Page 106 of Somehow You Knew

Chapter nineteen

Hazel

I let out a sigh as I snap another picture, enjoying the sound of the waves crashing on the rocks below me.

Watching the sunset from this view will never grow old.

“Oh good. You’re alive.”

“Jesus Christ!” I spin around, placing a hand over my chest, willing my heart to calm down, but staring into the piercing green eyes of my husband is not helping. “What the hell, Gage? You scared the shit out of me.”

“You’re one to talk.” He crosses his arms. “I came home to an empty apartment and tried calling you three times with no answer.”

I glance over at my phone on the desk my dad put up here for me all those years ago. “I must have had my phone on silent.”

“Nice. Well, thankfully your mom suggested checking here. Hell, I wouldn’t have even known about this spot if your brothers hadn’t mentioned it this weekend.”

“You called my mom?” I ask, setting down my camera and giving him a once-over. And damn, he looks good wearing his signature blackon black outfit, the crinkles at his eyes hinting at the sliver of amusement he’s finding in our reunion.

“I did. And I know I shouldn’t have.”

Taking a few steps toward him, I inhale his scent, immediately comforted. The past three days have been so long and lonely without him in our apartment. I missed sleeping next to him, I missed arguing with him, and I can’t deny that I missed his mouth and cock as well.

He’s fucking ruined me.

“Then why did you?” I ask, standing just a few inches away from him now.

He reaches to cup my face. “Because I needed to talk to you, to see you.” Leaning down, he presses his lips to mine softly. “I realized something out there in the mountains this weekend.”

Smiling, I say, “What was that?”

He pauses before continuing, his eyes bouncing all over my face as the corner of his mouth curls up. “I really fucking missed you.”

I stifle the snort that wants to escape my mouth, but inside, my heart melts. “You sound pained to say that.”

He huffs out a laugh and rests his forehead on mine. “Don’t make this harder than it already is for me, Spitfire.”

My heart rate climbs again. “So what are you saying, Gage?”

“I’m saying that I’m falling for you and I’m tired of not letting myself.” He leans in and kisses me again, this time deeper, swirling his tongue against mine and making me soften in his arms, letting his entire body and presence overwhelm me.

When he releases me, I’m breathless. “It’s about time you finally admit it.”

“What can I say? I’m a little slow to come to grips with my feelings.”

I laugh. “Yeah, you can say that again.”

He lifts me into his arms, and I wrap my legs around his waist as he carries me back over to the window, setting me on the cushioned seat, kneeling between my legs. “You’ve fucking marked me, Hazel.” His fingers trace the line of my jaw. “Like ink.”

I swallow hard because hearing those words is the validation that I needed, especially after this weekend. I was so afraid that while he was gone, he’d realize what we’d done, how we’d broken the rules we set out three months ago when we agreed to this. I was afraid that I’d be back up here, in this lighthouse, crying yet again over lost love and feeling alone for the thousandth time.

But he’s not saying those things. He’s saying the opposite. And as I study the pure and honest look in his eyes, I finally know in my heart what my head has been resisting for so long—I’m in love with this man.

“Well, if it makes you feel any better…” I pause for dramatic effect. “I really fucking missed you too.”

The smile on his face makes my knees weak, so it’s a good thing I’m already sitting. But when he launches himself at me, smashing his lips to mine and burying his hands in my hair, I pray that the risk I’m taking with my heart this time is worth it.

That this was all meant to be and Diane was right.

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