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“I don’t!”
“Georgie.”
“Okay, maybe a little.”
“Come on then.” He moved closer to the shore so that she had more room to flip before hitting the water, then turned his back to her.
“Seriously?”
“Aye, I’m a serious therapist and this is serious business. Up you get.”
“Okay, then!”
He bent his knees, raised his hands up so Georgie could hold on. With her fingers gripping his, she pulled herself up and planted her feet firmly on his shoulders. Even with her recent weight gain, she still weighed next to nothing as she balanced on him. Then she was pushing off and he turned in time to see her twist in the air, turning her body in time to hit the water hands first. She emerged with her eyes sparkling. “You deserve a kiss.”
“I won’t say no.” Georgie wrapped herself around him and kissed him deeply. Ryan wondered how much longer he could go on like this. He wanted all of her and all she felt she could give was a tiny snippet. It was exquisite torture. Who was he kidding, he thought to himself. He’d go on like this forever, taking the scraps Georgie felt she could spare him, if she could give him nothing more. “I think that’s enough for the day.”
They got out of the water and as they dried off, Ryan said, “I told you you’d be spinning cartwheels at Mikayla and Rafe’s wedding.”
“So you did. But you know, I didn’t really believe you.”
“No?”
“No. I’d been that way for so long, I couldn’t possibly have imagined being like this. Can I do a cartwheel on solid ground?”
“You can.”
“Now?”
“Sure.”
Georgie dropped her towel and took a few steps, then broke into a run, threw herself into a cartwheel and followed it straight into a backflip. When she righted herself she turned and smiled at Ryan. A smile so bright it could dim the sun. He felt it like a punch to the stomach. She was stunningly gorgeous and she had no idea. Her joy was infectious as she ran to him, throwing herself at him, wrapping her legs around his waist, laughing when he caught her up in his arms, kissing her for all he was worth. “You know what you need?” He asked against her lips.
“What’s that?”
“A lie down.” He fell to the sand, holding her on top of him, grinning at her gasp of shock, then kissed her some more. He rolled them over, covering her body with his own, raising his head to gaze down at her. The wordsI love youhovered on the tip of his tongue but he bit them back. He’d struck a tenuous balance with Georgie and he did not want to upset that.
Georgie’s smile faded as she looked at him and she reached up, stroking his face with the tips of her fingers. “Thank you,” she said softly, her eyes glowing. “For everything.” She pushed her fingers into his hair and pulled his head down, pressing a sweet kiss against his lips. When he lifted his head, she said, “I think we should go out for dinner.”
“Do you?”
“I do. Somewhere nice. In Genoa or something.”
“Okay then.” He tried to ignore the catch of his breath at her words. Georgie was shaking up their unspoken arrangement. They hadn’t done anything like go on a date. He wasn’t sure what that meant. “I have a conference call tonight. Tomorrow night?”
“Yes, that’s perfect.”
“Okay then. What time?”
“Six thirty? I’ll ask the girls about a nice place to eat.”
“Lovely.”
CHAPTER13
“Oh, what have you got there?”
Hauling grocery bags from the trunk of her car, Georgie turned to see Juniper coming out of the Long House. “I’ve been obsessing over cooking videos for the last few weeks. It’s my dirty little secret. Thought I’d have a go at gnocchi.”
