She looked up at him and grinned impishly. He clenched his fingers into tight fists to keep from reaching for her.
Purposely turning his attention away from Miracle, Hardy looked at the row of her pictures. At first, he simply noted that she’d taken photographs of many of the same scenes and people he had. He reasoned that it was no doubt due to their close proximity, the limited number of places they’d gone and similar things they’d observed.
But then he really started to look at them.
Pushing himself away from the wall, Hardy crossed to the string of images and more closely examined them.
“Miracle, these are amazing,” he said, surprised at finding himself in awe of her work.
Hardy stopped first in front of the image of a woman walking her dog. Hardy’s picture had shown a great use of light, as he’d snapped the shot when the wind had blown a tree and dappled her face with the shadow of the leaves. His photo was visually stimulating and balanced.
But Miracle’s picture, it was amazing. She’d caught the woman when the sun was full and bright on her face. It shone in the black of her hair and in the glitter of her lip gloss, and was every bit as visually stimulating as Hardy’s, just in a different way. But Miracle’s image told a story. Hardy hadn’t even noticed how melancholy and distracted the woman seemed. Not until now, as he saw her through Miracle’s eyes.
Her head was slightly bent and a small frown creased the skin of her forehead. Her eyes were in shadow, but her mouth said it all. There was a sadness that hovered around it that Miracle had managed to capture in such a way that it actually tugged at Hardy’s heart.
And that wasn’t the only one. Every picture Hardy looked at, he recognized from the park, but he hadn’t really seen any of the people Miracle had seen, not in the way she had. She captured perfectly the awe on a little girl’s face when a butterfly lit on her outstretched finger. She had captured the absolute tranquility of an older man doing yoga on a mat in the shade. She had captured the unfettered glee of a couple that had just made a promise to spend the rest of their lives together. She’d taken shots of his visage as he looked up from his knees into the face of the woman he loved, asking her for her hand. She’d taken shots of her face as she laughed and cried her answer. And she’d taken shots of their exuberant embrace after they’d sealed the deal with a kiss. Hardy could practically feel their excitement.
When he turned back to her, the words he’d intended to say died on his lips. Miracle was looking past him, studying one of her pictures, an intensely bereft expression on her face. She raised her eyes to his and he felt his heart lurch in his chest.
“What? What is it?” he asked, crossing back to her and taking her face in his hands. He found himself desperate to fix whatever had put that look on her face.
For several long seconds, Miracle stared up into Hardy’s face, her luminous eyes glistening with the whisper of unshed tears. When she finally spoke, Hardy had to strain to hear her small voice.
“I don’t want to die.”
Hardy’s heart split wide open. “What?” He felt like his entire world had stopped and was completely focused on her words. She was dying?
“I don’t want to die,” she repeated, her voice trembling. “I want to live. I want to live life with all its emotions, all its experiences. I don’t want to miss anything. But I feel like I will. I feel like I’m living on borrowed time.”
“Why would you even say that?” Hardy’s pulse pounded painfully in his throat, thumping loudly in his ears. He had no idea why, but he felt in a near panic just talking about Miracle’s death.
“I’ve had cancer. And now I only have one kidney. Do you know how the future looks for someone like me?”
Hardy had no idea what to say. All he knew was that he would do anything in his power to keep that from happening. He had no idea what that could be; he just knew he’d do anything. But now, right this minute, he desperately needed to make her smile, to take away her sadness and worry.
“You’re not gonna die. I won’t let you.”
“You won’t?”
“Nope. I forbid it and that’s that.”
Miracle chuckled, giving him a watery smile. “You can control things like that, huh?”
Hardy smiled, but then the seriousness of what she was saying and what he was feeling wiped it from his face. “I know we just met and I know this is gonna sound crazy, but if I could fix it, I would. I’d do anything to never have to see you sad or worried again.”
“Then maybe you should run. Fast!”
Hardy dipped his head the slightest bit to look straight into her eyes. “I’m not going anywhere.”
Miracle searched Hardy’s eyes, looking for some evidence that he was exaggerating or just feeding her some kind of line, but she found nothing but sincerity. And something else, something deeper.
Reaching up, she wound the fingers of both hands around his wrists. “Why do I believe you?” she whispered.
“Because I’m telling you the truth,” he replied softly.
Hardy watched Miracle’s eyes flicker between his mouth and his eyes and, as if physically touched by her perusal, his lips tingled in response. When her eyes returned to his and held his gaze, he saw something wonderful and life-changing in them, something he never wanted to let go, never wanted to live without.
Her lips parted for a moment to allow a tiny sigh to escape. Hardy felt her warm breath skate over his cheeks and he knew he had to taste her again. Just one more time. Or a thousand.
Still lightly cupping her face, Hardy bent his head until his lips met hers. They were soft and pliant, ready. Eager. He parted his and she did the same. He slipped his tongue into her mouth and hers met his, stroking it sensually, driving him mad. He drew it into his mouth and sucked on it gently. She moaned. It was his undoing.
Sliding his hands into her hair, Hardy tilted his head and deepened the kiss, crushing her mouth beneath his. She showed no fear, no hesitation. She simply met him, fire with fire, and they spiraled into passion together.
Hardy felt her lean forward, her supple body straining against his bigger, harder one. He moved his hands down her arms and around her narrow waist, pulling her lower body in snugly against his. She drove her fingers into his hair and fisted them, holding his face to hers.
Hardy had never felt such an intense connection to someone before. Never. The way he already felt about her should’ve been his first clue that their physical attraction would have no match, no equal. In all his life—past, present and future—Hardy knew he would never find another person that set his body, his heart and his soul on fire the way Miracle did.