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Her father put his arms around her again, and she gladly leaned in to his solid warmth. It had taken a long time for her to pick up the pieces of her life after their divorce. Once she had, despite underlying hopes that she’d written off as first-love leftovers, she’d never imagined that she and Trent would ever become close again. She’d certainly never imagined that he’d move back to the island.
And she’d never in a million years thought that she’d be so deeply at risk of falling in love with him a second time.
Chapter Eleven
ALL TRENT HAD thought about since this morning was Reese...and how badly he wanted her back.
But was it too late? Had he hurt her too deeply—and been too stubbornly stupid for too many years?
If he could do things all over again, he would erase the ten years between their divorce and today. No... If he could do things all over again, he’d erase all the ways he’d screwed up their marriage in the first place. He’d be wholly devoted to her instead of his career. And he’d never let one single second pass without her knowing just how much she meant to him.
But there was no time machine; there was only today. He prayed she’d at least consider giving him another chance.
Trent parked his car in front of Reese’s house. She was close to her parents, and he hadn’t been surprised to hear that she’d bought a two-bedroom house right around the corner from them. Trent tightened his grip on the gift he’d brought for her and paused before walking up the steps to her front porch, remembering the look on her parents’ faces when he’d come after Reese to try to convince her to come back to New York with him. They’d treated him with respect and kindness, and the few times he’d seen them in town since then, they’d been friendly toward him, which surprised him, given that he’d swept their daughter off her feet, only to send her running back home, heartbroken, a few months later. If they’d swapped places, he didn’t know if he’d be as kind. Looking back, he sure as hell didn’t feel like he deserved their generosity.
Trent scrubbed his hand down his face. He’d known the second he’d met Reese that she was the only woman for him—but he’d allowed their connection to get severed by his need to succeed. How could he have been such a fool?
He would move heaven and earth for Reese, and he vowed to prove to her, and to her parents, that he was the best—and the only—man for her.
As he knocked on Reese’s door, he silently reminded himself not to allow this first date to go the way their real first date had a decade ago, when they’d never even made it out the door before they were ripping off each other’s clothes. They would make it to the flea market, even if he had to keep his hands in his pockets all evening to keep from touching her. The most important thing was that they talk tonight, really talk, especially about the hard stuff. Because it was killing him that he hadn’t had a chance to tell her how deeply sorry he was.
When Reese opened the door, the evening breeze blew her blond hair off her shoulders. She’d changed into a peach sweater and a pair of jeans darker than the ones she’d worn earlier in the day. She looked stunning. Her lips curved up in a smile that thankfully reached her beautiful eyes, radiating straight to the center of Trent’s chest.
“You’re gorgeous, Reese.” Even though he knew it was a dangerous proposition when he was intent on making sure they talked rather than ripped each other’s clothes off, he couldn’t stop himself from leaning down and kissing her cheek, lingering just long enough to drink in her sweet perfume and the feel of her warm cheek on his lips.
He could have sworn she nuzzled against him slightly before she said a husky, “Thank you.”
Making himself take a step back from her, rather than moving closer, which every cell in his body was urging him to do, he handed her the wrapped gift. “I saw this and thought of you.”
“You didn’t have to bring me anything.”
He was surprised at the ease with which she pressed her hand to his chest the way she used to, before she seemed to realize what she was doing and pulled her hand back. Old habits clearly die hard. And hopefully true love never died at all.
“Are you nervous?”
She’d obviously felt his heart racing when she’d laid her hand on his chest. But he wouldn’t have lied to her even if she hadn’t already felt the proof of his nerves. “Yes, I’m nervous. I don’t want to mess this up.” Not when he’d screwed up so many things before and had ended up pushing away the person most important to him in the world.
