Page 114 of Rejected Heart
Her eyes dropped to the plate. “It certainly seems so.”
The elevator doors opened, so I took her by the hand and stepped on. We rode it to the top floor, got off, and made our way down the hall to the place we’d sneaked off to at the first Christmas party Layla attended with me.
As soon as we sat down on the couch that had been upgraded since that first time, Layla beamed at me. “I can’t believe we’re back here.”
I picked up the red velvet cupcake. “Well, I had so much fun recreating other memories with you. This isn’t one I was willing to overlook.”
Just like she’d done with me back then, I lifted the cupcake to her mouth so she could take a bite.
Layla moaned, dropping her head back as she tasted it. “Oh, that’s even more delicious than I remembered.”
“I think Jules took over this part of the party, so that’s probably why,” I reasoned, before popping the other half of the mini cupcake into my mouth.
The silence stretched between us, Layla lifting a cookie off the plate. “I think this is my favorite.”
“The cookie?”
She shook her head. “No. This memory. Of all of them, this is the one that makes my heart so happy.”
I thought back on that day from more than a decade ago and confessed, “I’ll never forget how nervous I was that day.”
“You? I was trembling inside, and you were so cool and confident.”
Laughter spilled out of me. “Maybe it appeared that way, but I was a mess. You were so beautiful that night. You were always beautiful, but that night was different. And after spending the previous two months getting to know you, all I knew was that I didn’t want to go another day without telling you how I felt, without making you my girlfriend.”
Tears were shining in her eyes. “I remember being so nervous about you kissing me.”
“Mmm. My first kiss. My first love.”
“And now we’re getting our second chance.”
It felt like a dream come true.
I set the plate down. “We shouldn’t waste this opportunity to recreate this memory. I think I’d like to kiss you, Layla.”
She swallowed deeply, tipping her chin down slightly. “My belly is trembling just like it did back then.”
Leaning toward her, I confessed, “And my heart is racing just like it did.”
A heartbeat later, I touched my lips to hers.
And just like had been the case all those years ago, it didn’t matter how much fun Layla and I had down in the ballroom with the Westwoods. These quiet moments with her, kissing and sharing dessert, were easily my favorite part of the night.
This was bound to be the best Christmas of my life.
EPILOGUE
LAYLA
SIX MONTHS LATER
I’d been buzzingwith energy from the moment I woke up. In fact, I was awake before my alarm even went off this morning.
I wasn’t surprised.
The last week or so had left me feeling like a big ball of energy as I counted down the days until today.
It was day one.
