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“It looks like you brought more than a book. Who is this handsome man?” Tilly coughed and pulled a tissue from the sleeve of her thick sweater.
“Are you getting a cold?” Reese’s eyes filled with concern.
“It’s nothing.” Tilly stuffed the tissue back into her sleeve. “Just a little cold.” Tilly had a very friendly face, and Trent could tell by the way she squeezed Reese’s hand that she didn’t want Reese to worry about her. “Hello there. I’m Tilly.”
“I’m Trent. It’s nice to meet you.”
“Very nice to meet you, too. It was kind of you to come by with Reese.”
“They’re on a date—at least he hopes they are,” Carin called from across the room. “Aren’t they cute together?”
Reese’s eyes widened as Carin added, “He’s very nice, too. He’s a Rockwell, and he’s just moved back to the island to help run the resort.”
“Carin used to work in human resources,” Tilly explained to them. “She can get information out of a stone.” She coughed again, and Reese crouched beside her chair.
“Would you like me to ask someone to get you cough medicine? Or would you like a glass of water?”
Tilly’s eyes warmed again. “Thank you, sweetheart, but I’ll be fine. It’s just a little cold. Go have fun tonight and thank you for the book.” She pressed her hand to the cover. Reese gave her another hug, and Tilly held her tightly again before pushing her back and saying, “Don’t you worry. I’m as tough as they come. A little cold isn’t enough to break me.”
When Trent leaned down to embrace Tilly, she whispered, “She’s a wonderful girl.”
He whispered back, “Yes, she is.”
Trent turned to find Carin and Martha standing with open arms, waiting for their hugs, too. By the time they left, Trent had hugged Morris and Norma, too, and Reese was shaking her head.
“Do you have to be so darn likable?” she said with an exasperated tone as they climbed back into the car. “Those poor women will be dreaming about you all night long.”
Trent fought the urge to lean across the console and take her in an intoxicating kiss as he said, “It’s not them I want to dream about me.”
Only you.
Chapter Thirteen
CROAKERS PARK WAS bustling with children giggling and running about, while friends sat chatting on benches and families walked through the flea market. Several tented booths created a horseshoe-shaped border around the grassy lawn where the children were playing.
“Do you remember the last time we went to a flea market together?” Trent asked after they’d gotten out of the car.
Of course she remembered. She’d never forgotten one second that they’d spent together. It was crazy that the sparks between them hadn’t faded one bit—if anything, they felt stronger after being apart for so long. But she couldn’t let herself forget how quickly he’d changed in New York. She shouldn’t be pulled right back into his arms without some sort of assurance that he’d really changed.
Unfortunately, knowing she shouldn’t and fighting her attraction to him were a world apart.
“We went behind the boulders,” she finally answered.
He reached out to tuck a lock of hair behind her ear. “You were so sexy, Reese.”
“We almost got caught so many times.” She flushed with the memory of that afternoon. They’d been looking at arts and crafts, and every time Trent touched her, she wanted him more, needed him more. And then finally—finally—when neither could hold back another second, they’d stolen off to a secluded area of the park and made love behind a screen of boulders.
Now he gazed into her eyes and said, “I never could get close enough to you. In the months we were together, all I wanted was to love you more, to become part of you.”
She tore her eyes away, her throat thick with emotion. Painful emotion now, rather than the attraction that had been bubbling back up between them. “If that’s true, then you quickly lost your way.” And she still didn’t understand why he had let her go without even fighting for her all those years ago.
Her voice brought him back into focus. “I did lose my way. I didn’t know how to handle our relationship back then, but I’ve changed, Reese. And I promise I’m going to prove it to you.”
She wanted to believe him, but she’d given him unconditional love and trust before, and he’d been reckless with it. How could she trust him now?
She watched a young couple walk through the market carrying a bouquet of fresh flowers and holding hands. Why did it look so easy for everyone else? Then again, it had felt so easy for them at first, too, before they’d gone to New York.
Was it this island? Could their love survive only in this fairy-tale environment?
But even as the questions went around and around inside her head, she knew better than to try to figure out the last ten years in the next ten minutes. She needed to get their outing back on track, but now that talking had evened the score with almost making out, she wasn’t sure what she wanted anymore. Talking about the past was heartrending. Whereas almost making out was incredibly drugging and delicious.
