CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE –
MEGAN POINT OF VIEW
“Whatever happens next in telling my story… I trust you, Chris. With all of it.”
The words hung in the air, potent and insufficiently conveying the entire depth of her meaning.
I Only meet him a week ago. Now I trust him?
Seriously? Something is wrong with me.
I stare at the window as the driver drove me back to my studio.
Some part of me was hoping he asked about that night! Then I would have a boyfriend by now!
…
In that stillness, the background clatter of ceramic dishes and lively chatter among cafe patrons fell away into a blurred hush of white noise.
For a suspended instant, it was only the two of them – Megan and this inexplicably understanding man who had become so much more to her than a mere hired hand.
“I know,” Chris replied at last, her unvoiced implications received loud and clear. “No more walls between us, yeah?”
A faint smile tugged at the corner of Megan’s lips as she gave the smallest nod of acknowledgement.
Then, with evident reluctance, he withdrew his hand, clearing his throat. “So…” He arched one roguish eyebrow, deflty shifting gears.
“Now seems as good a time as any to address that risqué little insinuation you posted to all your followers…”
Chris’s tone was all playful cheek, but Megan felt her face flush crimson hot regardless.
Of course he would deftly circle them back to addressing that reckless, drunken social media miscue.
The reminder spurred a fresh wave of mortification through her slight frame, awakening the defensive urge to dismiss it all as a silly mistake born of inebriation and lapse of judgement.
Yet as she met Chris’s steady, guileless stare, something in her gut instinct persuaded her to… own it.
All of it – beyond just the careless indiscretion. Almost of its own volition, her tongue instinctively wet her lips in a nervous tell.
“I suppose it kind of was, wasn’t it?” Megan admitted in a hushed tone.
Leaning forward slightly, she held his captivating gaze with a look of unguarded sincerity.
Let the chips fall where they may. “Maybe I wanted to make that suggestion… however unintentionally at first.”
An unmistakable spark ignited deep in the green-brown depths of Chris’s eyes.
Surprise, curiosity, the barest hint of masculine gratification all flashing across his rugged features in quick succession.
Emboldened by his stilled silence, Megan drew a bolstering breath and pressed on.
“Look, we both know things between us have felt… increasingly charged lately. Ever since that night.” She swallowed hard before whispering the next admission.
“When you took care of me in such an unexpectedly caring way.”
Chris cocked his head fractionally, regarding her with an inscrutable look as she laid herself bare.
“I felt… safe. Looked after, in the midst of a really ugly situation that I never should have ended up in,” Megan elaborated quietly.
“Just your steadying presence was enough to ground me in a way no one has for a long, long time. I didn’t want that feeling to dissipate.”
She drew another emboldening inhale, finally voicing the heart of the matter. “I think that’s why I acted so rashly with that Instagram post.
Some immature, drunken part of me was chasing something deeper that had awoken in those vulnerable moments. With you.”
For an eternal handful of suspended heartbeats, Chris held her in his silent, arresting stare as the weight of her words settled around them.
She searched his face, her nerves thrumming almost audibly in the stillness as Megan braced for his response – one way or the other.
At last, Chris stirred, glancing briefly away as his expression shifted into something more unreadable.
When he refocused on her, some undefinable emotion burned in those searing eyes.
“Megan,” he said in a low, measured tone. “You know I have nothing but the utmost care and respect for you. This entire collaboration between us started from a place of trust – one I’d never want to violate.”
Though he spoke the words carefully, her heart sank at their vaguely reproving implication.
She steeled herself for the inevitable brush-off to follow. It was only natural, after all. He was her hired hand, no matter how their dynamic had seemingly evolved.
Her lashes fluttered down, unable to watch expectant rejection play out across his features.
“But…”
Megan’s eyes snapped back up at the quietly exhaled qualifier. Chris’s expression had softened into something achingly potent.
“I’d be lying through my teeth if I said I haven’t felt… an undeniable connection growing between us as well, far beyond the lines of this biography project.”
He reached out and clasped her hand again, thumb grazing her knuckles with maddening tenderness. “Especially after that night.”
Now it was Megan’s turn to search his face in silent astonishment.
This confession ventured far beyond what she’d expected – or even dared hope to hear from him in her most indulgent daydreams.
“I’m not sure where this could potentially lead either,” Chris admitted, his eyes mirroring equal measures of vulnerability and longing.
“But like you, I’d be a fool to ignore the forces at work drawing us both in this direction.”
Megan felt like the entire world beyond their secluded cafe alcove had abruptly muted into irrelevance.
Every nerve ending in her body felt electrified by the heated weight of his gaze, the calloused caress of his palm cradling her fingers.
More than anything, she hungered to simply pull him into a searing, breathless kiss right here and now – to finally exorcise the building tensions that had been simmering between them for weeks.
Instead, she swallowed hard and managed a nearly inaudible murmur. “So… what comes next? For us?”
A slow, heated grin spread across Chris’s striking features. With one final lingering stroke across her knuckles, he withdrew his hand and adjusted his glasses.
When he spoke again, his voice had taken on a lower timbre – one that resonated through Megan with delicious vibrations.
“Well, for starters, I think we’re seriously overdue for an actual first date,” he mused aloud, eyes sparking mischievously. “And this time, no tequila shots allowed within a five-mile radius.”
Despite the butterflies rioting in her stomach, Megan felt a surprised laugh bubbling up from her core.
She chuckled softly, shooting Chris an exaggerated grimace of feigned hurt in an effort to mask her giddy elation.
“Spoilsport,” she teased in return. “Every solid relationship needs to begin on a tequila-soaked foundation, hasn’t anyone told you?”
Chris just shook his head in bemusement, rising to his feet in one smooth motion.
An indulgent smile softened the hard angles of his chiseled jawline. “Clearly you still have much to teach me, sensei. But I’d better start as I mean to go on then.”
With that, he extended his hand towards her, palm upturned in open invitation.
“Shall we, Megan? I know just the place for a proper first date. If you’ll allow me to walk you there?”
His hazel-eyed stare smoldered with such sincere warmth and promise.
Without a moment’s hesitation, Megan grasped his proffered hand and rose to join him, bodies instinctively drifting into each other’s orbit.
“Lead the way… Chris,” she replied, testing out the intimate lilt of his name on her tongue for the first time.
His answering lopsided grin could have lit up the entire city skyline.
As their fingers interlaced and they made their way towards the exit hand-in-hand, Megan felt as if she’d finally shed a tremendous weight from her shoulders.
Whatever romantic overtures or snapping shutterbugs awaited them beyond those cafe doors, in that suspended moment, she found she couldn’t care less.
All her focus was consumed by this one inexplicable, thoroughly disarming man at her side – and the dizzying possibilities stretching out before them both.
…
“Meeeeegan!” Lilly shouted her name! Bringing her back to reality or waking her form sleep.
“Are sick or something? Sleep deprived? The driver told me you sleep on your way to the cafe too.” She uttered.
While Megan was still in daze.
Another dream?!
Jeez! Chris you’ll be the end of me.
Because she remembers they ended the meeting professional.
As Chris didn’t ask for that night or the media or my silly Instagram post!
And she’s really grateful for that.