Page 34 of Lovers at Seaside
Breathless. I love that.“How can I work with you looking so cute and sexy?”
She ran her fingers through his hair. He loved that, too. There wasn’t anything about Parker he didn’t love, and that was the other thing making it hard for him to concentrate. He’d fallen for her, overnight it seemed. He was completely and utterly taken with her, and as he gazed into her beautiful eyes, fear tiptoed in and her words came back to him.This feels very far away from my real life.
He’d spent time working in the foundation’s Beverly Hills site, and he’d gotten his fill of the elitist personalities and materialistic lifestyles that seemed to go hand in hand with the wealthy in that part of the world.
“Are you even listening to me?” She tugged his ear.
He pushed his thoughts aside and focused on Parker. “I was thinking. Sorry. What did you say?”
She rolled her eyes. “You came over here and then ignored me? Hm? Honeymoon’s over, huh?”
He pressed his lips to hers. “Never, sweetheart. I was thinking aboutyou. I’m sorry. Tell me again. You’ve got my full attention.”
“I have a confession to make, and I should have told you a few days ago, but it’s embarrassing.” She twisted her hair around her finger.
“After last night, how can anything possibly embarrass you?” He’d loved her body so thoroughly, he could still feel her in his arms.
“Not that kind of embarrassing.” She paused, as if she was remembering their intimacy, too. “You know how I always asked you to make changes to your designs?”
“Do I remember?” He laughed. “Baby, I spent more hours on your designs, and the emails explaining why I chose to take the avenues I did, than I would have spent with six other clients over the same time period.”
Her lips curved up in a gratified smile. “Yeah, I know. That’s kind of why I did it.”
“Huh?”
“Ilovedreading the whys and hows of your design process. I’d get back to my trailer after hours of acting, exhausted, with more hours of studying ahead of me, and totally unmotivated to dive back in. And your emails were like rejuvenating treats. I’d stare at my laptop, wondering if you’d sent an email. My heart would go crazy, and then I’d be afraid to look. Because if you didn’t send one, it made me sad, and if you did, I sometimes felt guilty knowing I’d made more work for you just to fill my empty spots.”
“So, your changes weren’t because you were overthinking every little detail?”
She shrugged. “Isn’t that overthinking? Only it wasn’t the designs I was overthinking. It was you.”
He rose onto his palms and pressed his lips to hers again.
“Then by all means, overthink me, baby. Overthink me all you want. That’s the very best news you could give me.”
“Why?”
“Because I thought I’d misinterpreted the tone of your emails, that you hadn’t meant them to feel as personal as I took them. The only thing that held me back from asking you to video chat with me, like I would have done with any other client who requested a million changes, was the feeling that if we did, we’d have a hard time keeping our relationship professional. And I’m not sure why I worried about keeping our relationship professional, but I did.”
Wonder filled her eyes. “All that time, you were feeling something for me?”
“Feeling the possibility of something and wanting there to be something more. Yes.”
“I was feeling that way, too. But you were stronger than me. I gave in to my feelings when I sent you the email about building the railing. I had planned to see Bert, then come here for a few weeks after filming. I wanted to see if…to spend time getting to know you in person. I didn’t expect to lose Bert, or to go into radio silence for two weeks. I’m sorry about that.”
“Don’t be sorry, baby. I just wish I had done something sooner, asked you to video chat, or told you what I was feeling, because I could have been there with you when you found out about Bert. I could have gone to the funeral with you, been there when you went to the bank, when you needed someone to hold you and tell you everything would be okay.”
“Grayson,” she whispered.
She did that a lot, said his name like it contained all her thoughts. And he had a feeling that in those moments, it did.
“I know, baby. We’ve got a lot of time to make up for.” He sat up and pulled her into his arms, where she belonged. “You’re an incredibly capable and strong person, and you were blessed with Bert for a long time, but in a sense, you’ve been on your own your whole life, finding your way to a great career and hoping for more. I’m here now, and I want to be yourmore.”
GRAYSON’S EYES WERE so full of emotions Parker thought he’d named them perfectly.More.
“You already are,” she said, leaning in for a kiss. Her phone rang beneath Grayson’s leg.
“Oh, baby, you make my whole body sing.”
