Promise Me (38 page)

She's quiet for a second or two before I cut in again.

"So, what do you think?"

"What do I think about what?" She asks.

"About all these signs? I mean, Philadelphia is a big city, what are the odds that I would run into Jimmy in such a big city?"

She laughs lightly before she answers me. "That is true."

"And the painting," I explain further, "I really was planning on keeping it sealed and putting it away instead of hanging it up."

Julia laughs again, but this time more heartily and it kind of bugs me.

"What's so funny?"

"Sweetie, you said you're parked outside his restaurant, right?"

"Yeah, and?"

Sounding slightly amused at how I haven't connected the dots on my own, she says, "Sabrina, the heart wants what the heart wants. Fuck the signs."

And just like that... I know I'm right where I belong. I manage a quick goodbye to Julia, who is still squealing when I tell her I have to hang up. My stomach drops and my pulse begins to race when I get out of the car with a renewed sense of purpose.

The sidewalk is somewhat crowded as I make my way to stand right across the street of his restaurant, not sure of what to do next. I've made it this far, amazingly enough, but don't think busting in there out of the blue is going to work. Why didn't I think this whole thing out more clearly? In the movies they make this crap seem so much easier than it actually is. Stupid romance movies. I swear, I'm never going to watch one of those again.

Frustrated and irritated with every single romantic film I've ever seen, an idea forms in my head. I hastily reach into my purse and take out my cell phone. Before I can chicken out, I scroll through my contacts list to find Tyler's name and call him. My heart is in my throat and I'm pretty sure I'm going to throw up while I wait for him to answer.

"Sabrina."

The sound of my name rolling off his tongue so easily makes me smile like an idiot and that's how I know I've made the right decision. Just that one word, my name and the way he says it, confirms what my heart is feeling... I love him. Like a blindfold being ripped from my eyes, I see that I have already forgiven him and now I'm ready to take another chance with him. It's like he said, every part of him has always belonged to me and it was just a matter of time before I came here.

"Sabrina, are you there?" He asks.

"I'm here," hoping he can see through my answer.

Tyler lets out a small chuckle, then asks, "Are you sure this time?"

"Absolutely positive." I start to pace a bit on the sidewalk as he absorbs my answer.

"So," I say trying to contain my happiness, "I thought you'd like to know I got a new job."

I can hear the commotion behind him in the background when he says, "Congratulations."

"Thanks."

"I thought you loved your job though."

"I did," I say quickly, "but I couldn't turn this one down."

"Why's that?"

Here it is, the moment of truth. "Well, I couldn't very well say no to the Philadelphia Museum of Art."

Tyler stays silent for a beat. I can tell he's smiling when he says, "No, I guess you couldn't."

"Yeah, it's been pretty amazing so far."

As soon as the word 'far' leaves my lips, Tyler speaks up as if he just put two and two together. "What do you mean, 'so far'? Where are you right now?"

"Here."

"Where, here? In Philadelphia?"

"Yes. I've been here for a week."

The commotion that I heard in the background a second ago is gone. I imagine that he must have ducked into his office or to a quiet corner so he can have some privacy, because I can only hear his confused voice over the line and nothing else.

"Let me get this straight. You got a new job, here, in Philadelphia,
and
you've been living here for the past week?"

"Yes."

He takes a breath then exhales before he asks, "Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

Because I'm an idiot, stupidly blind, incredibly stubborn, and stuck on a past that I needed to let go of. I can't tell him all that, so I give him the abbreviated version.

"I don't know, Tyler. I
can
tell you that I wish that I would have come sooner."

"I wish you would have too, Sabrina," he says solemnly.

My heart drops so far that it's dragging behind me on the sidewalk while I pace, thinking my worst fear of him having moved on already, or starting to, have come true. Looking upon the front door of the restaurant, I missed my chance and screwed up by putting him off for too long.

"O-okay," I shakily say, "I'm sorry. I should leave."

"Stop, Sabrina. Do. Not. Hang. Up."

"No, really, Tyler... I get it...I...," not able to finish because he starts to talk over me.

"No, you don't get it
at all
. I wish you would have told me sooner because I miss you like crazy and I'm dying to see your beautiful face again. Don't get any crazy ideas in that pretty little head of yours, I told you I'd wait and I've been doing nothing but waiting... and I'll wait even longer if you needed me to."

His calm, deep voice reverberates through every fiber of my being, and now it's just a question of how much sooner can I see him versus continuing this conversation on the phone.

"I don't want you to wait anymore, Tyler," I say speaking softly, "I've always been here; it's just taken me a long time to find out where here is."

"Define here," he says in a playful tone.

"Here… as in outside."

"You're outside my restaurant?" He asks in disbelief.

"Well," I continue, trying to contain a laugh, "to be specific, I'm across the street from the restaurant."

Turning my body so I'm facing the restaurant, I impatiently wait for the door to swing open and see him. It might as well have been an hour, because the few seconds I wait feel excruciatingly long. The door finally opens and there he is, as gorgeous as ever with a ridiculously sexy grin and still cradling the phone to his ear.

