I found myself dozing off, both because I had worked a long week and because I thought that sleeping might make the time go by faster. It must have worked, because, when I woke up, the display in front of me told me we only had twenty-three minutes until landing. That meant that, in an hour or so, I could be at Tia’s front door. My stomach was in knots, a combination of excitement and nerves. I was elated at the idea of seeing her in person, but there was also that fear of being rejected again that loomed in the back of my mind.

  The plane landed without incident and, despite no actual rush to get to Tia’s house, I found myself power-walking through the airport, squeezing through the slow walkers that seemed to constantly be in my path. With nothing but a duffle bag with me, I was able to pass right through the baggage claim after clearing customs.

  Next step, Tia’s house.

  I wondered if Lucie had told Ryan that I was coming, and if he had told Tia. It was possible, but something told me Lucie knew that some of the magic would be ruined if my trip wasn’t a complete surprise.

  It didn’t matter. I was here.

  I rehearsed some semblance of a speech as I looked around at the unfamiliarity around me. Away from my home turf, I didn’t have any of the luxuries I was used to having. No driver, no on-call assistant, no public recognition. Though I wasn’t always thrilled with those things back home, I could have used them now, in an unfamiliar area in the middle of the night.

  Luckily, there was a line of taxis waiting by the exit, so I didn’t have to go through the process of waving one down. I headed over to the taxi at the front of the line and slid into the backseat.

  “1422 East Greene Street, please,” I said, enunciating each number like I’d practiced.

  “Excuse me?” the driver asked. “Where did you say you were going?”

  I knew that voice. I would’ve recognized it anywhere. But it couldn’t be.

  I looked up through the divider to see the very person I’d flown hours to see.

  Chapter 19

  Maxim

  “Tia?” I asked, though there was no doubt in my mind that it was her.

  What was going on? Was I being pranked?

  I wondered if Lucie had orchestrated this all, to have Tia come pick me up masquerading as a taxi driver, but that seemed a bit ambitious even for the smartest of nine-year-old children. But why else would Tia be in the front seat of a taxi?

  “Maxim,” she whispered.

  Through the rearview mirror, I could see all of the color draining from her face. She was still absolutely stunning, but she looked different. Her hair was up in a messy knot, and she was wearing some sort of shapeless polo shirt.

  “What are you doing here?” she asked.

  The way she’d said my name, the way she was avoiding eye contact, this was no mistake. It was evident by the way she talked, and her gaze was fixated on the steering wheel. She’d lied to me.

  I tried to speak, but nothing came out, not that I was even sure what I would say. I’d traveled across the world to see a woman I couldn’t stop thinking about, just to find out they’d been a fraud. I felt like the biggest fool in the world.

  I wondered if any clarification could possibly make up for the deceit. I hoped desperately for any sort of alternate explanation, anything to explain what seemed to be clear and gross deception. I knew that I owed her the chance to explain. Maybe there was something I was missing.

  Sitting in the back of this taxi, the silence deafening, I regretted listening to Lucie. She’d meant well, that much I knew. But had she known about this? She couldn’t have.

  I reminded myself that I still didn’t know what “this” was. It seemed as though Tia wasn’t the high-end executive she’d made herself out to be, but that didn’t necessarily mean she’d been lying about everything else—or did it? Was she a taxi driver, or was I completely mistaken about what was going on? Working as a taxi driver was a far cry from running a business.

  I was angry. I felt foolish and naïve and betrayed. But she was still the same Tia I’d spent a magical weekend with. For that reason alone, I felt like I needed to hear her side of the story. I’d flown all this way, after all.

  Neither of us said a word, sitting still as statues. I wanted her to speak, to explain everything right here, right now, but I also wanted a face-to-face conversation. A face-to-back-of-head conversation didn’t seem quite as impactful. If she was going to lie to me, she was going to have to do it while looking right into my eyes.

