit of her stomach. And she realized it was excitement. She was thrilled. Jin had just told her she was precious to him! Was it possible that he loved her? Really loved her?
But fresh on the heels of that ecstasy, a darker emotion invaded her being. Joy birthed a tear in her eye even as fear wrapped its thorny tendrils around her heart. If he loved her, he would be putting himself in jeopardy. If she loved him, she would be vulnerable again.
If she loved him? There was no question. She did love him. It was too late for her, but there might still be hope for him.
“Don’t care so much about me, Jin,” she whispered, her hands clinging to his shoulders even as her eyes avoided his.
“What?” He didn’t whisper it. “You’re too late, you know. I already care a lot about you.” He paused.
Dare he say what he was feeling? Would he scare her away if he revealed his heart?
She reached up and set the pad of her forefinger against his lips. “Shhh, Jin. Don’t say anything else.”
Heat was swirling through him at her touch. He wanted to pull her closer and never let her go, but he knew there was more at stake here than a romantic interlude. They were talking about her heart and her future. They were talking about her ability to risk loving someone again. And being loved.
Then she shook her head. “It’s inevitable, you know. People who care about me get hurt.” She met his eyes, her own crying out to him so loudly that he felt like he’d been punched in the gut. “Jin, I don’t want to see you hurt.”
He was angry now, despair rising like a dark cloud up out of his soul. “For crying aloud, Julieta! You act like you’re a curse! You’re not! You’re a blessing! And you’re mine. I think you are. Aren’t you?” His voice broke on the last two words.
How had this young woman come to mean so much to him in such a short period of time? He couldn’t fathom it, but that didn’t make it any less true. He had a burning desire to protect her from all the flaming arrows being aimed at her by her foes. He wanted to envelop her and keep her safe from every storm. He’d take the brunt of it all if he could just have the privilege of holding her in his arms.
Tears filled her eyes, and she began to sob. What on earth was wrong with her? She never cried. Even when her parents died. She’d kept it all locked inside. But now she found that, the dam having broken, she couldn’t keep back the flood of tears that she had unleashed.
Jin pulled her close and rested his head on her own. “That’s it, Julieta. Let it all out. All of it. Mourn all you’ve lost. Let it go. So you can begin again. It’s time to embrace life again, my love.”
Her breathing stopped. What had he just called her?
After a few moments, Jin’s gentle voice continued, “Julieta, you’ve been believing a pack of lies for a long time now. You are not the source of other people’s pain. You are a gift and a joy. You were a gift and a joy to your parents, however short their time with you was. And you are a gift and a joy to me.”
He bent his head and planted kisses in her dusky hair. Then he whispered across her scalp, “You are the best birthday present I’ve ever been given. So please tell me I can have you. Please tell me that you’ll be mine.”
She could hear the sweet supplication in his tone. And she realized that she had come too late to this conversation. Somehow, she had slipped inside of his heart just as surely as he had invaded her own.