Tyler goes to step off the curb when I yell into the phone and at him, since he's kind of right there in front of me now. "Wait!"

He stops in mid-step.

"I want to tell you something first," I say.

Switching the phone to other ear, he runs his free hand through his thick, already tousled brown hair and sighs. From where I'm standing, I can see he's still grinning when he says, "Make it quick because you're killing me right now."

"I need to tell you that I'm sorry for making you wait and being a complete idiot after it was more than obvious how you felt about me. That I'm sorry I kept this... the new job, the move, all of it, away from you for so long. More than anything, I'm sorry that it took me all this time to get back here to you."

Tyler's face changes and he appears to be upset by what I'm saying.

"Is that it?" He asks.

"No," I say forcefully, "I also want to say that I'm really not that sorry for making you wait because you were the one that hurt me. And just so you know, if you ever do that again I'm never coming back for you."

He looks even more upset before he asks, "Is that all of it?"

"Um, I think so, yeah."

"Good. I'm hanging up now."

He steps off the curb, fisting his phone as I hit the end button on my own. Not tearing his eyes away from me, he quickly looks both ways and strides briskly across the empty street. Tyler hesitates for a second, as if he's not completely sure I'll walk away, so I take a step closer, followed by him taking another one closer, until the space between us is almost non-existent.

Cupping my face with both his hands, a smile begins to curl up on the corners of his mouth and he tilts my face up. I stare into those beautiful chocolate eyes that I lost myself in so many years ago and smile back as I bring my hands to rest on his hips.

"Promise me something," he says in a low voice.

My gaze drops to his mouth and I lick my lips in anticipation of feeling them against mine when I nod. "Anything."

Tyler drops his lips so close to my cheek that his warm breath tickles me and a shiver runs up and down my spine. He kisses me there, then drags his lips to my ear when I close my eyes and I let his words wash over me.

"Promise me that you'll never make me wait that long to kiss you again."

Tyler brings his lips back to brush against mine and I smile at him. Keeping my eyes closed, his mouth begins to move slowly over mine, coaxing my lips open to him and making me feel like everything around us disappears. It's not until we garner whistles and cat calls from strangers walking by that we break the kiss reluctantly.

"Can I ask you a question?" He asks in a quiet voice rubbing his thumbs across my cheeks.

God, I
love
it when he does that.

"Yes," my voice equally quiet.

His mouth curves up into a dazzling smile when he asks, "Do you have any idea how much I love you, Sabrina?"

I run through a few of the catalogued memories in my mind that we've created together, starting as far back as that night when he stole my heart with his few words and comforting embrace. My mind then goes fast forward to the gazebo at the reunion, where he made my pulse race and admitted that he was hoping I'd be there. Then to the first time we made love. Still racing, it settles on the memory of the tattoo on his chest that he got just for me. Every memory serving as more proof than the last that his love for me is as strong as mine is for him.

Smiling, I grip onto his wrists and answer him. "I think I have a very good idea."

"Is that so," he says in a lighthearted tone, still stroking my cheeks. "How do you know?"

"I know because it's exactly how much I love you."

Tyler dips his head so that his lips are hovering over mine, still smiling, but his voice drops to a heart stopping raspy tone when he asks me one more question.

"And how much is that, baby?"

My head feels like it's spinning, my stomach flip flopping, my heart soaring… all happening at the same time like a three ring circus, reacting to him on every single level that is possible. I don't dare waste another minute of precious time to say what my heart has been wanting. The answer is so simple. It has been right in front of me all along and it feels so good to tell him.

"Tyler James," I watch his eyes light up before saying what has been in my heart for so long. "I love you with all that I am."

Belinda & Christian, thank you for putting up with me all those nights that I stared at my laptop and ordered take out just so I could finish this book. Your beautiful smiles are the reason I did this to begin with. I love both of you, more than you will ever know…Infinity X2. And I owe you guys a vacation or a few days at the beach.

Kyle, thank you for putting up with me for the past few months. I love you, baby, always. I wish that I could have granted your request of having a hot dog cart scene included within the actual book, but here's the best I could do: Tyler runs away to NYC and leaves Sabrina in the dust to live out his dream of being a hot dog cart vendor, THE END.

Luisa Hansen, editor is such a formal term for someone who has come to mean so much more to me. I consider you a close friend, confidante, and a general awesome person. Thank you for your encouraging words and faith in me from the beginning and convincing me that I am a writer. Thank you for your honesty which has always made me want to push myself to work harder and make you proud.

Lisa Chamberlin, who knew that our mutual love of one little curse word would bring us so closely together. Thank you from the very bottom of my heart for every single chapter read, every suggestion, every time you made me laugh, every time I went a little crazy, every little single thing. I love you like the lost sister you are to me. You are the cream of the crop…the best book buddy a girl could ever ask for. (Cue up the Better Midler.)

Dionne Simmons, my best friend of almost 30 years. I love you, woman. Thank you for reading each chapter as I handed them to you and providing the encouragement that you have for pretty much my entire life.