  It wasn’t until other taxi drivers around us began honking at Tia to move that she finally looked at me.

  “Where can I take you, sir?” she asked.

  “I’d like to go somewhere with you and talk things through, if that’s all right with you,” I said, keeping my voice even.

  Tia cut the wheel and joined the flow of traffic. “Good idea.”

  Chapter 20

  Tia

  Was this really happening? I’d cut off contact with Maxim to keep him from finding out the truth about me, and he’d flown halfway around the world to find out?

  The diner wasn’t exactly my first pick for where to take a handsome billionaire for a late-night meal, but it was the only place open this time of night.

  If Maxim minded, he didn’t show it. Each time I glanced over at him, I blinked a few times to make sure this was real. Torn between excitement that Maxim was actually in West Virginia and the guilt I felt for lying to him, I sat across the booth from him in stunned silence.

  I hadn’t prepared for this in the slightest. The entire reason I’d decided not to exchange contact information with Maxim was to prevent this exact situation from happening. There was no way to bend the truth about my job anymore. Even if there was, I was tired of the lying.

  “How’d you find me?” I asked. It was a lame question to start the conversation with, but it seemed better than diving right into the detailed story I’d concocted and addressing his questions I couldn’t even begin to answer.

  “Lucie has been in touch with Ryan. She asked him for your address.” Maxim sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “I’ve missed you terribly, Tia. I wanted to surprise you.”

  As if I couldn’t feel any worse, he’d flown across the globe just because he wanted to see me. I was a terrible person. Not only that, but I must have looked completely out of place here, on my home turf, wearing my work clothes, sitting across from a well-dressed man who was obviously wealthy. He was even more handsome than I remembered.

  “Are you hungry?” I asked.

  Maxim nodded. “Starving. The only ticket I could get was in coach, and the airplane food was certainly nothing to write home about.”

  I let out a desperate laugh and called the waitress over. Pepperoni rolls were my favorite thing on the menu here, so I opted to order enough for the two of us. Maxim had let me into so much of his life. At the very least, I wanted to let him into a small part of mine.

  “Maxim, I don’t even know where to start.”

  “Let’s start small,” he said. “Is Tia your real name?”

  “Of course!”

  “But you’re not a PR executive.”

  I shook my head. “Let me start from the beginning,” I said. “If you have time for that?”

  “Considering you and Ryan are the only people that I know in the state of West Virginia, I’d say you’ve got time.”

  Maxim’s voice was surprisingly pleasant, far less angry or accusatory than I’d expected. I supposed that was because he didn’t actually know anything yet.

  “Most of what I told you is true,” I started, “except I don’t work in PR. And I’m not rich, though I never actually told you I was, and you sort of just assumed. But that’s beside the point.”

  I was rambling, and I knew that, but it was a nervous habit that seemed fairly suitable for these circumstances. “My friend Jenny is the actual PR executive. It was her vacation, but Ryan and I went instead. That’s how this whole thing started.”

  “That’s a nice friend you’ve got there,” Maxim said.

  “She had a last-minute work thing come up, so she called me and told me I should take her vacation since it was nonrefundable.”

  I drew in a breath. “Jenny gave me the vacation because I have a son and she’d booked everything for her and her son, but also because she knew I couldn’t afford a big trip like that on my own. The truth is, I barely make ends meet. I drive a taxi at night because it’s a stable job, but I used to be an artist.”

  A lightbulb must have gone off in Maxim’s head. “Ah. That explains the museum.”

  “I don’t just like art. It used to be my whole life. I miss it terribly, but I barely made enough to cover my own expenses, never mind take care of a kid. When I got pregnant with Ryan, I started working odd jobs, and I landed this taxi gig about a year and a half ago. It’s not a career or anything, but it pays the bills.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me all of this from the start?” Rather than looking angry, Maxim appeared to be hurt.

