“Turns out my willpower crumbles the second I’m in the same zip code as the woman who owns my heart.”
Oh.
The questions that’ve eaten at me for weeks—Is Hays going to show up, and if he does, what happens then?—are suddenly answered in the blink of an eye.
Where are the throngs of customers who filled this place yesterday? Tabitha’s in the back office, which leaves Hays and me alone.High Tide Talessuddenly feels too small, too intimate for the two of us.
I take a deep breath, but it’s a mistake. The scent of his cologne, exactly as I remember, fills my lungs. I’m transported back to that boat, that night. With the ocean and the sunset and the fireworks. And the kiss.
My gaze drops to his lips, my fingers gripping the paperback in my hand as if it’s an anchor.
“How are you?” he asks softly, studying my face.
How am I?That’s a loaded question considering the irresistible stranger I agreed to marry years ago has just strolled back into my life and told me I still own his heart.
I’m terrified and exhilarated and completely unprepared for how my hormones have kicked in as if I’m a teenager who just spotted her celebrity crush at the mall and forgot how to act like a functioning human being.
I’m suddenly exactly where I was three years ago. Completely defenseless. “I’m…good.”
He reaches up to brush a piece of hair back from my face. “I’m good, too, now.”
For a moment, neither of us speaks. Our eyes lock, and the air between us hums. Then Hays is moving, reaching into his pocket with that determined expression I remember. He pulls out a small, black-velvet box. My heart stops.
“Hays, no.” I step back, bumping into the display table.
But he’s already dropping to one knee right there between the new releases and the staff picks. He cracks it open to reveal a diamond that catches the morning light and throws rainbows across the ceiling.
It’s round and brilliant. A simple, classic setting I would have chosen if I’d been stupid enough to dream about such things. It’s also ginormous.
“I know I haven’t won and it’s not my birthday yet, and that was the deal. But I can’t wait any longer to make you my wife.”
My breath catches as my vision blurs. I refocus, staring down at this impossible man who’s just upended my quiet little world with a declaration and a rock the size of a golf ball.
“You haven’t won yet,” I whisper, falling back on the logic that’s been my safety net for three years. “You’re still chasing your dream.”
“There hasn’t been a day we’ve been apart I haven’t thought about you.” He stands but keeps the ring box open between us. “I’ve measured every moment against the memory of kissing you on that boat. I’ve dreamed of sharing my good days and mybad with you. I’ve turned down every woman who wasn’t you because none of them made me feel like I was coming home.”
“You’ve got the biggest tournament of your career this week,” I stammer. “You don’t need distractions—”
“You’re not a distraction.” He erases the distance between us. “I promise.”
I stare at him, this force of nature who’s swept in and is, once again, declaring feelings with such utter conviction I can’t even begin to relate.
“Hays…”
“I love you.” The words hang in the air between us, raw and honest and terrifying. “I loved you that first night when you called me on my bullshit and paid for your own drinks. I loved you when you made me wait, when you challenged me to be better. I love the way you write, the way you think, the way you see right through me and somehow, still want to be here. At least, I hope you haven’t changed your mind.”
My hands shake as I death grip the display table. Things like this don’t happen in real life.
His chin drops. “But I understand, if you need some time. You’re logical and rational and—”
“Not crazy.”
He chuckles, warmth filling those sea-glass green-blue eyes as he looks at me through long, thick lashes. “I prefer decisive. But,” he adds, “I’m happy to prove to you we’re perfect together. Just give me a chance.”
“How?”
“Spend time with me this week. Find out what you and I are when we’re not separated by three thousand miles and a no-contact condition.”
