Page 83 of Meant to be Mine

“This one is significantly easier than the beach club event,” I said. “For me, anyway. For us.”

“How so?”

“I didn’t plan it. I didn’t organize it. I have zero responsibility for whether the food runs out or the lighting is right or the models show up on time.” I picked up my champagne glass. “We just show up and smile.”

She looked at me like she was waiting for the catch. “That’s it?”

“That’s it. We get on a boat. We eat food someone else ordered. We drink free liquor. We talk to a few people. And at the end of the night, we get off the boat and go home.”

“Okay,” she said.

“What?”

“Nothing.”

“Kensey.”

She sighed. “I just don’t want to be the person who doesn’t know anyone and stands at the railing looking at the water while everyone else is doing inside jokes and talking about people I’ve never heard of.”

“You did fine at the beach club event.”

“That was different. I had a job at the beach club event. I had a purpose. I was running around making sure things didn’t fall apart. I didn’t have time to feel out of place.” She set her glass down. “A party where I’m just a guest is a different thing entirely.”

“You know Callum and Victoria. Cleo. Micah. They’ll be there. And you fit in just fine at the beach club party, Kens. You worked the room. You talked to the buyers. You’re going to do fine.”

“What if I just stay close to you?” she asked.

“You better,” I said. “I wasn’t exactly intending to let you wander off.”

The corner of her mouth curved up. “Is that so?”

“It is.” I picked up a strawberry and handed it to her.

Kensey laughed. The tension from earlier had mostly dissolved. We’d put it aside for now. We were good at that too, maybe too good. The reckoning would come. But not tonight.

“Thank you,” she said. “For today. All of it.”

“Don’t thank me,” I said. “Without you, eating strawberries alone in my suite in a robe would just be sad. With you here, it’s romantic as hell. A night to be cherished forever.”

Kensey smiled at me, her eyes shining with affection. “You know, I think I have a way we can use this whipped cream and chocolate sauce.”

I arched a brow. “You’ll get messy. And sticky.”

“I’m washable.”

We fell into bed and guaranteed I was going to be paying an extra fee for new sheets.

The following morning, we caught a ride to the airport. We were both subdued. Not depressed, just quiet.

In the plane, Kensey took the window seat and I sat beside her. Her hair was down. She had her book open in her lap, the vampire one she’d refused to read aloud, but I noticed she hadn’t turned a page in the last twenty minutes. Her head found my shoulder somewhere over the Central Valley. I shifted to make it easier for her.

I didn’t read. I didn’t pull out my phone. I just sat there with my chin tipped down and looked at the top of her head and thought about a lot of things I wasn’t ready to say out loud.

“You asleep?” I asked quietly.

“No.” Her voice was soft. Drowsy but awake. “Thinking.”

“About?”