He smoothed her hair away from her face and kissed her forehead. “This is not goodbye,” he said again.

Good. If he kept saying it, she might eventually believe it.

Standing on tiptoes, she placed her lips to his. The kiss was gentle at first, but quickly ignited as passion and anxiety and a desperation she’d never felt before took over. Her hands clung to his shoulders and he was a source of oxygen from which she was drawing life...

He held her tight to his chest and she could feel their hearts pounding in sync.

How did she walk away from this? This feeling of contentment and safety in his arms, the feeling of being loved and loving someone in return... She searched for strength in his kiss, but the longer she was engulfed in Reed, the more consumed she felt.

He broke away, fighting for breath, a long moment later and she knew it was time to go.

Now or never.

He held her tight as he said, “We will make this work. We will text and Skype...and I’m here anytime of day or night... And Christmas Eve. We are going to be together then—that’s just two weeks away...”

Two weeks felt like forever. The night before in her half-asleep state, she’d said she’d try to make the trip back for Christmas Eve. She hadn’t promised. The clinical trials were starting the week before Christmas...in her gut she knew getting back there for Christmas Eve was improbable, but she refused to lose hope that somehow they’d find a way.

She was unable to spend the rest of the season with him, but she was suddenly determined to find a way to be there, in his arms on Christmas morning. The only thing she wanted that year. It would take a Christmas miracle, but right now, when she was leaving the only man she’d ever fallen this hard, this fast for, Erika had to believe in miracles.

She nodded. “Right. Two weeks is nothing...”

He smiled. “I’ll be seeing you, pretty girl...”

Okay, that was her cue to walk away. Instead, she dived back into his arms.

Damn, this was so hard.

“Two weeks. We can make this work. Believe in me, okay?” His words were meant to reassure, but all she heard was a pleading desperation not to hurt him.

And damn, she wished she could say for certain that she wouldn’t.

Pulling away, she picked up the handle on her suitcase and plastered on her best fake smile. She blew him a final kiss as she headed toward the train. In a few minutes, once she was seated and the train pulled away from the station, tears would start to fall. In a few hours, once she was home, reality would make the last week feel like a dream.

Chapter Twenty-One

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE