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I stare at the side of his face. “I was never too good for you.”
He twists his head back to look at me. “You were entirely too good for me. Still are now.”
“Maybe in your mind that’s true, but in mine, that’s not how I see it. You pulled me out of that place when no one else could. And I don’t just mean the estate. I was happy, but I wasn’t living, not really.”
He stares at me, and I know he knows it, too. “You’d have found a way out.”
“Maybe.” I give in, knowing he’ll never agree. “But I’m glad it was you.”
He smiles into his glass. “What do you remember from it? That first night.”
I blow out a breath. “Not being able to walk home.”
A proud look takes over his face when my cheeks flush, the both of us laughing.
“No, mostly I remember thinking the world was mad. This man was stood giving me pieces one after another asking for nothing but my time in return. You were kind to me, told me more than anyone had about themselves in years, and made me feel like the most precious thing on earth. I remember wondering where you came from, why you were still single, and how long I’d get before you’d leave.”
“I had no intention of going anywhere.”
“I know. I still hoped every day you’d stick around.”
“You told me you only wanted one night.” He smiles, calling me out.
“I lied to the both of us,” I mutter. “And I took a hundred more nights after that one, too.”
“I wish I told Mase,” he says out of nowhere. “Sometimes I wonder if things might have been different if I had.”
“Hmm,” I ponder, revelling in the sun as it warms my face. “It’s easy to look back and think about all the things we would have done differently. If I listened to my head instead of following my heart that first night with you, my dad might still be here. I likely would’ve been there that day and maybe I could’ve saved him, but I wouldn’t know you. I wouldn’t have Ave. Mase wouldn’t be home.”
He stares at me thoughtfully, his eyes full of regret. “I’m sorry I broke the promises I made that night, Scarlet. I truly meant them at the time, not knowing how hard I’d fall or how easy they’d be to break.”
I give him a sad smile, then look out across the water, realising how much of a trance we’ve slipped into. “I’m sorry, too.”
And I mean it. Lance may have broken his promises, but he did it protecting me.
I lean over, spotting the cheese block in the basket and pulling it out. “You brought me cheese.”
“I know the way to my girl’s heart.”
He doesn’t see my smile, too busy rooting around in the basket. He fishes out a knife and then gestures for the cheese. “Thank you,” I say, handing it to him.
“I have a question for you.”
I sit back, closing my eyes. “I’m listening.”
“It’s about Bear.”
I look across at him.
“How come he ended up at the house with you.”
“Ave,” I tell him simply. “From the first time she met him he just loved her. He was overweight and needed a place to run.” I gauge the space between us, the basket keeping us separated. “It was one of those things that just made sense,” I add.
“I’m glad, you know. That she knows them.”
I let my stare falter on him, from the vulnerability on his face. “Me, too.”
He gives me a small smile after a beat, instantly, purposely, lightening the mood. “If you want this cheese, you’re going to have to come over here and get it.”
