Page 63 of Carson

“So what do you say?” Carver asks, hope alive on his face.

I almost feel bad for him. He’s about to get shot down.

Jesse sits forward. “Nyx doesn’t need your help. She’s already got the good congressman tied up out at the shed.”

Carver shifts in his chair. “I could give her a hand.”

“She has it handled. Last I heard, he’s already giving up the names of his business partners.”

Carver’s jaw clenches.

When she stands, Dirk meets her at the door. She pauses to look over her shoulder at him. “Do as you like, but I suggest you approach her in a more public setting. Unless you’re interested in disappearing.”

Carver sits back in his chair, deep in thought, long after they’ve gone.

“Listen, brother, I’m not saying to forget about this chick, but she sounds like she’s someone who can handle shit on her own.”

For the life of me, I don’t understand what the hell has gotten into him and Carson.

Whatever the fuck it is, I hope I don’t catch it.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Luna

It’s our last night in Ireland. We’ve been staying at an Airbnb on the Dingle Peninsula. It’s one of the most beautiful locations I’ve ever seen. My mother wrote about it as being one of her favorite places. Many of the people here still speak Gaeilge. It’s a place I’ll remember forever.

The entire trip has shifted my perspective on the world … and on myself.

Life moves much slower here. There’s no rush. No hurry.

Carson approaches me and takes my hand. “I’m going to miss this,” he says.

It’s hard not to notice the sadness in his eyes. I have no doubt part of him will always long for this place. Mine will too. But he will never yearn for anything more than he does his home … his family.

How I wish that would include me.

“I’ll miss it too,” I agree.

Not only this place, but him. Tonight I’m letting him go.

Each day that has passed, I’ve hoped, I’ve prayed, I’ve even resorted to begging the powers that be to make this part of me stop being afraid. But every time I try to gently move our intimacy beyond holding hands or cuddling, my father enters the room.

I pull away from Carson and turn us toward the parking lot. “We should get back and start supper. We’ve got one final bottle of wine to crack.”

He laughs lightly, following just a step behind me. Carson always gives me space while at the same time protecting me. He’s one of those men you think are a myth. He holds doors open, positions himself streetside on our walks through town, and he always, always gives me the last bite of his dessert. That right there should earn him some sort of reward. Shouldn’t it?

My mind drifts to our first night here on the isle. The night he gave me the journal with the luna moth on the front. I remember what I wrote at the top of the page.

A Luminous Beginning.

I smile at myself. How fucking cheesy was I?

Carson meets my eyes over the top of the car before getting in and grins. And that right there is where those words came from. His smile … his very being … glows.

His soul tugs at mine, creating an ache deep in my chest. It’s as if it knows I’m going to let go.

He deserves a woman who is whole. Who can show him love in the most intimate of ways.