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“I guess you’re feeling better,” she says. Planting her hand on the dock, she goes to push herself up.
I wrap one arm around her waist and drag her into my lap instead.
She gasps and stumbles back. “Hawk.”
“Listen,” I press a kiss to her neck, “I’m sorry.”
Her breath hitches.
My voice sinks to a murmur. “I overreacted.”
“That’s what you call it?”
I nuzzle her neck. “What do you call it?”
She rolls her eyes. “You’re always intense.”
“It gets worse when I talk about my father.” I brush her thick curly hair behind her shoulders. “Things between me and my dad aren’t good. They haven’t been for a very long time, but…” My heart patters. “But I’ll tell you.”
“You don’t have to—”
“I will.”
Her brown eyes are shining jewels as she looks at me.
“When I was twelve, my mother left the house, got into her car and never came back. She crashed into a tree a few miles out and died on impact. The police called it negligence. Some folks thought it was suicide.” My lips grow tense. “She was going too fast. She was upset from a fight with my father. There were no skid marks. She didn’t try to avoid the tree.”
Unease spills into my chest.
I’m laying myself bare for her.
It’s uncomfortable. It’s maddening.
But it feels right too.
“My world crumbled the day she died.” I lower my head. Blow out a breath. “I promised myself that I would gain all the power I could and punish my father. So he sent me here. To this forsaken island. He wants to put me in my place.”
Shanel reaches down and puts her hand on mine. “I’m sorry. I didn’t…”
“Know?”
She nods.
“Not everyone should hear this.”
“Why tell me?”
I turn her slightly. “Because you’re mine.” I stroke her cheek with my thumb. My feelings for her overwhelm me and my voice comes out husky when I admit, “And I’m yours.”
Tears sparkle in her eyes.
I kiss Shanel’s temple gently and hold her against me, right where she belongs.
19
SHANEL
The more I think about it, the more I’m convinced that Hawk’s headaches are my fault.
