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Rhett followed me, watching me take way too many pictures. His hands were slung in his pockets, and he was so easygoing. He pulled out his phone and snapped a few pictures before putting it away again.
“This is incredible,” I said, shaking my head. I could see whySleepless in Seattlechose it for such a romantic scene. I was all warm and fuzzy despite being 102 floors up in the air, and my heart was racing. I looked up at him. “I can’t believe you did this for me.”
He shrugged. “It was nothing.”
I kept shaking my head. “That wasn’t nothing. First the fundraiser and the dress, then the pizza—”
“The pizzareallywas nothing.”
“—and now this?” I was speechless, unable to form the words to explain how grateful I was. My mom was going to die when I sent her pictures. Absolutely die. I shifted, bumping him in the shoulder. “Do you treat all your hairdressers like this?”
“Only the ones I like.”
I couldn’t help but chuckle. “If you want to take me on full-time, I won’t complain.”
“I think your wedding clients might.”
“Ugh. Don’t remind me. I wish I didn’t have to go home to take care of that one bride, but I made a commitment to her Momzilla.”
“That’s one of the things I like about you,” he said quietly. “You’re a good person.”
My stomach fizzed from the compliment. So naturally, I had to argue it. “Most people who sign contracts don’t break them. It doesn’t make me special to avoid being sued.” And I’d been calling the woman names ever since. Momzilla. Mother-of-the-Bridezilla. Haughty Harpy. (Though, to be fair, she’d done nothing to earn the harpy part of that last one.)
“Yeah,” Rhett agreed, “but I have a feeling that if she really wanted you, regardless of the contract, you would still have found a way to be there.”
“It is her wedding day, but in all fairness, it’s not the bride who wants me. It’s her mom.”
He laughed. “You know what I mean.”
I scanned the lights that filled the land all the way to the harbor, twinkling below us in a starlit display of New York’s nightlife. My body settled comfortably in the space of this moment, my voice softening. “You think I’m a good person just like I think you’re a good person.”
His mouth tightened. “Agree to disagree.”
What was his deal? Why couldn’t he accept the compliment when he did good deeds for the sake of being good? Did he really believe his good deeds weren’t a big deal?
I pivoted to face him again. “I understand a lot of your charity is because of Bridget. The dates, the food bank, the gala. But the way you had Jax help Betsy from the crowd in Boston? No one saw that. That was your own good heart at work. The way you bought extra pizza and handed it to people who probably didn’t get a hot dinner tonight? That was on you and not for any sort of recognition.” I faced him again. “Bringing me here? It’s that thoughtfulness that makes you a good person.”
He held my eyes, his own shining with a reflection of the city. The moment felt intimate, the mood shifting with those words. Rhett swallowed. “Those things are so small. Nearly inconsequential.”
“I doubt they’re small or inconsequential to the people you’ve helped.”
His hand came around my jaw, and his fingers wrapped behind my neck. He wasn’t too much taller than me when I sported heels like this, but still I had to look up into his eyes, and they were serious. His thumb grazed my jaw, making me want to lean toward him.
“I’m not sure this is a good idea,” he said, “but I can’t seem to talk myself out of it.”
“Hanging out with me?”
His mouth turned up in a soft smile. “Yeah. I’m drawn to you.”
“Hey, I understand. I’ve been in love with you since I was a teenager.”
Rhett laughed, pulling me closer. “It’s funny because you sound sincere.”
Um, hello? Iwassincere.
He didn’t give me time to explain my crush, though. His hand tightened on my waist, making my heart beat all 102 floors down to the ground and back. We were alone but surrounded by what felt like the entire world, the lights and people so far away but so present.
“You know, if you wanted to kiss me, you didn’t need to drag me so far above civilization to do it.”
