Page 76 of Jay Bird

“A planter. Right there.” She pointed toward the corner. “A big one. Something colorful.”

“You are literally redesigning my property while sitting on me.”

“Our relationship is moving very fast in some areas.”

Jay Bird laughed. The sound vibrated through his chest beneath her cheek.

Willow smiled. “Maybe flowers.”

“No pink.”

“We’ve established that pink is a no-go for you.”

She relaxed again.

The moon had risen higher now, its reflection stretching across the dark water.

Jay Bird kept his arms around her, strong and warm, yet never restrictive.

Willow listened to his heartbeat beneath her ear.

For years, she had believed safety meant keeping her distance from everything. But tonight, she was beginning to understand that safety didn’t have to feel like isolation at all.

It could be sitting beneath the moon with a baby monitor quietly humming nearby, laughing together over something as simple as landscaping plans, or just being with a man who held her without ever trying to claim her. A man who had trusted her enough to show her the part of himself he’d kept buried for twelve long years.

Willow closed her eyes and let herself rest against him.

Maybe neither of them knew where this was going, and maybe they didn’t need to.

For tonight, slow was enough.

And wrapped safely in Jay Bird’s arms, Willow let herself believe that maybe new beginnings didn’t always arrive loudly.

Sometimes they looked like white orchids, sometimes they sounded like a little girl calling Jay across a house, and sometimes they were as simple as finally finding someone whose arms felt safe enough to stay in.

CHAPTER TWELVE

Willow stood beside Jay Bird in the gravel parking lot and stared at the weathered building in front of her.

This was Bayside? She thought to herself.

The place looked like it had survived three hurricanes, two bar fights, and at least one failed health inspection.

Weathered gray siding covered the building; several shutters hung slightly crooked, and a faded wooden sign with “Bayside” painted across it swung lazily near the entrance. An old fishing net had been draped over part of the porch, and there was even a rusty anchor half buried in the sand near the entrance.

Willow slowly glanced at Jay Bird.

He was already smirking.

“Don’t.”

“I didn’t say anything.”

“You were thinking it pretty loud.”

She looked back at the building. “I’m just trying to decide if my tetanus shot is current.”

Jay Bird laughed. “Wait until you get inside.”