  “You were just so impressive that I didn’t think you’d want anything to do with a poor taxi driver,” I explained. “I told you I worked in PR because it sounded better, but then you automatically assumed I was wealthy, and I sort of just went along with it. Maxim, everything else I said to you—my interests, my struggles with Ryan, my love of scary movies—that was all true. I just really liked you and didn’t want to mess things up by coming clean about how different our worlds are.”

  “Liked?”

  “What?”

  “You said you liked me,” Maxim said. “Past tense.”

  “Maxim, I like you more than I’ve ever liked any man in my entire life. And I’m sorry I pushed you away that night.” I could feel the emotions coming on, but I didn’t want to make a scene right here in the middle of the diner. “I just thought it would be easier if we didn’t get too attached.”

  “I was already pretty attached.”

  “Me too. I’m sorry I lied to you. I should’ve told you the truth.”

  Maxim reached across the table and took my hands in his. “I’m sorry you felt as though you had to hide your true self from me,” he said. “That’s what makes me upset. I like you for you, not for some fictional job or amount of money.”

  I was completely dumbfounded. More than that, I was relieved. Maxim knew every part of me, the good and the bad, and didn’t hate me for it. I was still processing the fact that he was here in West Virginia, but knowing he wasn’t angry with me made all the difference in the world.

  “I misjudged you,” I confessed. “When I first met you, I thought you’d be like every other pompous, arrogant rich businessman, so I felt like I had to lie. But the more that I got to know you, the more I saw how kind and considerate and selfless you were. I want you to know the real me.”

  “I do know the real you,” Maxim said. “You’re a good woman, with a heart of gold and a brilliant mind, who loves her son and art more than anything and hates skiing.”

  I chuckled. “That last part especially.”

  Maxim shifted on the booth cushion. “The truth is, I haven’t been able to get you off my mind since you left Switzerland. I’m crazy about you, Tia. I want to spend more time with you. I want to get to know every part of you, the real you, and I don’t care that you drive a taxi. You make an honest living, and that’s what’s most admirable. You do what you have to do for you and Ryan.”

  His words made me swoon. I couldn’t have dreamed up someone as perfect or compassionate or understanding as Maxim if I tried.

  I was amazed by his sincerity, his ability to look beneath the surface. I just wished I’d have come clean sooner so we could have spent the past month talking to one another instead of dreaming about one another. I wanted nothing more than to kiss Maxim’s perfect lips, so I figured it was worth the leap of faith.

  “How would you feel about kissing a taxi driver?” I asked. “I mean, are billionaires allowed to do that?”

  Maxim answered me by leaning across the table and pressing his lips against mine. He kissed me softly, sweetly, sending my mind into a tizzy. It was a kiss I’d waited a long time for, and it had absolutely been worth the wait.

  “You kiss pretty good for a taxi driver,” Maxim said playfully.

  This time, I scooched in and planted a kiss on his lips. “You kiss pretty good for a billionaire.”

  Maxim took a bite out of his pepperoni roll then wiped his face with a napkin. “This is delicious. What is it again?”

  “A pepperoni roll,” I answered. “A West Virginia specialty.”

  “This might just be my third favorite thing to come out of West Virginia.”

  He squeezed my hand, and I noticed the time on my watch. “I hate to do this, but I have to finish my shift then get Ryan ready for school. Are you planning on staying in town?”

  “So long as you’ll have me,” Maxim said.

  “How about I drop you off at a hotel up the road?” I offered, noting the dark circles under his eyes from a clear lack of sleep. “You can rest for a bit, and I usually sleep during the day, too, given my work schedule. How does a home-cooked meal sound for tonight?”

  “That sounds perfect. I can’t wait to call Lucie and give her an update. She’s going to go absolutely wild!”

  Just as Maxim was excited to tell Lucie about our reconnection, I couldn’t wait to tell Ryan. I knew how much he adored Maxim.

  The moment I walked through the door, I told Ryan to make sure he cleaned his room after school.

  “Can’t I clean it tomorrow?” he asked.

