Page 107 of Catch and Release

“Willa,” he whispered against her lips.

She opened her eyes. His were black and half-lidded with desire, his chest rising and falling with deep pants of lust.

“Tonight has been…” Willa took a deep breath. “Amazing. Perfect. The best date I’ve ever been on.”

He dropped his head so his forehead leaned against hers.

“For me, too,” he said.

“And we haven’t even gotten to the dinner part.”

“Or the after dinner part,” he said with a wink.

She laughed.

“Speaking of dinner,” he said, “you have to be hungry.”

As if on cue, her stomach rumbled. She hadn’t eaten since the mullet she fried for lunch, and it was almost 8. Now that he mentioned it, she was starving.

“Yes, please,” she grinned.

Shawn turned around and grabbed a couple of coolers. Out of one, he pulled out a shrimp cocktail, a pitcher of water, and a charcuterie board, setting them gently on the table he’d set.

“Don’t worry, there’s more,” Shawn said with a grin. “But I thought you’d like to start with some apps.”

She reached for a shrimp and dipped it in the sauce before taking a bite.

“How’d you pull all this off?” she asked.

“The shrimp cocktail?”

“Well, yes,” she said, grabbing another one. “All of it. The jobs. The boat. The food. In one day.”

“Ahh,” he said, grabbing a shrimp of his own. “Well, the jobs were easy. I knew both of those guys. After I heard you talking the other night about your job, I gave them both a call. I was going to tell you about it last night, but…”

She smirked.

“So I called them this morning and asked if we could drop by today. They both agreed.”

“I can’t thank you enough, Shawn,” Willa said, her voice growing thick.

It made her want to cry—how wonderful he had been, how sweet he was, how thoughtful and kind and generous. She’d never dated a man like him.

He was the definition of If he wanted to, he would.

“It’s no problem, Willa,” he said.

And she knew he meant it. This is what Shawn did. Helped people. Stuck his neck out for them. Cared for them.

But she appreciated it all the same.

More than he’d ever know.

“And the boat? The dinner?”

“Yes, that,” Shawn said with a chuckle. “Well, I’m not sure if you know this about me, but I run a pretty successful charter boat company.”

She cackled. “Okay, duh, but still.”

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