The Shop Around the Corner (Sweet Tea and a Southern Gentleman #2)

by Anne-Marie Meyer

She was my person. I was made to love her. I was made to make love to her. I was hers, physically, spiritually, emotionally.

I was willing to spend every moment of every day proving that to her. I was never going to leave. Ever.

My heart began to race as the desire I had for him raged in my stomach. I wanted all of him. Emotionally, mentally…physically.

Harmony Island and I were like oil and water. No matter how hard you shook the bottle, they were never meant to mix. I needed to remember that.

I was the stupid sap that kept ignoring fate. But I was done having a broken heart. I was done fighting the inevitable. Fate had finally won. Shelby and I were over. Forever.

“Just let me hold you for this moment,” I whispered. I was begging, but I didn’t care. I needed this woman like I needed air.

“Yeah, your person. They come into your life and change everything. You are no longer the person of your past, and you have no idea who future you is either. If your person is with you, you know you’ll be safe. But if they aren’t, you are so fundamentally changed that you’re scared of moving forward without them.” He leaned in once more, his gaze leveling with mine. “He’s your life-altering person.”

Until suddenly, all I wanted was to go back to Harmony. To be closer to the people who raised me. To live the life that I grieved. Now was the time to start living. Now was the time to push myself out of the cave of grief and pain and stand in the sunrise of my new life.

I stopped just as I closed my hotel door. That word. That one four-letter word. Home. I smiled as I moved to grab my phone. I was going home.

Which saddened me. I wanted to be enough for her. I wanted her to love me like I’d always loved her—like I was always going to love her.

“There was a minute there when I thought we could pick up where we left off.” Her gaze drifted over to Belle. “I want the best life for our daughter.” She closed her lips as she paused. Then she sighed and turned back to me. “But I don’t think that means marrying you while you are in love with another.”

But Tamara was right. That was what I wanted. If I loved Shelby, I’d let her take her time. Even if it was killing me inside, I’d wait.

Baby Sorenson If you only knew how loved you were before you left us.

“Shelby, I love you,” I said, my voice rumbling in my chest from the emotions that coated my words. “I will always love you.”

“It’s not that I don’t want you.” My thumb stroked her skin. “I want you more than you will ever know. I just…can’t. Not until you have my ring on your finger and I have yours on mine.”

“I love you,” she whispered when she finally broke the kiss and pulled back. My entire body froze as those three little words left her lips. The three little words that I’d been aching to hear. That I’d been desperate to hear. “I love you, Miles,” she repeated as she held my gaze. “I’d marry you tomorrow.”

I was going to marry Shelby as soon as I could. She would be my wife, and I was never ever going to let her go.

“Thanks for wanting something more for my daughter. For fighting to keep Miles and me together.” She dropped her arms and stepped back, meeting my gaze once more. “It was really a selfless thing you did.” She gave me a weak smile. “But Miles and I aren’t meant to be together. I deserve someone who loves me. And Miles…” Her voice drifted off as her gaze shifted to Belle and then back to me. “Miles loves you.”

He pressed his forehead to mine, and his eyes closed for a moment before he suddenly dropped to his knee.

“That’s the man. The man that found Samuel and me. That’s the man that saved me.”