Page 42 of Mine Forever
I nod, sipping my coffee. “Yep, whole home. You won’t miss a beat. Not much of one anyway.”
She takes a bite of bacon and nods. “Good.”
With a flick of her slim wrist—how long has she had that half-moon tattoo?—the gas flame goes out. “I hope you’re ready to eat. I’m hungry and went a little overboard.”
She plates the bacon, eggs, and toast, sliding it over to me before plating her own. I lift a brow at the scrambled eggs topped with cheese.
She remembered.
It makes something in my chest pinch, and I don’t want that feeling. It keeps me from being pissed off at her.
I scoop up some eggs, letting the mixture of flavors mingle on my tongue before swallowing. “Damn, that’s good.”
She chuckles. “Thanks.”
We eat in silence for a few moments, the noise of the rain and wind and the scrape of forks against the plates the only sounds around us.
We do our best not to look at each other, but I find it nearly impossible to keep my gaze from wandering her way.
It’s an odd feeling to know the woman sitting two feet away so intimately and yet not know her at all.
There are two sides to her.
The New York, type A businesswoman dressed in heels that cost more than some people on the island make in a week.
And then there’s the casual, laid-back woman in cutoff shorts and flip-flops bought at adrugstore.
Both of them drive me crazy for vastly different reasons.
“So, I guess this wasn’t part of your plans for this week, huh?”
She sighs, looking out the windows again. “No. I definitely wasn’t expecting to be stuck on an island during a hurricane. Then again,”—she pushes her food around with her fork—“nothing has turned out how I’d planned lately.”
Guilt settles in my gut. I’ve done nothing but put her off since she’s shown up on the island, and I know I play a part in her being stuck here. “I have to apologize.”
“Apologize?” She tilts her head and takes a bite of her eggs.
I wrap my hand around the fork like I want to strangle it. “Yeah, I feel responsible for you getting stuck here.”
Eden chews but doesn’t respond for a moment. “It’s not your fault entirely. It was my choice not to head back to the mainland. I knew the bridge would get shut down, but I thought I had time.”
“Yeah, but I know how tenacious you are, and I could have just let you get out whatever it is you need to get out so you could head back.”
Her head tilts from side to side. “Yeah, you could have. But where’s the fun in that?”
She’s keeping it light and I’m grateful for that. But it still doesn’t change the fact that I helped put her in a dangerous situation by letting the old hurts and fears get the best of me.
“I don’t know if this will help you or not, but I’m ready to listen.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
“Okay.”
She tosses her napkin onto her empty plate and turns on the stool toward me. “My company was hired to manage a charity ball fundraiser, and I’ve promised them an amazing keynotespeaker that would bring in some dollars.” She blows out a breath. “I had Mason Jackstone all lined up and ready to go.”
I wish Mason Jackstone no ill will, but the man is a tool. He doesn’t need to be anywhere near Eden.
