“Funny.” Aaron cut her off with a quick kiss on her temple, leaving my best friend a little dazzled. Then, he turned to me. “But if you think it will help, send him to me.”
“Thanks, Aaron,” I told him honestly. I knew Aaron had plenty experience conducting interviews, and while InTech and Aiden’s business were completely different beasts, any help would be welcome. “I think it’s a good idea, but I’ll let Olly decide how he wants to prepare for it.”
Without any kind of warning, the lights dimmed, and a single beam illuminated a screen that had been installed high on one of the walls.
Cheers erupted around us, signaling the moment everyone had been waiting for.
Everyone except for me, of course.
Lina clapped her hands under her chin, her grin growing impossibly wider, and I made myself smile at her with something that wasn’t sadness. I didn’t think I was very successful at it, but her expression didn’t fall, so I guessed it didn’t completely suck. Then, she grabbed my hand and dragged us away from the table and into the agitated throng of people.
“Do we really have to?” I asked.
She patted my hand. “Yes.”
Two golden numbers flashed bright on the big screen, a one and a zero; and I could taste on my tongue the anticipation of everyone around me.
Okay, just a few more seconds to go and I’ll be free.
My best friend situated herself between her husband and me, people moving past us, around us, probably between us if we had let them, wanting to get closer to the screen, or looking for those they wanted by their side when those numbers started making their way back to zero.
Lina turned her head and met my gaze. There was something in her gaze, something I couldn’t decipher. She looked at me like she never had before, like… like she’d walk through fire for me. Like she was holding herself from hugging me. Her eyes watered, and exactly a second before the countdown started and chaos ensued, she said, “Make a wish, Rosie. It might come true.”
A little taken aback by her words, I unconsciously closed my eyes and listened to the chanted numbers as we strolled straight into the new year, unable to shake Lina’s words.
Ten!
Make a wish.
Nine!
It might come true.
Eight!
I wanted nothing. Nothing… except for one thing.
Seven!
One person.
Six!
The one person in the world I wished with all my heart were here. With me.
Five!
The man I was helplessly in love with.
Four!
The man I wished I could kiss tonight. And every single night after this.
Three!
And while my eyes were still closed, I felt someone grab my hand. The grip was warm, strong. Familiar.
Two!
My heart tumbled in my rib cage, coming alive after being dormant for weeks.
I was gently tugged forward, brought against a chest.
The scent of clean soap and sea salt hit me, making everything inside my body tighten and shake. Vibrate with possibility.
One!
Air stuck in my throat as I felt a breath against my lips.
A kiss was brushed against my jaw.
And then, when I thought it couldn’t be, that my mind was playing games because this was too much, four words were whispered in my ear. “Open your eyes, preciosa.”
Happy New Year!
My eyes blinked open, and I… Lord.
A sob climbed up my throat. I didn’t know why, or how, because I thought I’d cried all the tears I had, but it did. I cried because standing in front of me was my wish. My one and only wish.
Lucas.
And there was so much I didn’t understand, so much to figure out, but I was a fool in love who had missed him with all my being, so I couldn’t do anything but stumble into him. I questioned my sight, my sanity, the banging in my chest, as I felt tears trailing down my cheeks. Happy tears, sad tears, all kinds of tears. Because he was here. Somehow, he was standing in front of me, in a dark suit, his hair disheveled, and his eyes the warmest I’d ever seen.
He’d come back? How? Why?
Lucas’s hands clasped my face, that grin of his parting his handsome face. “Don’t cry, Rosie.” He pressed his forehead to mine, his hold on my face growing desperate, pleading. “No more tears, no more.”
Aware only of him, I didn’t know where the tiny sparks of color falling around us came from; I just knew Lucas was here, with me. And he was holding on to me like I had wished he had that day at the airport.
I felt the words against the skin of my temple when he said, “Happy New Year, ángel. I’ve missed you so much.”