But right now, in this moment, with Dex’s arms around me and Xander’s blessing still ringing in my ears, I let myself believe that maybe, just maybe, we could figure it out.
Together.
Chapter 20
LEIGH
The golden hour light was perfect.
I stood at the edge of the meadow, watching it filter through the trees, painting everything in warm honey tones. This was the magic hour, the time when light turned ordinary moments into something ethereal. When photographs stopped being just images and became something you could feel.
My camera hung around my neck, ready. My equipment bag sat at my feet. Everything was prepared.
Except me.
Because in about ten minutes, Trace and Delaney would arrive for their engagement shoot, and I’d have to spend the next two hours photographing two people who were deeply in love. Twopeople who were planning their forever. Two people who got to keep each other.
And it hadn’t occurred to me until right this moment that there was a man in my life I had those kind of feelings developing for but I wouldn’t get to have that with him. I was left with counting down the days until I had to let Dex go.
Four weeks. We had four weeks left until the wedding. Four weeks until the end of our agreed-upon summer. Four weeks until I went back to Blue Point Bay and he stayed here in Willowbrook and we both pretended we could survive it.
My chest ached just thinking about it.
“You okay?”
I turned to find Dex walking toward me, hands in his pockets, that concerned furrow between his brows that I’d come to recognize as his “worrying about Leigh” expression.
He’d driven me here in his truck, helped me carry equipment, stayed to help with the shoot because Trace had asked him to. And he was staying, even though it was awkward because we hadn’t told everyone yet.
Now wasn’t the time. This was Trace and Delaney’s moment. They deserved for every part of this wedding to be as special as possible. So that meant, not letting our personal drama spill over into the special moments like this one.
“I’m fine,” I said automatically.
Dex stopped in front of me, close enough that I could smell his cologne. That woodsy, clean scent that I’d started associating with safety. With home.
With everything I couldn’t keep.
“Liar,” he said softly.
I looked up at him. “How do you know?”
“Because you get this look on your face when you’re trying to convince yourself of something you don’t believe.” He reachedout, tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. His hand lingered, thumb brushing my cheekbone. “What’s wrong?”
Everything. Nothing. The fact that I was impossibly and completely in love with him and we only had four weeks left.
But I couldn’t say that. We’d agreed. Temporary. Fun. No promises, no expectations, no making this harder than it had to be.
“Just thinking about composition,” I lied. “Making sure I have the shots mapped out.”
His eyes searched mine, and I knew he didn’t believe me. But he didn’t push. That was one of the things I’d learned about Dex over the past month. He gave me space when I needed it. Let me work through things at my own pace. Never demanded more than I was ready to give.
Which somehow made me want to give him everything.
“They’re going to love these photos,” he said finally. “You’re incredible at this.”
“You haven’t even seen them yet.”
“I’ve seen you work. I’ve seen the way you see light and moments that no one else notices. I’ve watched you turn ordinary scenes into something magical.” He smiled, that slow smile that made my stomach flip. “Trust me. They’re going to be perfect.”
