Brooke came through the door just after I returned from a late morning run on the beach. I was just on my way to the shower when she barreled toward me and jumped into my arms, with a huge grin on her face and joy in her eyes.

“Oomph!” I groaned as she collided with my waist. “Wow, that’s quite an entrance. I take it everything went well?” She captured my face in her hands and proceeded to cover it with kisses. “Mmm, I like happy Brooke.” I smiled against her lips.

“It was an amazing meeting, babe. He made me this incredible breakfast, offered me the job, and gave me a tour of his house. I even met his wife!” She placed another kiss on my lips before grimacing and sliding down my sweaty body. “Ew, you’re all slippery.” She laughed, turning to grab a bottle of water from the fridge.

“Well, that’s probably because I just got back from a run. Wait a minute, can we back up for a minute? You said he offered you the job as his executive chef?” She nodded enthusiastically.

“Incredible, isn’t it!” She broke into an impromptu dance right there in the middle of the kitchen, and I have to tell you, she looked pretty sexy.

“Hell, yeah!” I danced up behind her, grabbing her by the hips and matching her crazy rhythm. “So, does this mean you’ll be moving to California?” Her body froze.

“Not exactly,” she said slowly.

I turned her around to face me. I needed to see her eyes. “What do you mean, not exactly? Is there something you’re not telling me?”

“I haven’t given him an answer yet. I told him I needed to sit on it for a couple of days.” She pressed her hands gently on my stomach and pushed back, putting distance between us and raising my irritation level.

“I thought this was what we wanted, what you wanted. Why do you need to think about it? This is like a sign that you’re supposed to move in with me,” I argued.

“I need time to talk it over with Donnie and Jade, get their opinion. This isn’t a snap decision for me, Sebastian. I don’t work that way.”

“Why the hell not! This is a way for us to be together while you can still live out your dream. It’s a win-win for both of us.”

“Stop it! Stop trying to pressure me,” she cried out.

“Since when do I pressure you into anything?” I threw my hands in the air, at a complete loss to understand what pressure she was referring to.

“You often do this to me. It’s like the whole sex issue all over again,” she screamed, turning away from me.

“Wait a minute, I thought we made that decision together. I never pressured you, Brooke. I would never take something you weren’t ready to freely give.” I felt my chest constrict and immediately raised my hand to rub it.

“I need to get away for a bit. I need some time alone to think.” I watched her walk out the door and make her way to the beach, and for the first time, I didn’t follow her. Instead, I turned and went out the front door.

* * *

I had been driving for fifteen minutes before I realized where I was headed, straight to Travis and Natalie for some sage advice, because God knew I needed it. At this point, I was starting to think that I was in over my head. For me, it seemed perfectly simple. We loved each other and wanted to be together. The best solution was to have her share my home. All this time I had been under the assumption that she felt the same way and could no longer live without me. Maybe I had been wrong.

Travis opened the door, and the look on his face told me he already knew that something was up.

“Let me guess, trouble in paradise?” He motioned me in. I grunted and brushed past him, wishing like hell that I could have a drink to help calm my nerves.

“How do you always know when my life’s falling apart?” I asked sarcastically, rolling my eyes and falling back on the loveseat next to the dog.

“Natalie’s on the phone with Brooke right now. She’s out back using her ‘Mom’ voice, so I figured you must have done something to screw things up,” he guffawed. “So you want to tell me what happened, or do I have to guess?”

“She said I was pressuring her into moving to California,” I spat out.

“Are you?”

“No!” I said defiantly, looking over at him and staring. He stared back intently, asking me the question once more with nothing but a look. “All right, maybe I did a little, but that was only because she got offered her dream job here in L.A. What was I supposed to say when she told me that?”

“Well, for starters, how about ‘congratulations’? Or ‘I’m so proud of you.’”

“I’m sure I told her that,” I muttered, replaying the scene over in my mind. Crap, I hadn’t said either of those things.

“Well, something ticked her off. I could hear her yelling through the phone,” he said, shaking his head and sitting down across from me.

I let out a loud sigh and dropped my head into my open hands, feeling very ashamed.

“She thinks I pressured her into having sex,” I groaned into my palms.

“Dude, that’s not cool at all.” Travis reached over and grabbed my hands, pulling them away from my wet face. “Sebastian, did you pressure her into something she didn’t want to do?”

“No,” I insisted. “Maybe I pushed a little when she first stayed with me, but nothing happened. She told me how she felt, and I respected that. Anything that’s happened since then has been a mutual decision, I swear. I would never do that to her, or any woman. I think she was just angry and probably wanted to hurt me. I’m not going to lie, Travis, it wasn’t easy for me, but I’ve always let it be her call.”

“Okay,”—he eased back in his seat—“I believe you. I don’t know what’s going on between you two. It’s obvious that you are very much in love, but this is a big decision for her. As hard as it is for you, and I’m sure that sometimes it must hurt like hell, you need to give her time. She needs to come to terms with this in her own way; it can’t only be about making you happy.”

I sat there absentmindedly scratching behind the sleeping dog’s ears, thinking about what he had just said, knowing he was right, and what I needed to do to fix it. Natalie came back inside, pausing when she saw me, and then went to sit down next to Travis.

“How are you doing, sweetie?” she asked in her best ‘Mom’ voice. I didn’t respond, only offering a slight shrug of my shoulder. “I think you may have messed up a bit today.”

“What do you mean?” I sat up, searching her face for answers.

“Brooke left, sweetie. She caught a cab back to the airport.” Her words took the air right out of my lungs. I hadn’t been expecting that outcome. “Sebastian,”—Natalie came over and knelt in front of me, taking both of my hands into hers—“she still loves you. She just needs some time to work all of this out. She knew that if she stayed, she wouldn’t be able to think straight. You kind of make her lose focus.” I winced outwardly at that comment, no longer able to contain my emotions. I broke down, not knowing if this was the end or if I should even keep fighting. “Sebastian, she loves you so much. She wants so desperately to take this job and live with you, but it’s not going to come easily to her. She will be leaving everything she knows to come out and bet all of her cards on you. She’s not used to giving up control to anyone else. Please, just give her a couple of days. I promise she’ll come around.” Her arms enveloped me in a tight embrace, and I held on for dear life as the fear poured out of me through the tears that continued to fall.

* * *

The house felt empty when I walked through the door. I’m not sure why I expected anything else. Knowing that she wasn’t here had been a fact made clear to me more than three hours ago. Natalie and Travis tried their best to offer me consolation, but it had done little to lift my spirits. Natalie told me to give her some space, that she would come around after having a chance to go home and clear her head. I wasn’t feeling as sure about it, but I was willing to take her advice. If time and distance were what she needed, then I was going to give it to her. It was the least I could do. I won’t lie, though, it wouldn’t be easy, and it was going to take every bit of resolve I had not to call her and try to clear up her comments about intimacy and me pressuring her.