“More than coincidence. Fate.” I’m smiling like a fool at my cheesy line, but I don’t care.
Ryan looks down at me and runs the backs of his knuckles against my jaw. “I would be lying, though, if I said I didn’t hope to run into you now and then, thinking that just maybe you would move here, and we’d be reunited in some tiny coffee shop at an odd hour.”
I reach up and clasp my hands behind his neck. “Such a romantic.”
“Don’t tell anyone. It’ll ruin my image.”
“I’m having it printed in big letters on a billboard. Ryan Henderson is a romantic. It has a picture of you dressed in a cupid outfit below the words.”
He leans in and whispers over my mouth, “Just shut up and kiss me, you loon.”
And oh boy, do I.
The Chinese food is forgotten, and Ryan and I make out during the whole movie. That couch somehow gets even more uncomfortable, but given these new memories I’ll have to associate with it, it grows on me.
“Wait,” I say, ripping my sore lips away from him.
He groans and drops his head down by my neck. “What?”
“You never told me about that potential job.”
“Huh?” he says and starts kissing my neck again. “It doesn’t matter.”
Au contraire, mon frère.
I push on Ryan’s big chest, but he doesn’t budge until he realizes I’m serious. He sits up and runs his hands through his wild hair. He takes in a deep breath and releases it. “It was a job for a new restaurant opening, and they wanted me to be the executive chef.”
“Was?”
&nbs
p; He tilts his head to fix his dark eyes on me. “I turned it down.”
“What? Why?” I sound panicked, because I am.
Ryan scoots over by me again and takes my hand in his. “June, don’t freak out. I gave it a lot of thought. But when I went to the restaurant today, it just wasn’t a right fit for me. And besides, I’m moving to Charleston.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
June
“Moving to Charleston?!” I’m screeching—panic-screeching—and Ryan’s vast apartment amplifies it.
His eyes go wide, and he holds out his hands in front of him like he is trying to soothe me before I bolt. Maybe I will. “No, don’t do it, June. This is not a sudden impulse I’m acting on.” He pauses, and his brows furrow. “Well, maybe it is slightly impulsive, since I never thought of moving back to Charleston until I saw you again, but…”
“Not helping your case.”
His face softens, and he wraps his arm around my shoulders, pulling me close to him. Now I’m trapped. He’s not going to let me run out of here. “June, I can’t explain it right. But when I went to the restaurant today, it just felt all wrong. Not where I want to be.”
“But you’ve worked so hard to get where you are, Ryan! You can’t just walk away from it.”
“Why not?”
I pull out of his arms. “Because you can’t!”
“Actually, I can. I was serious when I told you I want more than one date. I want us. I want a life. A family. A comfy couch.”
“I can buy you a new couch.”