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“I got to fly my P-51, ride my Norton and watch the sunset in my favorite spot. And I did it all with you.”
It almost looks like she’s blushing and I love it.
“Do you have any idea how beautiful you look right now?” I ask, my voice far more husky than I intend.
A frown knits her brow. “Finn—”
“Eric,” I interject. “Call me Eric.”
She releases a breath. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“Why not?”
“Because…”
“Because why?” I press. “Why do I scare you, Ivy?”
“I’m not scared,” she immediately responds.
“Liar,” I whisper, but with no force behind the words. It’s just a fact.
For a long moment she doesn’t say anything, but then she leans her cheek against her knee and meets my gaze again. There’s an irrevocable sadness in her multi-colored eyes that I want to change.
“I’m always attracted to the wrong men and I’m tired of being hurt. The bad boys are exciting until you make the mistake of falling for them. Then they disappear and I’m left with a broken heart. I refuse to let that happen again.”
“I won’t break your heart, Ivy.”
Her soft, sardonic chuckle fills the salty air. “That’s what they all say.”
“You barely know me.”
“I know enough,” she states softly.
“I can’t blame you for being wary and any guy who left you is a complete idiot.” I lean closer, reach over and lightly skim my fingers up and down her arm until goosebumps prickle her skin. “Do you feel that?”
“Finn—”
“Eric,” I correct her. “And I don’t know if you experience this kind of chemistry a lot with other people, but I don’t. The moment I met you, I knew you were different.”
“Different? How so?” she asks, a challenging gleam in her eyes.
“In every single way,” I say, deciding to hold nothing back. This may be my only chance to convince Ivy to lower her guard and let me in, so I’m not going to play games and screw it up. “Yes, we have a physical connection. I don’t think either one of us can deny it, but it’s more than just that. I want to share things with you. Things I love most—flying, bike rides, this spot. And I want to discover all your favorite things, too. I know I can hide behind my charm and sometimes I wear it like a suit of armor because I’ve been hurt, too. You’re not the only one who fell hard and then experienced loss.”
“Have you ever been in love?” she asks softly.
“Once,” I murmur. “I thought I was at the time, anyway.”
“Tell me.”
I clench my jaw and try not to sigh. I don’t talk about Autumn. But I can see this is important to Ivy, so I need to share the story about the only girl who I let in. The one who inevitably broke my heart. “Her name was Autumn and we met right before I left for the Army. I was young, naive and thought I’d found the one.” I know I sound bitter and I suppose I still am, in a way.
“What happened?”
“We had an amazing summer together and then I had to leave. She told me she loved me. That she’d visit me. I called her almost every day, but then she stopped answering. So I texted her instead. That went on for a while, but eventually she stopped responding to those, too. I figured something happened to her phone and like a damn fool, I started writing her letters. But she never wrote back. I just waited and hoped, counting down the days until I could go back home and visit her. Turns out she decided I wasn’t worth waiting around for and she went with some other guy. Pretty much started cheating on me the week after I left.”
“I’m sorry. I know what it’s like to be cheated on. Three times,” she adds with an ironic twist of her lips.
“Cheaters suck,” I say.
