To the Chase

I’ve never thought of myself as forgettable.

I’m confident. A little grumpy. I’m never afraid to speak my mind. I’ve got curves for days, and hair the color of a summer sky.

All that tends to leave an impression.

So when he shows up two years after ghosting me, acting like we’ve never met, I’m more thrown than I care to admit.

Salvatore Gallo is shy, brilliant, and only speaks when he means it. He’s the CEO of a billion-dollar cyber security company, but he blushes when I tease him and watches me like I’m a code he can’t quite crack.

He’s still the same man who made my heart flutter with a single, intense stare.

And now he’s asking for a second chance.

I should say no. I want to. But this time he’s not hiding how much he wants me and I’m as drawn to him as ever.

The problem? He is hiding other things. Like the three kids who’ve become his entire world. Choices he’s made. And a life I’m not sure I’m ready to be part of.

But Salvatore Gallo is patient. Persistent. Devastating in the way he shows up for me, again and again.

He’s chasing me, and I don’t know how much longer I can keep pretending I don’t want him to catch me.