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I cross my arms over my chest and groan, “I still don’t think this is a a good idea. What about your daughter? Is she going to be upset that you’re dragging some stranger home? What about your wife?”
For the first time today, his smile fades and the granite jaw that seems so strong and sturdy, clenches hard. “I don’t have a wife. I told you that.”
My fingers twist in my lap. “I’m sorry. That was rude of me to say.” I hate that it seems like I’ve hurt this sweet, gentle man. Since I met him yesterday all he’s done is try to help me and I hurt some part of him that’s been buried for a long time. I can see it in the shadows of his alpine blue gaze.
He glances over at me and his smile is more guarded this time. “It doesn’t matter. It was a long time ago.”
My eyes mist over when I see the residual pain in his eyes. I clear my throat and glance away out the window. “It does matter. Pain is pain. Doesn’t matter if it’s fresh or if it’s scarred over, it still hurts when you poke at it.”
I see his golden brow lift out of the corner of my eye. “Yeah. That’s probably true.” His voice is harsh but yet gentle. “I think you know a bit about pain too, little flower.”
My head jerks around to stare at him. “Why did you call me that?” Nobody’s ever given me a nickname. Not my parents, not my husband. It’s like they couldn’t bother to get to know me enough to learn me, think about me with any kind of tender affection.
His blue eyes are steady on me and I struggle to pull in a breath. He’s just so damn beautiful that it hurts to look at him. “You’re like a beautiful flower that grows wild in the woods. Not some hothouse flower that’s been taken care of and spoiled. You’ve struggled to pull your head up through the dirt and rough around you and yet you’ve done it. You’ve survived and thrived.”
I shake my head and he just smiles gently. “You have. You just don’t know it yet. And you’re gonna be alright, Sarah. I feel it in my heart that you’re just getting ready to spread your wings and reach up to the sun and fly like you were born to.”
I flush and bite my lip, my belly flipping when his hot eyes dip down to my mouth and he growls under his breath.
“You don’t know me as well as you think you do.”
“We’ll see.” The jeep slows and pulls into a small, two-story house made in the plantation style on a small piece of land. The house seems to blend with all the green, tropical flora around it.
“This is stunning,” I gasp, astounded at the gorgeous home.
“Yeah. It was my parent’s house. They passed away about ten years ago and I moved in here with Penny. It was awful what happened to them but the house has been a godsend.”
“I imagine so.” I clear my throat. “What happened to your parents?” I backpedal quickly. “I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have asked that. Talk about rude.”
He smiles softly and stares out at the water. Most places on the island you can see at least a sliver of the gorgeous blue. “It’s not rude. It’s life. They had a little boat that they liked to take out for sunset cruises.” He turns to me, smiling. “They loved each other so much that every day was a special day to them and a lot of times those cruises were an imperative part of their days. Like they needed to be alone out there on the water and just…”. He shrugs. “I don’t know. Like they needed that time alone to make it through all the other day to day hassle. It was their personal time.”
I sigh. “It sounds sweet. Almost like a date night.”
He glances over at me and I sink into those blue eyes, watching them darken. His full lips part and he smiles again. “Yeah. I suppose it was. Anyway, one night a storm came in kind of sudden and they weren’t ready for it. The boat sank and them with it. We never did find them or the boat.”
My breath rushes in to my lungs and I feel tears sting my eyes. “I’m so sorry, Leon. That’s awful.”
“For me, yes. For them…? I kind of think that they were happy to go out together.” His eyes become unfocused and distant, staring back in time and lost in his own feelings. “I hope that they were in each other’s arms. If I had a love like theirs, that’s where I’d want to be when I was taken from this place. With her, wrapped around her. I think that would be perfect.”
I study him, seeing his pain stamped on his lean, angular, handsome face.
When he turns to face me, I gasp out loud at the hunger and want in his eyes. “What do you think?”
I swallow roughly, nodding my head and clearing my throat. “I think that sounds nice.”
He nods his head, still lost in thought. “Yeah. It does.”
There’s a lot more to this man than I thought when I first met him. There’s pain and sorrow like me. But unlike me he’s found a way to lift himself out of those feelings and move on. To find some joy in the little things.
I want to do the same but I’m just not sure I’m strong enough.
But when he holds out his hand and roughly grasps mine, the callouses on his palms scraping my sensitive palm, his hand warm and firm, his eyes lock on me. Something glows in them and a breathless feeling steals over me and I swear a little ember, a little flare of hope catches fire in my heart.
“Let’s go home.”
I nod my head, knowing that this isn’t my home. I don’t have one. He’s just letting me borrow his and I appreciate it more than he can ever know.
I just have to keep reminding myself that he’s just being nice to me. Nothing else.
