I’m too busy trying to protect myself from mounting hope to speak. My silence spurs him into action, his long legs eating up the deck between us before stopping just out of reach. He smells like salt and sweat, his shirt stained with grime and grease, hair more unruly than it was this morning, but he’s the most handsome man I’ve ever laid eyes on.
“I was upset. I’vebeenupset, from the moment I got that reference call. Then you showed up, and hearing your voice—the one I look forward to hearing every fucking day—just jammed in the knife. Reminded me how un-fucking-likely it is that you’d ever want to stay here, with me. Kenny called before I could get a handle on it.”
His chest moves on a burdened breath, voice slowly returning to normal. “But I want to see you happy, Eliza. That’s all I fucking want. It might suck, but people are allowed to change their minds. I think you’ll be happy here, but if…if you changed your mind, and going back to Boston is what’ll make you happy, then that’s all I want for you. Doesn’t matter if it eats me up.”
And itiseating him up—the thought of me leaving.
It’s clear as day, now.
“You’re a fucking star. You’ll shine wherever you go. And if you don’t think Garnet Shores is big enough for all that shine, then who am I to fault you?”
All the hope I’ve been trying to tamp down erupts, filling me up, rocking me with relief and ecstasy and something else that injects straight into my heart.
It only grows more intense when he says, “I’ve already thought about how to make things work. Taking early shifts to meet you for dinner. Working the schedule to get more Saturdays off.” He hesitantly reaches for my hands, like he’s afraid I might jerk away and dive into the water.
When he makes contact, my hands tremble beneath his calloused fingers.
“If you don’t want that because of today, because I’ve upset you, it’llfuckingkill me, but I get it. I was an ass. Hell, I’ve been an ass half the time I’ve known you. But if you don’t want that because you don’t think it’ll work, I’m dead-set on convincing you it will.”
“Grayson.” His name is like a revelation coming off my tongue. Hope and worry battle behind his blazing eyes. “I’m not going.”
He blinks.
A smile splits my lips. Maybe it isn’t appropriate to smile when wisps of distress still cling to him. But in the wake of everything he’s just poured from his heart, I can’t stop myself. How could I, when I’m standing before the man who barged into my life, scattered all my well-laid plans, stripped away the cage and opened the goddamn door? The man who sees me, knows me, makes me feel like I’m already flying?
“That interview—I was never going to take the job. I didn’t even know it was scheduled until this morning, afteryou were already gone. I only went to get my mother off my back. It didn’tmatter.”
His lips part, and I twist my hands, wrapping them tightly around his wrists. “You were busy at work, and it was just a chore in my day. I was going to tell you at dinner. I didn’t want to worry you unnecessarily.”
He stares at me, wide-eyed. His lips waver, until finally lifting on a disbelieving smile.
“Fuck, Eliza.” He pulls a hand away to rub his hair, his laugh hoarse, incredulous. “You did a hell of a lot worse than worry me.Jesus,woman.”
Without warning, he grabs my biceps, snaps me to him, and bear-hugs me. He’s in desperate need of a shower, but his arms, his solidness, his all-encompassing presence feel like home. The skiff bobs as a wake rolls in, and he easily adjusts his stance, keeping me steady and secure in his embrace.
“Fuck,” he swears again, squeezing me harder, even as the boat stabilizes. “You’re staying?” He asks like he doesn’t trust his ears.
“I start with your brother in September. It’s contract-official.” My voice is muffled by his chest.
“I…” he pulls back, cupping my face. Some of his worry returns. “I tried to understand. I didn’t think you’d flip things like that, but, the facts—I mean?—”
I lift to my tip-toes and press my lips to his, stopping his explanation. His thumbs stroke my cheeks as he gently kisses me back.
I don’t want to pull away, but it’s important he understands. Still, his roughened fingers linger, feather-soft on my skin like they can’t bear to let me go.
“Grayson, I know how it looked. This is on me.” He opens his mouth to argue, but I don’t give him the space. “Iwas never going to take that job. I shouldn’t have evenentertainedthe idea. But I felt like I owed my parents, and in the process, I forgot what I oweyou.Sorry isn’t a good enough word. I almost—” my lungs spasm with emotion— “I almost lost you in the stupidest, most idiotic way.”
He shakes his head. “Impossible,” he snorts. “Can’t lose me when I’m in love with you.”
My pulse stutters.
The way he says it, like it was obvious, just an offhand comment?—
He’s in love with me.
It will replay in my head forever. That…he just…oh my gosh.
“I wasn’t going to say it so soon, but talking out of my ass earlier didn’t scare you away, so I figured this probably won’t, either.”
