Total pages in book: 98
Estimated words: 92743 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 464(@200wpm)___ 371(@250wpm)___ 309(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92743 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 464(@200wpm)___ 371(@250wpm)___ 309(@300wpm)
Tears threaten again as I whisper, “I don’t know what to say. No one’s ever loved me like this before. No one’s ever loved me…period.”
His features soften, and Weaver steps in, wrapping me in his arms.
I rest my face on his chest and let it crumple, clinging to him tight as I cry.
“Everyone loves you,” he murmurs to the top of my head as his big hand smooths up and down my back. “It’s impossible not to love you. Believe me, I tried.”
I look up, not caring that my face is puffy and my nose is starting to run. “You did? You tried not to love me?”
He nods. “For about ten minutes.”
I sniff again. “Liar. You didn’t love me after ten minutes. You were still holding me down on your bed and threatening to call the police at that point. Or to rough me up. I don’t remember.”
“I never threatened to rough you up.”
I arch a brow. “Except I’m pretty sure you did.”
His lips curve. “Maybe. But I didn’t mean it.” His hand drifts lower, until it rests at the base of my spine, right above where my bottom begins to curve. “And holding you down on beds is one of the ways I show my love. You should realize that by now.”
“I do.” I smile, even as fresh tears threaten. This night… It’s the hardest, sweetest, scariest, most thrilling night of my life, and I honestly have no idea how it’s going to end. “But…”
“But?” he prompts after a beat, his hand sliding lower, making heat pool between my hips. It would be so easy to give in to our chemistry, to make love on that couch or in the bedroom or out on the balcony with the cold ocean wind swirling around us, and forget about the heavy stuff until later.
But I’m no coward. And neither is he.
So, I answer him in a wobbly voice, “But I can’t see you here. It doesn’t make sense. You’d be miserable and…” I slip my hands under his vest, relishing the feel of his warm skin through the thinner cotton shirt beneath. “And well, I think I’d actually like New York. I like cities.”
His brows lift. “You do?”
“Well, I like Portland. That’s the only big city I’ve ever been to, but I liked it. I was really excited to go to school there before I decided I needed to stay home.”
His eyes narrow. “Because you felt you had to sacrifice what you wanted to take care of your grandfather.”
I start to deny it, but what’s the point. “Yes. But I don’t regret it. These past six years, working the boat with Gramps…they’ve been good times. And we’ve been able to put away a lot more for his retirement than we would have if I’d gone to school, and he’d been alone on the boat. I honestly don’t know if he could have managed things by himself. His shoulders are so messed up, half the time I have to haul all the traps in by myself. And if I got a decent job in the city, I could send enough money back for him to hire someone to take my place.”
Weaver shakes his head, but with affection. “Or you could just let me set your grandfather up with a pension for all his years of service to the community, and you could focus on taking care of yourself for once.”
I roll my eyes. “Even if I felt comfortable with that, Gramps would never allow it. Like…never. He’d throw himself into the sea before he took a Tripp’s money.”
“You wouldn’t have to tell him where it came from. You could say that you’ve come into an inheritance.”
I snort. “From who? He knows everyone I’m related to and most of them are even worse off than we are financially.”
“Make up a relative from your mother’s side of the family. Or tell him you won the lottery or found sunken treasure off the coast. Whatever you need to say to give you both a fresh start. He’s too old to be working his body this hard, and you’re too young to accept that this is all your life will ever be. Not if you want more.”
I press my lips together and give a little nod.
But inside, it feels like I’m out on a boat in the middle of a storm.
Can I really do this?
Can I leave Sea Breeze and everything I love behind for a shot at making love work with Weaver? I can’t, can I? It would be stupid to bet it all on a man I’ve known for a week, a man who comes with enough baggage to ensure the path forward won’t be easy for either of us.
But when I lift my gaze to his, I don’t feel scared or worried.
I feel like someone is finally seeing me, all of me, for the first time, and he thinks I’m special.