  “It has to be tonight,” I said. “We’re having a friend come over for dinner.”

  Ryan put down the spoon he’d been eating cereal with and looked up at me. “Is it Maxim?”

  “How on earth did you know that?”

  “Lucky guess?”

  I put my hands on my hips in that typical mom way. “Try that again. Did Lucie tell you he was coming to visit?”

  “She didn’t, but I’m glad he’s here. We sort of talked about how we hoped you two would get together again.”

  Ryan’s face flushed, and I wondered whether it was because he felt as if he’d just revealed a big secret, or because talking about his mom’s dating life made him uncomfortable. Maybe it was a bit of both.

  He smiled. “You and Maxim seemed so happy together in Switzerland, and we just want you guys to be happy.”

  Well, I couldn’t argue with that.

  Chapter 21

  Tia

  I tried to keep my day as busy as possible so that the time would pass faster. I usually slept sometime between 8 a.m. and 2 p.m. since I was up driving while most people slept. Today, I extended my sleep a little longer, until 2:30, giving me just enough time to get things together before Ryan got home at 3.

  I wanted to make something special for Maxim, but I wasn’t quite sure what. I let Ryan make the final call when he got home from school, and he decided that I should make lasagna and sausage and peppers and Caesar salad, that way Maxim would have options. It seemed a bit excessive, but I was cooking for my two favorite guys, and I wanted to appease them both.

  I chopped and sautéed and grated and diced until the lasagna was in the oven and the sausage was simmering in the pan. I felt as though I had something to prove to Maxim, maybe that a taxi driver could still be a good homemaker and potential romantic partner, but I knew that he wouldn’t care one way or the other. If he’d gotten past our socioeconomic difference, I didn’t think lasagna would cause any problems.

  Wanting to look nice for Maxim but also like my typical self, I threw on a pair of jeans and floral blouse that was more like what I wore every day than anything I’d worn in Switzerland. To my surprise, Ryan emerged from his bedroom to set the table wearing his church suit.

  “Can I ask why you’ve chosen that particular outfit?” I tried to phrase the question so as not to offend his fashion choices.

  “Maxim likes to wear suits,” Ryan said. “So, I thought it would be fun to wear one, too.”

  I didn’t fully understand the logic, but who was I to stand in the way of a boy and his suit? I was just glad he was as excited I was about having Maxim over.

  I was still nervous for Maxim to see where I lived, as if that could solidify his view of me, but reminded myself that he didn’t care that I lived in a tiny shoebox, because he liked me for me.

  At seven o’clock, right on time, Maxim rang the doorbell. I pulled open the door to find him standing on the front steps with both arms full of things I couldn’t quite make out, except for a beautiful bouquet of roses.

  “These are for you, beautiful,” Maxim said, and he kissed me on the cheek.

  I hadn’t been given roses since my senior prom date had asked me to the prom, so the gesture meant a lot to me. I directed Maxim into the kitchen, and he placed his other items on the counter.

  “I wasn’t sure what wine you would prefer, so I brought a few for you to choose from.”

  Just from looking at the labels, I could tell that the wines were expensive, the types of wines I would never normally buy for myself. I didn’t quite know how to react to these gifts that must have cost hundreds, maybe thousands, of dollars, but I wanted to make sure he knew I was grateful for the gesture.

  “That’s so sweet of you,” I said. “Thank you. The flowers are beautiful, and these wines look incredible.”

  Ryan ran into the room and gave Maxim a hug. “Maxim!”

  “Hey, bud,” Maxim said. “I missed you. Lucie told me to tell you she misses you, too.”

  “Tell Lucie the same to her,” Ryan said. He looked at the previously clean countertop that was now covered with wine and flowers and a bag of something else Maxim hadn’t yet unveiled. “What is all this stuff?”

  Maxim picked up the mystery bag. “I couldn’t just show up empty-handed. How do you feel about presents?”