Page 84 of Love At The Shore
“Kinda.” Her smile radiated joy.
There was only one thing left to tell her, and he needed to do it now. They’d come too far to leave anything else left unsaid.
“So you don’t think that I’m a stubborn, messy surfer who’s totally distracted?” He arched a brow.
Jenna rolled her beautiful eyes. “Oh, you’re absolutely stubborn and…”
And?
She stared at him. “Wait. How are you quoting…?”
“The message you left for the rental agency?”
She blew out a breath as realization dawned. “You’re LM Management?” Then she swallowed, and Lucas traced the motion up and down the graceful column of her throat. “And you own the duplex.”
“Hey, summer camp isn’t a year-round gig. I had to diversify,” he teased.
But she still looked embarrassed, and Lucas didn’t want that. He didn’t want her to wish he hadn’t overheard the things she’d said. He just wanted her not to believe them anymore.
So he fixed his gaze with hers and told her the one thought he’d kept coming back to over and over, even when he’d worried he might never see her again. “I’m really glad that you stayed.”
She brightened. “I didn’t mean all those things I said.”
That wasn’t the whole truth, and they both knew it. She’d made her disdain for his freewheeling, houseplant-free lifestyle more than clear in the beginning. They’d both been wrong about a lot of things back then.
She shrugged. “Okay, maybe I did when I first said it, but I was wrong.”
He nodded. “I was, too.”
“You were?” she breathed.
Without a doubt. He’d been so terribly misguided, so thoroughly foolish about the most important thing of all. “I was wrong to think I could stay unattached to the three of you.”
It was important for him to make that clear. He didn’t just have feelings for Jenna—he loved Ally and Nick too. Although he suspected that Jenna had recognized how thoroughly he’d fallen for them even before he’d even been aware of it himself.
“Why do think I’m still hanging around here?” Had she actually believed he’d go anywhere without telling them goodbye? “You got me.”
She blinked furiously, but it didn’t stop her eyes from welling up. “What about your trip?”
“Don’t worry about that. I’ll catch up. I just couldn’t miss you.” He drew in a long breath, and he thought about the tie Jenna had given him after dinner a few nights ago and the look of pride on Ally and Nick’s faces when he’d opened it. That was the moment when Lucas had known they’d stolen his heart, the moment when everything changed. No matter how hard he’d tried not to believe it. “Allof you.”
She smiled through a thick veil of tears.
“Are you crying?”
“No,” she said as more tears streamed down her face. “Why does everyone keep saying that?”
“Come here.” He reached for her, pulling her close, and just like that, it felt like every part of Lucas’s life clicked into place.
“What? I’m not crying,” she murmured into his shoulder.
“I know,” he whispered. If she wanted to pretend she was in control, he’d let her…
So long as she was his.
“What are we going to do?” she said, her voice equal parts wonder and worry.
He ran a soothing hand up and down her back. “About all of this?”
