Ethan just tightened his hold. Gray eyes flashing, he glared at her and said, “Because it was the right thing—for you. I’d ruined your life.”
“No.” She shook her head. “No, you didn’t. That wasn’t my life. It was a lie, one my dad made for me. That’s not the kind I wanted then, and it’s not the life I want now.”
“What kind do you want now?”
She gave him a bitter smile. “Haven’t you been listening? I want a life with you. I don’t know much more than that, but I want it with you.”
His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed. His eyes, dark and stormy, stared into hers, so deep, so intent, as though he was trying to see clear through to the other side of her soul. “Celeste…”
She leaned in and kissed his throat. Her heart raced in her chest, soaring high, then crashing to her feet. “If you really walked away because you thought it was the right thing to do, then so be it. I don’t like it, but I understand…I think. And besides…remember, I didn’t exactly give you a choice. I wanted you gone—I was rather insistent on that. I needed time. Now I’ve had it. And it’s up to us to decide where to go from here. Now we both have a choice. I’ve made mine…and I chose you.” Leaning in, she pressed her lips to his ear and murmured, “Make the choice, Ethan. Choose us this time. Us. Not me. Not you. Us.”
He didn’t say anything out loud.
He just kissed her.
But this time, when he kissed her, it wasn’t goodbye. It didn’t feel like an ending.
It felt like a new beginning.
Look for other titles by Shiloh
The Barnes Brothers
Razed
Busted
Contemporary Standalone Titles
Beg Me
Tempt Me
Beautiful Scars
A Forever Kind of Love
Playing for Keeps
No Longer Mine
The Ash Trilogy
If You Hear Her
If You Know Her
The Secrets & Shadows Series
Burn For Me
Break For Me
Long For Me
Deeper Than Need
Sweeter Than Sin
Darker Than Desire
The FBI Psychics
The Missing
The Departed
The Protected
The Unwanted
The Innocent
And more
About
Shiloh Walker has been writing since she was a kid. She fell in love with vampires with the book Bunnicula and has worked her way up to the more…ah…serious works of fiction. She loves reading and writing anything paranormal, anything fantasy, and nearly every kind of romance. Once upon a time she worked as a nurse, but now she writes full time and lives with her family in the Midwest. She writes romantic suspense and contemporary romance, and urban fantasy under her penname, J.C. Daniels. You can find her at Twitter or Facebook and read more about her work at her website. Sign up for her newsletter and have a chance to win a monthly giveaway.