Page 58 of Bewitched By the Siren
“Within a few minutes of meeting you, I knew I wasn’t going to get the job done. I knew you’d never sign, and hell, after finding out why you didn’t want that, I didn’t want it for you, either. Not really. But I stayed, convincing my bossandmyself, that I was still working on you. That I could find a way for it to work out. But my staying here had nothing to do with my job.”
“It didn’t?” I ask quietly when his words pause.
“No,” he says, his smile widening. “It was all you. The more time I spent with you, the more I wanted to be around you. You made me feel whole in a way that my job, my whole life in Los Angeles never had. Just being in your presence felt like a dip in the freezing ocean. Invigorating. Refreshing. Cleansing and electrifying. I couldn’t get enough.”
“I’m not human, Brendan,” I whisper brokenly, feeling some strange urge to remind him before he says anything more.
“Oh, I know,” he says with a harsh chuckle. “I got an up close and personal look at exactly what you are. But Hali, what you are doesn’t definewhoyou are.”
He’s using all the right words, but I can’t wrap my brain around the fact that he sounds…unbotheredby what I am. Like it doesn’t matter to him. But, how can it not?
“Brendan,” I breathe, and he shakes his head to cut off whatever argument I’m about to make.
“Hali,” he whispers, then clears his throat. “You are an amazing person. I’m…I’m falling for you.”
“But––”
“But we’ll figure the rest out, later. It doesn’t matter.”
“How can you say that?” I ask, then lower my voice to add, “I’m amermaid. It matters.”
“Your mom loves you,” he says, and the change in direction makes me a bit dizzy.
“Yeah. She’s my mom. Of course, she does.”
“You told me she adopted you,” he says slowly.
My eyes fall closed, and when I open them and meet his gaze, it’s filled with warmth and understanding. He knows the “adoption” story I gave him wasn’t the whole truth.
“She found me washed up on the beach when I was little,” I say.
“So, she knows,” he says.
“Yes.”
“And she loves you. Anyone can see how devoted she is to you, Hali. Why would you think someone else couldn’t love you, too?"
“It’s not the same,” I murmur, but a tiny spark of hope ignites in my chest as my pulse spikes.
Could this be real? I resigned myself to being alone, forever, a long time ago. I never allowed my mind to imagine I could find someone to trust, someone who’d learn the truth about me and love me in spite of my true nature.
“Hali,” Brendan breathes, and my eyes snap up to meet his. “Please believe me. Believeinme. Inus.”
“I don’t…” I start, but the words trail off as I search his eyes. “You really want to be with me? To give this a shot?”
His Adam’s apple bobs as he swallows thickly, then nods. “I quit my job.”
“What?”
He nods. “I quit my job and sold my condo in L.A.”
“What?” I repeat, my mouth unable to form any other word.
His chest heaves as he stares at me, breathing harshly through his open mouth. “My place wasn’t even on the market for twelve hours before I had an offer. It’s done. I’ve cut ties with Los Angeles. With my old life.”
“Brendan,” I whisper.
“And it’s not only about you,” he says before I can say anything else. “I fell in love with this island, and when I went back to L.A., it didn’t feel like home, anymore. The air was too thin. Too dry. I couldn’t breathe. I missed my little place on the beach, and I missed my neighbors. So, the minute my condo sold, I put in an over-market offer on the rental house––which was immediately accepted––packed up my things, and left without a backward glance.”
