Page 55 of Wild Tides
Maybe I couldn’t quite manage charm, but she responded to the sincerity, relaxing. Or maybe it was the hint of desperation in my voice. I wanted to be the one she confided in. The one she trusted with her secrets.
She drew a shaky breath. “There’s been a strange man hanging around the shop.”
My gut clenched, sharp and ugly. I forced myself to breathe. “You’ve got great instincts for trouble, Vi. We should listen to them.” Slowly, I ran my palms up and down her shoulders, though touching her was just as much about soothing me as her. “If you’re uneasy, I’m taking it seriously. We’ll figure this out. But you’re not dealing with it by yourself – not anymore. And I swear, if someone is making you feel unsafe, they’ll answer to me.”
She sagged against my chest at last, her smile gone but her trust unmistakable. I pressed a kiss to her temple and held her tighter, vowing to myself that nothing and no one would get close enough to take her from me.
Chapter 26 – Violet
The time between our game night and the Sweetheart Dance flew by. I resisted full-on moving in with Lee, but we couldn’t stand to be separated. I told myself it was about his feelings for me, not just his relentless protectiveness. But after admitting the stranger hanging around the Salty Pantry unsettled me, he insisted on walking me to and from work each day, watching the street like a hawk. Over my objections, he’d also used his connections with the Sheriff’s Office to ask for extra patrols. As much as I wanted to roll my eyes and argue that it was silly, deep down, it made me feel safer.
We split time between our houses, until I grew used to waking up cuddled in his arms, his warm breath stirring my hair as he snuggled me. It was heaven. And hell. Because the closer we became, the more I had to wonder how long it could last.
He showed no signs of growing tired of me. Of us. If anything, the way he looked at me, as if I were something precious and unexpected, made me feel like we were just getting started.
But neither of us had a stellar track record with relationships. We’d both dated over the years, moving in and out of other people’s lives. My past relationships had always been with men from the mainland, ones who didn’t fit into the life I had here. Men with no idea who my brothers were. They never lasted long enough for an introduction to feel necessary. Maybe, deep down, I’d always known they were placeholders.
And Lee? His reason for keeping past relationships quiet was a mystery. I’d never officially met any of his exes, never heard my brothers talk about him bringing someone around. Maybe it was a coincidence. Or possibly, for all the years we’d been in each other’s orbit, circling each other, neither of us had been willing to let someone else truly take up that space.
And now, I couldn’t help wondering – had we just been waiting for each other all along?
He’d taken to texting me during my workday. It got to the point where my pulse hammered with anticipation every time my phone buzzed, making Gran’s text on the day of the dance a letdown.
Gran: You burn that sweet boy to a crisp yet?
I snorted.
Gran: Let that dragon breathe, baby.
Vi: Love you, Gran.
She meant well. And she wasn’t wrong. I’d been avoiding talking with Lee about the future. Hesitant to put him on the spot. But my fire burned for him. For the life we could have together. Fear couldn’t hold me back any longer. Abandonment wasn’t a certainty. My lying brain needed to stop telling me things my heart knew to be untrue. Long before Lee and I became lovers, we were friends.
He was the one I called when my sink backed up. When I needed help with my generator or locked myself out of the house. It wasn’t just the mundane things I relied on him for.He’d been my quiet rock when I questioned my future on the island, helping me brainstorm ways to bring my vision for the Salty Pantry to life. He’d become my one phone call. The person I could count on over all others. The man I wanted by my side for the rest of my life.
Now I just had to find the courage to tell him out loud. Every kiss, every caress, every shuddering orgasm had communicated with the language of touch.
Lee: I miss you. Can you to be ready by five? We can grab a drink at the cocktail bar before dinner.
Vi: I can close early today.
Lee: I can’t wait. Text me when you’re ready for me to pick you up.
At four, Lee pushed through the door to the Salty Pantry. He looked slick and sophisticated in a dark suit and tie. While his blond beard was showing gray, it only made him look more distinguished. Even the way his ears stuck out just the tiniest bit charmed me. My boyfriend was a bonafide snack.
I floated up the hill to my house, Lee at my side. His steady presence meant I’d stopped looking over my shoulder.
He watched the early news while I got ready, slipping into the second dress. The lush amethyst velvet hugged my curves, dipping deep over my decolletage. Subtly, it changed color depending on the light, deepening to a much darker hue, closer to the violet shadows at twilight.
“You look…” he drifted off, gaze taking in my full-length dress and the way cocking out my hip thrust one long thigh through the slit, making my legs look impossibly long.
The pure admiration in his expression stalled my heart before it galloped forward in a mad dash.
“… like happily-ever-after.”
I blinked slowly, my breath caught in my chest, sure I’d blacked out and fantasized his words out of sheer desperation.He laughed, a rough, self-deprecating bark that felt like an attempt to shake off his last words. Scrubbing a hand over the back of his neck, he turned away, breaking the moment as if he’d said too much. Revealed more than he intended.
No matter how badly I wanted to tease Mr. Big, Bad Thriller Author about going soft, I couldn’t. The words caught in my throat, trapped by the wild beat of my heart. I couldn’t let a single syllable escape, because for all the times I’d imagined him this unfiltered, I never thought I’d actually see it. Here he was—tough, brooding Lee Murphy—completely turned into a romantic marshmallow. Forme.
