Someday Maybe (23 page)
Authors: Ophelia London
Tags: #Colleen Hoover, #second chance romance, #Someday Maybe, #Definitely Maybe in Love, #Cora Carmack, #Jane Austen, #Ophelia London, #Tammara Webber, #Romance, #Embrace, #entangled, #college, #New Adult, #Abbi Glines, #Definitely Maybe
Oliver lifted his chin to glance over the back of the couch. “Huh. No idea.” He lay back down. “Listen to the rain,” he whispered, trailing a lazy finger up my spine. I buried my nose in his neck, then pressed a cheek against his chest.
I’d rather listen to your heart.
“Do you have to go back to Vancouver tomorrow?”
“Hell, no.” He nuzzled into my neck. “They know they have to start getting along without me.” He held back my hair to look at me. “I gave notice. I know that scares you, but it’s not like before, Rach. You don’t have to be afraid of a future with me.”
“I’m not.” I smiled, so touched by his concern. “I understand now what taking a leap of faith means. I want to do that with you, and I was serious when I thanked you before. You probably don’t realize the effect you’ve had on me—on the decisions I’ve been making lately about my job.” I placed my hand over his. “I might be quitting, too. Sooner than later.”
“Really?” He squeezed my hand, almost like he was afraid I might bolt. But he had no idea how my decision only made me feel closer to him. After a moment, his grip relaxed. “You mentioned
Redbook
earlier.”
“They offered me a pretty good freelance contract for a newbie. I never thought I’d even consider leaving the security of corporate America for the great unknown.”
He kissed my temple. “We’ll take that leap together.”
“Thank you.” I hovered over his mouth for a second, then kissed him. Hard.
“You’re welcome,” he said, sucking in an inhale when I allowed him to breathe again. “Though I’m not sure what I did.”
“You were just being you.”
He ran a hand down my back, curling it around my hip. “What time are you going into work tomorrow?”
“Hmm.” I wrapped a leg around his. “I think I’m feeling another round of appendicitis coming on. Better stay home.”
“Finally some good timing for us.” He pulled me onto his chest, kissed me, told me he’d missed me and that he loved me. While locked in his arm, it was like something had been returned to me, a missing piece from my soul I didn’t know was gone. Suddenly, I remembered how it felt to be one half of two.
A while later, Oliver nodded off. When I rolled off the couch, he jerked awake and grabbed my hand. “Where are you going?”
I knelt down and leaned over his sleepy face. “Shhh.” I ran a hand through the front of his hair. “I need my phone. I want to leave my boss a voicemail about tomorrow.”
He yawned and rubbed his nose, eyes closed. “Tell Moron Bruce you won’t be in ‘til next week.” He ran his hand down my arm, resting it on my hipbone. “I had a scary dream, so you can’t leave me.”
It was my turn to watch him sleep. And later, waking up. My favorite part, too.
I kissed his eyelids. “Never.”
The power was still out and the room felt stuffy, so I cranked opened one of the huge picture windows. Fresh air and sounds of the city drifted in. I inhaled and leaned against the ledge, staring out at the San Francisco skyline, only partially lit.
I placed that call to Bruce, and Oliver and I didn’t leave his house for three days, living quite contently on pancakes and Chinese delivery and each other. I sent Sarah one text: the “thumbs-up” emoticon. I sent Oliver one text from bed: the heart with an arrow.
…
Six months after I’d left NRG Interactive, I reminded him of something else I remembered from that night at the hospital. “You promised we’d get married and have ten kids, Oliver.
And
you said you would take me away.”
He stood from the couch, walked over to where I sat at the dining room table, and closed my laptop with the new manuscript I was preparing for
Redbook
. “Such impatience, Rach.” He smiled. “Four days from now isn’t soon enough?”
I glanced past his shoulder at the long garment bag hanging outside the closet. It was unzipped, showing the top of my new white dress, the one Oliver hadn’t seen yet.
I bit my lip and looked up at him. “Why didn’t we elope?”
“Because our sisters would kill us.” He pulled me off my chair and into his arms. After a quick squeeze, he took my left hand, kissed the spot next to my diamond ring, then moved my hand to the top of his right shoulder. “And because I wouldn’t miss this for the world.” We did a slow box step around the dining room, while he hummed our “first dance” song in my ear.
I smiled so big my cheeks hurt, while I clung to Oliver…the man of my dreams, my partner and coach in taking scary leaps, the nineteen-year-old boy who brought me
Dawson’s Creek
and took care of me every day.
“After this technicality is out of our way”—he spun me under his arm then bent to kiss my neck—“we’ll get started on those ten kids. Twenty, even.”
“Keep dreaming,” I whispered.
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Acknowledgments
Thank you to my tireless Entangled Publishing team for making another book dream of mine come true. Thank you to unbelievably patient and amazing friends who helped me by reading drafts, listening to me rant, meeting for lunches, and being on IM whenever I was super needy—which has been pretty often lately. Hugs and kisses and sexy guys in suits to you all!
About the Author
USA Today bestselling author
Ophelia London
was born and raised among the redwood trees in beautiful northern California. Once she was fully educated, she decided to settle in Florida, but her car broke down in Texas and she’s lived in Dallas ever since. A cupcake and treadmill aficionado (obviously those things are connected), she spends her time watching arthouse movies and impossibly trashy TV, while living vicariously through the characters in the books she writes. Ophelia is the author of SOMEDAY MAYBE; DEFINITELY, MAYBE IN LOVE; ABBY ROAD; the Perfect Kisses series including: FALLING FOR HER SOLDIER, PLAYING AT LOVE, SPEAKING OF LOVE, and MAKING WAVES; and the upcoming Sugar City series for Entangled’s Bliss line. Visit her at
ophelialondon.com
. But don’t call when The Vampire Diaries is on.
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