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“It’s nothing less than you deserve,Reyna DeMarco.”
She inhales sharply, tears filling her eyes again as she roughly shoves my hand away from her mouth. “Alex, you don’t need to say—”
And in that moment, something inside of me snaps.
I step closer, softly placing one palm over her mouth while the other grips the back of her head, keeping her in place even as she shoots shocked eyes to mine. “I’ve told you before, baby. I say what Imean, and I mean what Isay. Those vows werenottaken lightly; let me assure you of that.”
She sucks a harsh breath through her nose, her eyes holding mine before she nods as much as this position will allow.
I step back, removing my hands instantly, even as the urge to kiss her almost overwhelms me.
Instead of following my baser urges, I force my lips upward. “Now, let’s give Mari a send-off here in paradise.”
* * *
Once we’ve eaten lunch, I give Rey some privacy to change into her bikini, resolutely ignoring the steady twitch in my pants when she remerges in a simple black two-piece.
When I’d shown her the racks of clothes that had been delivered last night, she’d stuck to the more staple items rather than the elaborate ones, though I have no doubt in my mind that she could wear a garbage bag and still be the most beautiful woman on the face of the planet.
My eyes drink their fill, and I can’t help smiling at how her curves have begun to fill back out in the space of a few short days.
“What’s so funny, pretty boy?”
I saunter closer, my smile broadening as I reach for her hand. “Remember when we went shopping at Bergdorf’s?”
She slides her small palm alongside mine as she nods easily. “Mm-hmm. Why?”
I chuckle as I openly allow my eyes to drift the length and breadth of her body again. “I thought lingerie shopping might kill me…but it appears I was mistaken, because swimwear is giving me a fucking coronary over here.”
She nudges me with her shoulder as a smile blooms on her perfect face.
I squeeze her hand in mine as my laughter dies in my throat. “Fuck, baby. I’m so damn happy to see you smiling again.”
Her cheeks pinken up delightfully as her mouth tugs upward. “It’s all because of you, you know.”
Doe eyes meet mine. “You’ve been my shelter in the storm, Alex. I could never have weathered it without you.Anyof it.”
I stop suddenly as we reach the water's edge to plant my hands on her upper arms so that I can twist her about to face me. “That’s not true, Rey.”
My hands rise to cup her cheeks, and I dip my knees so that I can make her see the truth of my words reflected in my eyes. “You are stronger than you know. Don’teverforget that!”
Our eyes hold for several long moments as the water gently laps at our feet. A small breeze skates across our skin, blowing strands of Rey’s long hair across her face, and my free hand automatically reaches up to brush them behind her ear.
Her pupils dilate, and IknowI’m being unfair when she clearly still harbors a crush on me, but the lines that once seemed so solid in my mind have been well and truly blurred now. So much so that I can’t seem to find a single reason in my mind to deny ourselves any longer.
Maybe Iama serial screw-up, but for Rey…I want to do better. I want tobebetter.
And with her guiding light, perhaps Icanbe better than the people who made me.
For her.
Perhaps I can fix the broken parts of me. The ones I’ve long thought unfixable, but I now realize that she makes me feel whole in a way I’ve never imagined.
Is it selfish to want to keep that? To want to give her my all while taking all she has to give.
I cup her face in my hands, and her gaze darts to my lips. I’m slowly magnetized to close the distance between us until I’m inhaling her sweet exhalations. Her chest is rising and falling at pace, and my head is slightly fuzzy as I feel myself give in, as I give myself over to whatever higher power led me to her that day in Molly Malones.
Our lips dust across one another’s just as the peaceful serenity of Playa Conchal is broken by the inimitable sound of an incoming helicopter.
