Uncovering You 11: The Lost Chapter Read Free

fantasy. What happens when the clock strikes twelve?”
    “There is no clock, Lilly,” he says. “This isn’t fantasy. It’s real life. It’s what I wanted. To be here, like this…” he reaches across the table and touches my hand, “with you.”
    I pull away. “It’s not enough,” I mutter.
    His voice turns icy. “What?”
    “It can’t be enough!” I tell him, glaring across the table. “Why do you always keep me in the dark, Jeremy? Why don’t you tell me what you’re really thinking?”
    “You know what I’m thinking, dammit,” he snaps. “Why must you accuse me of keeping secrets? I have none, from you. I gave up everything for you!”
    “Yeah, well I never asked you to!” I holler back. I don’t know where my irritation is coming from, but it’s there now, in full force. “I never told you to give up your company, to give away everything, just to be with me!”
    “ Enough !” Jeremy roars. He slams his fist on the table, making the dishware jump. “Enough, Lilly. What’s gotten into you, dammit? It’s like you’re saying you don’t want me.”
    “Of course I want you,” I begin, but Jeremy cuts me off with a scathing look.
    “Just don’t,” he warns. He takes a deep breath. I can see him fighting the rage that tries to consume him. I see him fighting the Stonehart persona that threatens to emerge. “Don’t—test me, Lilly. Not now. it would not—“ he takes another deep breath, “—be an intelligent thing to do.”
    “Just tell me what you’re thinking!” I plead. “Just share something with me, Jeremy, please. I want to know what goes on behind those brilliant eyes of yours.”
    “ Nothing !” he barks, and the single word feels like a reprimand.
    He gets up. “This is not—we should not—share the same roof tonight.” He turns away.
    “Jeremy, wait—“
    “No.” He does not look back. “Leave me be, Lilly, for your own sake.”
    And with that, he stalks out into the evening air.
    ***
    I find Jeremy sitting alone on the beach late at night, staring out into the sea.
    I come up quietly behind him and put my arms around his neck. He stiffens.
    “I’m sorry,” I whisper. I nuzzle my face into the space between his shoulder and his neck. “I shouldn’t have said anything.”
    He places his hands over mine but doesn’t speak. We stay like that, together, for a very long time. The only sound aside from our steady breathing comes from the calm waves breaking against the shore.
    Finally, Jeremy stirs.
    “Of course I miss it,” he says in a hushed, scratchy voice. “I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t. I think about Stonehart Industries every day. I read the news, I stay up to date. I see acquisitions I would make, companies I would love to take over and turn around to make a miraculous profit. I can’t just shut that part of my brain off, Lilly. Before you…” he kisses my hand, “…that’s all I knew.”
    “I’m sorry,” I say. “That you gave it up for me.”
    “ Don’t say that,” he rumbles. His grip tightens over mine. “I am not. You are the most important piece of my life. I love you, Lilly. The other things…they’re all a distant second compared to you.”
    “I know,” I whisper. “And I love you for it. I just don’t want to be the cause of you becoming lost. You were—you are—so driven. I can’t imagine a man like you without a purpose.”
    “ You are my purpose,” he whispers.
    I smile into him. “Thank you. But Jeremy, please—don’t make me your single one.”
    He nods, deep in thought. I unwrap my arms and let him be.
    ***
    Jeremy comes to me in the early morning and we make love.
    ***
    Another week passes. Then two. Then three.
    Life is slow here. Nothing is hurried. It’s the best type of place to recover.
    Jeremy and I have no more flare-ups. We spend time tranquilly.
    I continue painting. Every time I do, a little niggling bit of doubt tries to come to the forefront. It’s there every time I think of my father.