Brock stepped forward. All three women stayed where they were. He slowly stepped around the open car door and stopped right in front of June. He dared to reach out and take her hand. It was cold and so small and fragile in his. She stared up at him, her eyes boring straight through to his soul.
“I want to make this work. I want to give it an honest shot. I like you, June. Our marriage might have happened when we were both blackout drunk and neither of us knew what we were thinking, but maybe your friends are right. Maybe we were thinking with our hearts instead of all our walls and our brains and our previous hurts and wounds. Maybe we took a chance for a reason. I swear that if you want me to, I’ll never stop trying to make this work.”
“So you’d be willing to relocate, because I’m not leaving my friends.”
“I would. I can work remotely. Most of my work is done from home anyway. It would be nice, to have a fresh start. If you’re willing to have me.”
“San Diego is really nice,” Mandy insisted.
“It’s extra nice. There are always things to do.”
“Please let us tag along with you.”
“You guys make the cutest couple,” Jaz pushed. “Please, tell him yes. Tell him that you want to stay married, because I’m rooting for you.”
“You just want shoes,” June shot back, but she wasn’t really mad.
Jaz grinned back. “Maybe, but most of all, I want to see you happy.”
“I know we only spent a few days together,” Brock jumped in, sensing June’s resistance weakening. “But I know it’s different with you. I feel this connection that I’ve never felt with anyone. It feels so right whenever I’m with you. I had an amazing time. I haven’t had fun like that in a very long time. It was you. It was your friends. It was everything. I don’t want to give it up. I don’t want to lose you and lose that. I know we can only try, but if I don’t do that, if I don’t tell you how I feel now, I’ll spend a long time regretting it.”
June rolled her eyes. “You’re just in it for the sex.”
Brock grinned. “I’m not. I promise. I mean, that’s good too, but it’s more. It’s so much more. I want that chance to actually lose myself in you. All of me. I want to fall in love. Even if that sounds corny and cheesy and lame. You’re under my skin. You’re here,” he placed his hand over his heart. “I want to keep you there.”
Jaz and Mandy hung on his words. Jaz had gone doe eyed and Mandy’s lips were pressed in a hard line, but her eyes were welling up with tears. Obviously, he’d won them over. Ultimately though, June was going to make her own decision no matter what her friends thought. He turned his gaze back to her. She sighed and threw her hands up.
“Alright, alright. You win. I’ll give you another chance. Although that was really lame and corny and cheesy and all of it. You can’t win my heart with flowers and chocolates. I don’t need things. I’m never going to use you for your money. Well… not much at any rate. I can’t say the same for Jaz and Mandy.” She shot him a coy smile and he had to laugh.
He stepped forward, wrapped one arm around June’s waist and tipped her face up with the other. “I’m sorry. Truly. I promise not to keep things from you in the future.”
June’s eyes flashed. “You better not.”
“I promise I will do everything in my power to make this work.”
“You said that already.”
“Just kiss her!” Jaz yelled at him.
“Yeah, kiss her. I think she’s got the gist of it,” Mandy agreed.
Because there really was only one thing left to do, Brock bent his head. He didn’t hold back. He claimed June’s lips with all the scalding heat he usually saved for when they were alone. Jaz and Mandy actually cheered and clapped. When he pulled away, June wrapped her arms around his neck and brought his face back down. She stood on her tip toes and kissed him again, until they were both breathless.
“You’re right on time,” she grinned when she’d regained her ability to speak. “You can help me carry my bags up. I live on the third floor and there are a lot of stairs.”
He bowed low and offered her a silly, huge, face splitting grin. He couldn’t think of anything he’d rather do. “You don’t want to make a bet of it, do you?”
“I think I’m done with bets for now,” June laughed. “At least until we get up to the apartment. After that… who knows. I might be able to find a deck of cards. You owe me a game of strip poker after all.”