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Aine looked out at the ocean; something she did a lot, he’d noticed. “Tell me what’s on your mind.”
She looked back at him.
“I’m not sure how to say this.”
“We’ve talked for hours, pretty girl. Just say it.”
“I haven’t been with very many men,” she said almost too quietly for him to hear her.
Striker leaned forward, grasped her neck with his hand, and kissed her. “Whatever has or hasn’t happened in either of our pasts, doesn’t matter, Aine. This is just me and you. Okay?”
He draped his arm around her shoulders on their walk back to the inn. Every once in a while, he’d stop and hold her close while he brushed his lips with hers, and then kissed her the way he’d wished he could every time they’d talked on the phone.
“Here you are, in my arms,” he said when they got back to the inn. “Do you know how many nights I’ve wished we were holding each other just like this?”
“It’s been the same for me. I fall asleep imagining your arms are around me.”
“Wasn’t that the turn?” Alegria asked, pointing at the road he’d just driven past.
He’d been so lost in thought, remembering the first night he and Aine were together, he might’ve driven all the way to San Simeon before he realized it.
He took the next left turn, which also went to Moonstone Beach Road.
“Sorry,” he murmured, but he wasn’t. Being away from the house had given him time to think, and he’d come to a decision. Aine McNamara was his dream come true, and he’d heard what she said earlier: I wish you wouldn’t let me go so easily.
If that’s the way she felt, then he would wrestle the devil himself to keep her in his life.
Instead of worrying about whether Aine thought he was too old for her, he was going to appreciate every minute he could spend with her.
He had a hell of a lot to be thankful for this year, and she was at the top of the list. It was time he let her know that, instead of giving her an out she hadn’t asked for.
—:—
“Is there anything else I can do to help?” Mantis asked.
“I think we’ve got everything. As soon as Razor and Gunner finish carving the turkeys, we’ll be set,” said Gunner’s mother.
“Griffin isn’t back yet,” Aine murmured, carrying a bowl of mashed potatoes out to the table that had been set up as a buffet.
“He just pulled through the gate,” Razor told her.
Aine set the potatoes down and hurried out the front door. She hated the way she’d walked away from him before he left, and she wanted him to know how sorry she was.
She bit her bottom lip as she watched him get out of the car and stalk straight over to her.
“Come with me,” he said, taking her hand. When they got around the side of the house, Griffin pushed her up against one of the big redwood trees. “Listen to me,” he said, his lips so close to hers, she could feel his breath. “I’m not letting you go. Easily or otherwise. I want you in my life, Aine, more than I’ve ever wanted anyone. Do you understand?”
She nodded.
“Not just in my bed. In my life.”
“I want that too, Griffin. I’m sorry I walked away from you.”
“Don’t do it again. Don’t ever walk away from me. Stay and talk it out. Tell me what you’re thinking, and I’ll do the same. If you aren’t sure what I mean, ask me.”
“I will. I promise.”
He held her face with his hand and kissed her hard.
