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Bree’s resilience was a miracle.
“They’re going to present you with terms of employment for Ari’s, starting next year, or whenever you feel ready for it, of course. They went out of their way to make sure it was nonbinding but also detailed, and they somehow avoided using the word ‘contract’ at all. It’s more of a gesture of their hope to bring you on board and a way to open discussing terms officially.”
I held her gaze, making sure she was absorbing the sincerity of what I was about to say. “You do not have to accept it. I don’t care how excited my dad gets or how serious my mom looks, there is no pressure. They’ve been needing someone full time for a long time, and they’re hoping to start serving lunch again by next season. But they have a whole pitch prepared for after the meal tomorrow—later today, really. I just wanted to prepare you so you didn’t feel backed into a corner.”
Bree’s steel-gray eyes glimmered in the moonlight. “Three weeks ago, it would have been an immediate yes. It’s probably still a yes now, but I’ll make sure I give it due thought first.” She hesitated, licking her lips as she thought. “Thanks for telling me. I also wanted to ask that whenever you call Paul and let him know you’re moving out…,” she trailed off.
“What?” I asked, some post-trauma anxiety creeping in.
“Well, I’m fairly confident that you could tell him that you have another renter for the houseboat, if he’s interested.”
I frowned. “Liem?”
“No. Cody.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Call it best-friend intuition or whatever, but I have a feeling he’s not going to be on the cruise ship for much longer. I don’t even think he’s on it now.”
“I’ll let Paul know and leave it open-ended. But you know Cody might want to crash here.”
She smiled up at me warmly. “I know. But I think he might need the houseboat, you know? I think it’s lucky. It certainly was for me. For us.”
“You really think that? After all that happened?”
She draped her leg over my waist, and my hands went to her hips to guide her on top of me, my cock already hard at the feel of her naked body.
“Yes,” she breathed, leaning down to take my lips in a slow, passionate embrace, running her hand through my hair and tugging on the strands in the way she knew I loved.
I groaned, and she replied in kind before tracing my face with her fingertips, her eyes shining with love. “I think meeting you, Vinh Lott, was the most fortunate thing that has ever happened to me.”
I lightly gripped the back of her thigh in one hand and stroked the side of her face with the other, any response caught in my throat as I swallowed roughly. So instead of words, I took her lips and hoped that it was enough to show her that I felt the same.
And always would.
