Page 110 of Save Me
I wish he would take off those sunglasses. Maybe I’d have a clue as to what he’s thinking.
“I got this.” Bailey reaches down to unfasten our link.
Brushing past Ronan’s body, I scoot to the helm and start the engine. “’Kay!”
Bailey undoes the ropes, tucking ours into the compartment before hopping back to the other side. “Rainbow Alley tonight?”
“Sounds good.” I ease us away from the cluster of boats and people. Daring to steal a peek over my shoulder at him, I warn, “You should take a seat. We’re about to start moving.”
Ronan doesn’t take a seat, though. He comes around the bar and steps in behind me, his hands settling over mine, his fingers filling the space between each of mine.
Okay, at least he doesn’t seem angry. “Abbi told you?”
“Yup.”
Awkward silence hangs as we motor toward land. I know I have to address the elephant on the tiki boat. He’s waiting for me to do it.
I watch the channel ahead as I admit, “It’s the last thing I expected to happen. I wasn’t trying. And I don’t know what I’m going to do yet.” I bite my bottom lip with hesitation. “But I was thinking that I want to keep it.”
I feel his chest lift against my back with his own inhale. “Okay.”
Is that a good okay or anoh shitokay? I can’t tell.
“I’m thirty-one years old. My mom died around this age from ovarian cancer, and that can be hereditary. That’s something I think about. You know, what if I don’t have as much time as I think I do to start a family. What if this ends up being my only shot.”
“Okay.”
“Stop saying okay. What does that mean?”
His hard swallow fills my ear. “It means I’m good with whatever decision you make.”
I abandon my line of sight ahead to peer over my shoulder at him. “But what does that mean?”
He reaches up to slip his sunglasses off his face, revealing his beautiful eyes. “It means, whatever decision you make, I’m here for it, and I’m all in.”
“But this is a baby, Ronan. A whole human.”
His handsome face splits with laughter. “And here I thought it was going to be a sea witch.”
“Shut up.” I chuckle as I check the water ahead.
Another beat passes, and then he leans in to whisper in my ear, “I’m telling you that I’m all in with this. Withyou.”
My heartbeat pounds in my chest. Am I hearing this correctly? “So, if I have this baby …”
“It’s gonna have an incredibly annoying uncle named Connor in its life.”
I laugh, but it morphs into a groan. “We barely know each other.”
“I knowenough.” He dips his head down to feather-soft kisses over my neck. “I know I wouldn’t want this to be happening with anyone else but you.”
I hesitate. “Not even Abbi?”
A finger slips under my chin, turning my face to meet his hard gaze. “No. Not even Abbi.”
I can’t say why, but I believe him. Stretching up, I graze my lips against his before returning my focus to the waters ahead, where a slower boat moves. I adjust our speed. “Frank told me about the harborfront and the access road.”
He sighs. “I didn’t want to tell you until I had no other choice. Until I’d tried everything I could to get Wolf to change his mind.”
