The Stopover (The Miles High Club #1)

by T.L. Swan

“History will be kind to me, for I intend to write it,” I say. “Quoting Winston Churchill now, Mr. Miles?” she breathes.

“I never worry about action, but only inaction,” she fires back without hesitation.

“Ask him if he feels like he might die if he doesn’t get to touch you again.” I frown. “Why would I ask him that?” I whisper. “Because there’s another man who does.” The phone clicks as he hangs up.

“But it was the way you kissed me that I remember the most.” My eyes search his. “How did I kiss you?” “Like you’d been waiting your whole life to kiss me.”

“Have you ever been so physically attracted to someone that you lose the ability to think around them?”

“You must have done something stupid in your life, Jameson Miles.” He smiles softly over at me in the darkness. “Yeah. I have.” “What?” I smirk. He reaches over and cups my face in his hand, and his thumb dusts over my bottom lip. “I never asked for your number.”

“I’m in love with you, Emily Foster.” He leans in and kisses me slowly. His tongue swipes through my open lips with such emotion that I get a lump in my throat. “I can’t help it. I tried to stop it, and I couldn’t. I think I’ve loved you since our first night together in Boston. You stayed with me. I fought it, and still, I couldn’t forget you. I’ve been carrying your scarf around like a lovesick fool for more than a year.”

“A misrepresentation of society with unrealistic images that portray a fake lifestyle with impossible ideals,”

Her love is a light . . . my light. “Jay,” she murmurs as she runs her fingers through my stubble. Her eyes search mine. “Yeah, baby?” “Can we come back here next weekend?” she asks hopefully. “Really?” I whisper. She nods with a soft smile. “I love this old house.” I smirk. If the truth be known, I’m kind of keen on it myself. “Maybe.” She snuggles against my chest. I feel her relax in my arms, and after a while, the gentle pattern of her breathing notifies me that she’s drifted off to sleep. I inhale deeply into her hair and smile as I watch the fire. This is it. I can stop searching. I’ve found her.

“When someone shows themselves to you . . . believe them.” My chest constricts at the significance of that statement. For weeks now, I’ve refused to believe that Jameson Miles was coldhearted. He is, though; no matter how the man I thought I knew presented himself . . . his reality is a lie. “Jim doesn’t exist,” he said. My phone rings, and the name Tristan lights up the screen. I frown. “Hello.” “Oh my God, Em. They think they’ve found it.” I sit up. “What?” “Lara Aspin’s computer—there’s evidence on there that it was used to log in to our bank accounts.”

“Being in love is like being on a deserted island, Jameson. You focus on them and them only, and you make everything else fit around that person.”

“If you don’t want to travel into the future with her, don’t. But don’t you dare pull away from your own happiness to protect her.”

“Because you love me . . . and two wrongs don’t make a right. If you don’t let me make this right between us out of stubbornness, which is a real possibility . . . we will both regret it forever; you know we will.”

“You know, I always imagined that I would find my dream guy and fall in love, and then it would come to this big cheesy climax.” He scrunches up his nose. “Cheesy climax? That just sounds wrong.” I giggle as I imagine what he must be thinking about. “No, I meant proposal.” “You want a cheesy proposal?” He frowns. “Wouldn’t you want a romantic proposal?”

Forgiveness is a choice.”

“Oh, Jameson, I just love this place.” I smile dreamily as he walks up behind me. “I know.” He hands me a key ring with a red ribbon bow tied to it. I frown as I stare down at it in my hand. “That’s why I bought it for you.” My eyes meet his. “What?” “Uh-huh. I thought we could live here on the weekends and on holidays.” “You want to be a swamp person with me?” I whisper in surprise. He stands and takes me in his arms. “I could be anything, Emily Foster . . . as long as I’m with you.”