Free Rekindled by Susan Scott Shelley Page B

"I want more than that. I
want us to be together."
    "Pretty damn hard to be together when we're living on
opposite sides of the country. I don't want to have to fly for six hours every
damn time I want to see you."
    "Neither do I, but what am I supposed to do, ask you to skip
out on baseball and your family and move to L.A.? Or, would you ask me to give
up my dream?" She'd worked too hard, she'd fought too long. He had, too.
    His fist slammed onto the top of the bedpost. "No, but I want
to see you every day, and I want you lying next to me every night." 
    "Don't you think I want that, too?" She wanted him as
much as he claimed he wanted her.
    He sat on the edge of the bed and rubbed his hands over his face.
"I don't know anymore. Maybe you exaggerated your feelings for me because
it suited you at the time."
    "You really think I can fake my emotions that way?"
    His brown eyes pinned her with a heated stare. She could almost
feel the flames. "You’re a damn fine actress. Would it really be a
stretch?"
    She gasped and put her hand on her stomach. If he'd hit her, it
would have hurt less. “If that’s the way you feel, it’s probably best that I’m
leaving now.”
    “I’ll drive you to my sister’s.” He strode to the bedroom door.
Bear barked and padded to his side. Adam turned back, his hand on the dog’s
head. "What are you going to do with Bear while you're in Seattle?"
    Her mind spun. She took a deep breath and grasped for a rational
thought. "My vet's office has a small boarding section but I don't have
time to go to L.A. first. Maybe—"
    "You can't leave him with the vet for months. His separation
anxiety will skyrocket. I'll keep him."
    "You can't keep him." She motioned for Bear and wrapped
both arms around him.
    "He's familiar with me. It's the best choice for him."
    Swiping away her tears, she stared at Adam's hard expression. Bear
would be happier with Adam, but…she couldn't let him go, that was too much. Too
much responsibility for Adam and too much loss for her to handle. She couldn't
lose them both.
    "I just can't give him up. I love him."
    A pained expression shot across his face, then disappeared.
"I'll get him to you once you're back in L.A."
    He didn't say he'd be the one to deliver the dog.
    If he told her he loved her, she would have done anything for him.
But he hadn't said the words.
    Thinking of a life without him gutted her. Suddenly cold, she
wrapped her arms around her body. The alarm clock ticked away another precious
minute.
    "So this is it." She wasn't ready to say goodbye. Tears
clogged her throat. She pulled on her jeans and reached for the dog.
    Life wasn’t fair.
    Why did the realization of one dream have to result in the
destruction of another?
    When she looked up, Adam was gone.
    She couldn’t shake the feeling that once she left, she’d never see
him again.
     

CHAPTER THIRTEEN
     
    After dropping Gemma off at his sister's house, Adam took off into
the woods with Bear. The rushed morning repeated in his head. A sexy reunion ending
in a screeching halt of a break up. So much worse than the first time around.
    A couple walked hand-in-hand along the trail in front of him. Too
much like Gemma and him. All thoughts of clearing his mind evaporated. He
trekked back to his house.
    An hour later, he strode into the office. Bear trotted by his
side. His father's car was in the parking lot. Thankfully, Jocelyn's wasn't.
After seeing her expression that morning when Gemma exited his truck, he could
only imagine what his sister would have to say.
    His father looked up from his desk. "That dog is huge."
    Adam grunted in agreement and poured a cup of coffee as black as
his mood, then sat behind his desk. Bear settled on the floor at his feet. He
hadn't left Adam's side since they'd driven away from Gemma.
    "Where's the girl?"
    "On her way to Seattle. She got a movie role."
    "Good for her. Jocelyn told me about her troubles
there."
    Adam grunted again and reached for a pen. He'd bury himself