Page 74 of Sunrise

"Sorry, got an inn to run," she says.

"It's about Lin," I say and hold my breath.

"I'm listening," she says, but her voice is still cold.

"I never should have left the way I did."

"No, you shouldn't have. You should have stayed and given her closure instead of making her feel like every other cheap fuck you racked up on your bedpost," she bites out.

"I deserve that. I just thought it would be easier that way," I admit.

"Has it?" she asks.

"No."

"Well, I don't know what you want. You're in Hollywood, and we are here. Lin won't give up the inn, and I won't let her. She can't get away until after the season. So you are wasting your time."

I smile, then I laid out my plan. She listened and asked questions. We got off the phone, and she emailed me what I needed. When I wasn't afraid to use my name and some money, things moved fast.

Thank god they moved fast.

A week later and here I am, stepping off the plane in North Carolina. My rental car is waiting, the sun is out, and I start to feel hopeful this is all coming together. I take my time driving down the coast, enjoying the sea breeze with my car windows open.

As I near the bridge that will take me on to Hummingbird Island, my nerves kick into full gear. The sun is setting, and the sky fills with the beautiful colors I fell in love with. My plan could fail. Lin could tell me to take a hike, and she has every right to. I messed this all up. It took me losing her to realize what I had, and she deserves someone so much better than that. But I pray she will understand.

I pull into the inn, and the parking lot is packed. Such a contrast to what it was last time I was here. I park and pull out my phone and shoot Brynn a text that I'm here. She replies that Lin is working the desk at Sunrise, so I pull on my hat and shades, hoping to stay somewhat undercover as I make my way to the lobby.

I walk in, and there she is behind the check-in desk, just like that day I first saw her. Her head is down, and she doesn't see me. My heart races as I take her in, and just like I do when I'm about to do a stunt for a movie, I jump all in without thinking.

I walk up to the desk and clear my throat. When she looks up, I pull off the shades and the hat. When she realizes it's me, her mouth falls open, and she is silent. Neither of us speaks as we take each other in.

"I thought..." She clears her throat. "I thought you were filming."

"I was. Then I realized how much I hated LA. I hated the noise and the traffic. I hated being on set, and I hated that people still didn't believe I had changed. I hated the photo shoot. I hated coming home to an empty house, and I hated my house. This is all stuff I loved until I met you. I loved all the things in my life, then I met you, and you became my life. I fell in love with Sunrise, with the island, and the people who treated me like one of them. But mostly, I fell in love with you."

Her breathing picks up, but she doesn't say a word. At this point, there is a crowd in the lobby, and I can see a few with their phones up recording. If this fails, it will fail for the world to see, and I can't let that happen, so I just keep going.

"I was an idiot. It took me going back to Hollywood to realize what I had. I left all wrong, I hurt you, I hurt us, but I swear if you give me another chance, I will spend the rest of my life making it up to you."

I walk around the desk so I'm standing beside her and hold my hand out to her.

"Take a walk with me?" I ask.

She nods and reaches for my hand. The moment her hand is back in mine, my world falls back into place. Everything is right. The warm glow that I love takes over my body as her skin touches mine.

I smile at her and turn to lead her out to the back porch. As I start making my way through the crowd, I see Brynn and Jasper by the door leading to Sunset, both with smiles on their faces. I wouldn't have been able to pull this off if it weren't for them.

The security guys I hired had been busy at work to secure the beach for us tonight, and everything works smoothly. I take a deep breath as I lead her outside, but when she sees the beach in front of us, she gasps.

From the walkway down to the beach, the path is lined with lanterns. My security team is surrounding the beach, so it's deserted. There is a wood canopy set up with flowy sheer drapes with a table set for dinner under it, courtesy of Jasper. The whole area is surrounded by more lanterns in the shape of a heart.

"You did this?"

"I had a little help," I tell her as I walk us down to the table and help her get seated.

"Jasper cooked. He said this is your favorite meal." I take the cover off our food and find the seafood pasta in a red vodka cream sauce Jasper mentioned.

"Oh, you are going to love this! This is a signature dish at the restaurant. They put their own twist on it."

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