Dancing in the Moonlight - Harlequin.com

RAEANNE THAYNE
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anything but the CPR part of it. She remembered being
emotionally and physically exhausted and probably a bit
in shock. “Not really.”
“I do. I remember it perfectly. You stood beside
me—the son of the man you hated—and you held my
hand. The whole time they worked on Dad, while
they loaded him up, after they drove away. For a long
time you stood and held my hand. You were only a
kid, just a little girl, but somehow you knew that was
what I needed more than anything else in the world
at that moment.”
She gazed at him, not at all sure what to say. His eyes
met hers and she caught her breath at the tangle of
emotion in them.
“I fell in love a little with you that day,” he murmured.
Her eyes widened and her heart seemed to forget
how to beat.
“Jake…”
“I fell in love with you when I was fifteen years old,
and I’ve never climbed back out. I love you, Maggie.
I’ve been in love with you most of my life.”
“You have not!”
He gave a short laugh. “You can argue with me all
you want, sweetheart, but you won’t change what I
know is true. In a time of great trauma, somehow I fell
a little in love with that girl. But only after you came
back to Pine Gulch—my sad, wounded warrior—did I
realize how deeply my feelings for you ran. I love you,
Maggie. Your courage, your strength, your compassion.
The whole beautiful package that makes up Magdalena
Cruz.”