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Dune sighed. “You asked me about my nickname, and I told you. That’s the truth. It’s a dumb name, but it’s also funny, and my friends like to use it. Seaport is small, and gossip spreads like wildfire. Am I the playboy, everyone thinks or says I am?”
He nodded.
“But that went out the window the day I saw you step onto my boat. Do you want to know what I thought when I saw you?”
“What?”
“Money. Here was this woman, who screamed dollar signs. Someone out of my league and I took this as a challenge.”
“I see.”
“Do you want to know what I saw the next day in town when we ran into each other?”
“Sure.”
“I saw someone who was lost. Not because she was new in town. But someone who didn’t know herself very well and came to town to find the answers she didn’t even know she looked for. I saw you, the woman before me now, seeking acceptance from people she didn’t know, as if their opinions mattered.”
A tear fell from her eye. She hated he was right, that he saw her better than she saw herself. Or how her family saw her.
Dune wiped her tear away. “The night at Carter’s—that’s something I have never, ever done for anyone else—ever.”
“Not even your flavors of the week?”
Dune groaned. “Not even them because I never felt for them an iota of what I feel for you.”
“Which is?”
“I’m so in love with you, Caroline. Knowing that you’re leaving at the end of August has my head spinning. It makes me wonder when I’ll see you again. When will you come back? Will you ask me to visit in New York? Before you, I never cared when people left. But with you, nothing but dread fills my body at the thought of you leaving. My plan was to take you to New York, by boat or whatever, just so we’re together longer.”
Dune cupped her cheek. “I’m sorry if I ever made you feel less than the most amazing woman I have ever met.”
“You didn’t,” she told him. “Bryant did.”
“I’m sorry he said those things to you, calling you the flavor of the month. I could’ve warned you, but he doesn’t live here and hasn’t for years. Every now and again, he returns and tells whoever will listen about his ugly drama filled life. He feels slighted, as does his sister.” Dune told her the story, the long-twisted drama with slighted feelings, unrequited love, and being blamed for a child that wasn’t his. The lies, the truths, and how Bryant still cannot see through his sister’s lies.
“Eventually, they moved off the island. Now Bryant shows up every blue moon to stir up trouble.”
“He told me you cheated on his sister.”
Dune shook his head vigorously. “We were never an item. Not even a one-night stand. I have never been with her. One time, she came to my house and got drunk, and I put her in my bed to sleep it off. Even then, I slept in my brother’s room. That’s when she started the rumor that I was the father of her child. I took a DNA test to prove I wasn’t, and she still claimed I lied about things. I can’t win with them.”
“I’m sorry they put you through all of this.”
“Thank you, but I’d take the brunt of their bullshit if it means they leave you alone. No one should be subject to their lies, especially you.”
“He was kind of creepy.”
“Yeah.” Dune sighed and then shuddered. “I saw him outside the train station. He knew I’d come looking for you and he waited, which leads me to believe he followed you.”
Caroline blanched. “Why?”
“No idea, Care Bear. But he’s gone now. At least, I hope he is.”
She nodded and moved her fingers to the back of his hair. “You came to look for me?”
“I did.” He pulled her closer. “Speed told me he saw you, and I ditched work to find you. To beg you to stay.”
“How’d you end up here?”
“I don’t know,” he said. “I had a hunch and came here. I’m so fucking thankful I did.”
Caroline pushed her fingers into Dune’s neck, and he brought his forehead to hers. “I didn’t know what to think when you were at the door. At first, I wondered how you knew I was there, especially after I didn’t answer the night before. I was so dumb for ignoring you, for not listening to you. These past few days have been hell. And to think, I almost left because of what some guy said when deep down I knew who you were, regardless of your nickname. You had never treated me poorly and always with the utmost respect, and as a thank you, I slammed the proverbial door in your face. I’m sorry.”
“I’m sorry, too,” he said to her. “I don’t want to start over, Caroline. I want to continue where we were. Being with you every day has been a highlight of my summer. Hell, it’s the highlight of my year.”
