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“I get that. I’ve always loved playing the cello, and it isn’t for the fame--I mean, I’m one person in an orchestra, a part of a whole. But when I play I feel like I could float away. Well, at least I used to.”
I look over at her, frowning. “Used to?”
She sits in the chair next to me. I keep one hand on the wheel as I steer the boat, but my other hand finds hers. Chum is sleeping at her feet, and I appreciate that she hasn’t sneered at him at all day. God knows she could, considering he nearly killed her.
But the truth is, I think Chum just wanted to make sure I went after her.
He knew something about Alice before I did.
That I needed her in my life.
“Yeah, I don’t know what’s happened. I used to play so effortlessly, but ever since I graduated from music school and started auditioning for the symphony, I’ve been blocked. Stuck. Lost the passion I used to have when I played.”
I hold up her hand and kiss it. I notice that her nails are short, filed to the quick, and I imagine these hands creating music. The fact that I have the privilege of holding her hand at all feels like a gift. I know how important my hands are for fishing, I can only imagine how important hers are for creating music.
“When you talk about playing music, your voice doesn’t sound flat. It sounds like you still love it,” I tell her.
“I do. I’m just scared I’m not cut out for it.”
“You said you have an audition soon?” In the distance, I see the cruise boat and I know our time together is coming to an end.
“Yeah.” She looks over at me and I see the emotion written on her face. “If I could harness the way I feel right now when I audition, I know I’d get a spot.”
I pull the boat to a stop at the dock and look in her eyes. “And how do you feel right now?”
Her eyelids close, she takes a deep breath. “I don’t know if it’s you or Alaska or the ocean air––but I feel alive. I feel like I can breathe.”
“Hold on to that feeling, Alice, when you get home. Next time you play.”
She looks at me wistfully. “I wish I could bottle this feeling up and have it at the ready when I need it.”
I pull her to me, our foreheads touching. Meeting her was no coincidence.
“I guess we will have to make plans to meet again. Call me, email, whatever. I’ll be out of town on a fishing trip for the next ten days, and I won’t have cell service--but afterward, I will.”
“Do you go on fishing trips a lot?”
I nod. “This time of year? Yeah, every few days I leave on one.” I see her eyes fall; as if she’s already trying to decide if I’m the kind of guy she can count on. “Seriously, Alice. It feels like this is way too good to be true to let it be a one-day stand.”
“I know; I wish I could stay. But the boat’s leaving. And I have this audition in a few weeks and you live here and...” She shakes her head.
Of course, nothing is easy in life, you see the one thing you want and can’t have it.
“That’s why you’re gonna call me,” I tell her. “Hell, I’ll come down to Seattle and visit.”
“You’d do that?”
“You’re my make-believe bride, aren’t you?”
She shakes her head. “My life is so different than yours though...,”
“I know, I know.” I run my hands over her cheeks, cupping her face and pulling her to me. “I know you’re a woman who minds her manners and is so damn sweet, and I’m a burly Alaskan mountain man, but I’m not through with you, Alice.”
“Will you kiss me goodbye?” she asks.
“I’ll kiss you, but only if you promise to call.”
She nods her head. “I will. I promise, Aiden.”
So I give her what we both want.
A deep kiss full of expectation. Full of hope.
Full of desire.
I kiss Alice until my cock is hard and she’s left wet and wanting.
Good.
That is how I need her.
Longing for more.
That will guarantee she’ll call me. Which I need her to do.
Because I’m not through with Alice yet.Chapter SevenThe moment I get on the boat, I make a beeline to my cabin. I need to take a shower and use the chance to think about what happened today.
My body had no desire to walk out of Aiden’s truck.
But I knew I had to. As much as I wanted to miss the ship and just stay in his arms forever, I know that wasn’t realistic.
Not because he feels like a stranger – he doesn’t. Not anymore. We made love all day, I slept in his arms, and even had a proper date at a bar. Not to mention the fact that I came face-to-face with his ex. We did a lot in less than twelve hours.
