Billionaire's Second Chance At Love

Chapter 130

*One Month Later*

Willow sat in her car and stared at the lone gate standing in the middle of nowhere.

"Alright. You can do this," she said to herself and took a deep breath. But then she frowned, biting her bottom lip. "Or maybe you shouldn't. It's not like, you know, he cares." But what if he did? What if this could still work?

She didn't know. Oh God, she didn't know anything.

After that incident with Diana a month ago, it took weeks to get everything back to normal. As Willow had already feared, Diana slowly forgot everything about the time traveling and their conversation about it. The only thing she remembered, and so did everyone else, was talking about the device, stealing it, hiding it, and trying to protect it from getting into the wrong hands. But no one actually remembered doing it. If that made any sense at all.

Willow had no idea what exactly the science behind it was, but she was the only one who remembered. Or at least, she remembered a little bit of it. The truth was even she was forgetting the details of her experience. The fact that she had time traveled with Alice and saved Ronin's life felt like a dream now, and that's what scared her the most.

If she actually forgot about her time-traveling experience like Diana did, then it obviously meant she didn't have much time left. If she wanted anything with Dan, it was time to take the initiative herself and see how it went.

Trying to bring him back into her life was the best she could do. If it worked, great. If it didn't, well, at least she tried.

Huffing out another deep breath, she pushed open the door of the car and opened the old metal gate, soon walking down the beaten road, with tall, heavy trees on either side of her.

The cool morning breeze played with her dark hair, and her heart beat so fast beneath her chest it almost hurt to breathe. But she continued to walk, just wanting to get it over with, and by the time the one-floor cabin came into view, she slowly came to a halt.

For a long minute, she just stood there, staring. Then, as if aware of her presence, the doors to the cabin opened before she even got to the knocking part, and Dan stepped out, as usual, with a rifle in his hands.

He raised a brow at her. "Didn't someone tell you it's rude to trespass on someone's property?"

Willow gulped, unable to look away from the intensity of his eyes.

His lips curled into a mocking grin. "So, what brings you here this time, Ms. Logan? Did someone steal something from you? Or did you steal something from someone?"

The mocking behind his words didn't go unnoticed by Willow. She would have scoffed or laughed at him if she wasn't imagining that sinful mouth of his trailing a path from her neck down to her navel right now.

Jesus, what was wrong with her?

She shook her head. "No, nothing like that," she said, slipping her hands into the back pockets of her jeans, not sure what to do with them anymore. "I just came to say goodbye. I'm leaving for Paris tomorrow morning. I..." She swallowed hard. "...might never return."

"Oh?" His grin faltered a little. "Good for you."

"I guess." She looked around, unsure of what to say next. "It's a good opportunity to prove myself. My dad is opening a new office there, so I'm going to be his business partner."

Dan leaned against the doorframe. "Sounds fun."

"I don't know." She sighed. "It's a good start, I suppose. It will be difficult at first, but I'm pretty optimistic about it."

"You should be."

Silence.

"Well then..." She tucked her hair behind her ears, suddenly disappointed. "...that's it, I guess. Goodbye. It was nice working with you. I'll miss our banters."

Dan nodded, his eyes never leaving her face. "Of course."

For a long minute, she simply gazed at him, as if taking him in one last time. She tried to burn his existence into her memory. Sooner or later, she was going to forget their previous reality—just like Diana did—and this... this interaction was all she would have to hold on to. Even if she forgot about the kind of love they had shared, she was trying to do her best to protect her memory of this... this moment... this very insane moment.

Taking a step forward, she lessened the distance between them. He didn't move from the door of his cabin though. He just stood there, watching her every move, thinking God knows what.

Slowly but surely, she found herself standing at the bottom of the steps that led to the porch of the cabin. But before she could lift her leg and reduce some more distance between them, he moved.

"What are you doing?" he asked, clearly confused, and Willow found herself speechless for a good thirty seconds.

"I..." she tried but failed. "Just..." Oh God, what the hell was she doing? Why was she walking towards him? What was she hoping to say or do or get by doing this?

Warmth spread throughout her face, and before she knew what she was doing, she stepped away and smiled awkwardly. "Just wanted to see you up close one last time."

That did nothing to stop him from being even more curious. "Why?"

"Because..." Because he was the most beautiful man she had ever seen? Because he was the smartest, the bravest, the kindest man she would ever meet? Because he was the only one her heart had chosen to fall head over heels for? Because just the thought of losing him was tearing her apart?

"Because what?" he pressed, frowning hard.

"Because I have a very bad memory," she lied through her teeth. "I'm not good with faces. So, I just want to make sure if our paths cross once again in the future, I would be able to recognize you. Just trying to make sure of that."

This time, he pressed his lips together and stared, though it was still hard to get any read on him.

She took another step back. "Alright then, have a good life. I'll make sure to give your reference around. You're a good detective."

He didn't say thank you. He didn't nod or shake his head or move from his place. He did nothing. Just watched.

Willow didn't need to be told twice. She waved him goodbye—disappointed—and left.