Page 12 of The Charmer
What if this time, it’s for real?
My heart twists in my chest, a phantom pain I feel throughout my entire being.
What if it’s not?
When we wakethe next morning, the sun is shining, the blue ocean is calling, and the day is bright and full of promise.
I stretch and my body protests, sore in the best way possible, as I swing my legs to the side of the bed and stand.
“You ready to hike?” Reese calls out.
I drag my hand over my face, narrowing my eyes at him. He’s already up, showered, probably worked out?—
“I went for a run this morning. You have to see the sunrise here, Jayde. It’s incredible. So many colors…” He walks toward me.
Of course, he did. A run and a sunrise.
“What?” He laughs at my expression.
“You really are fucking golden,” I quip.
His laughter grows and I can’t help it, I chuckle with him. Because I promised him this weekend and so far, it’s outpaced my expectations.
“I’ll hike,” I groan, but deep down, I want to. I want to spend every second of this weekend wrapped up and lost in Reese. I don’t ever want to wonder what if, even though now that I’ve had a taste, I know losing him would break me.
“Get dressed.” He taps my ass lightly. “There’s coffee and a smoothie?—”
I wrinkle my nose.
“I knew I should have gotten a bigger coffee,” he mutters to himself.
I swipe the to-go cup up and bring it with me to the bathroom. While inside, I take stock of my reflection in the mirror.
For the most part, I look the same. I mean, it’s not like my appearance is drastically different or anything. But I frown, leaning closer to my reflection. My eyes are brighter, my cheeks pink and healthy, and I look fucking happy.
The type of happy the BHH girls rock on the regular. Effortlessly and thoroughlyhappy.
“Get a fucking grip,” I scold myself, turning away from the mirror to pee.
I dress in a black bikini and tug on black drawstring shorts and a tight, neon blue crop top. I braid my hair into two long pigtail braids, the blue strands popping. I grab two towels to pack and head into the living room of the suite.
“Wow.” Reese does a double take when he sees me. “I swear, only you could make hiking look sexy.”
I grin. How can I not? The man says the sweetest things, but hemeansthem too.
“Towels?” I lift them higher in the air.
He takes them from me and stuffs them into his backpack. “I got sunscreen and hats?—”
I cough on my laughter.
He narrows his eyes. “You don’t want to burn.”
“Right.”
“Don’t forget your sunglasses.”
“Okay,” I say, moving to my purse to grab them.
