Page 142 of Forget Me Not

Except . . . I don’t want an accountant. The man I want is unobtainable and currently holding onto me like he’s afraid he might lose me.

Tomorrow, he will.

Am I in love again? Is this what this is, truly? As much as I want to deny it, I can’t escape the feeling that I have fallen for Reid despite all our baggage. Despite his leaving and despite the fact that I made a promise that I would never love again.

I could tell him, but then I know what that would do. He would either leave anyway or feel obligated to stay. I don’t know which is worse. The pain of losing him or the pain of knowing where he would rather be.

Not here in Port Nova, in a little cottage, cuddling on a Sunday morning.

Reaching up, I sweep the black wave from his forehead and he stirs. My heart lurches in my chest the single second those eyes open and meet mine.

My savior. Come back to me. Even if just for a summer.

“Good morning,” I murmur, my voice hoarse. Probably from screaming all night.

He scrubs a hand over his face and looks around, almost as surprised as I am that we fell asleep, still half dressed in our party clothes.

“Shit,” he grumbles, his arm around me tightening. “I didn’t mean to sleep here. Sorry.”

“It’s okay.” I press a finger to his lips when he tries to speak again and just shake my head. No amount of grumbling is going to change it and I’m fairly certain I’ll start crying if the conversation veers toward him leaving.

“How are you feeling?”

“Sore. Thirsty.”

“Why haven’t you gotten up?”

I chuckle, my hand slipping up his exposed front to rest over his heart. It’s beating fast, like he’s unsure what to do.

“You were holding me too tightly.”

A wet nose touches the bare skin of my ass and I jump, letting out a squeak before Reid can say anything. He laughs; I struggle to pull my dress down as far as I can as Toast jumps up on top of us.

“Alright, alright,” Reid concedes, scratching him on the head. “Are you ready to go play in the water?”

“Water?”

Reid smirks at me, winking. “Remember our deal. Dancing for boating.”

My stomach sinks. Dammit.

“Are you sure we can’t just admire from here?”

He rolls me until I’m under him, all but forcing Toast off the couch, who trots away happily. Reid’s eyes burn as he looms over me, studying me.

“We’ll stick to the coast. We won’t go far. Nothing we can’t get out of.”

“That’s comforting.”

“Have I let anything bad happen to you yet?”

I know what he means. The wreck. He’s saved my life once and something about that gaze tells me he’d do it every day if he had to.

“Okay, fine, but I’m putting on the life jacket the moment we get to the docks.”

A wicked glimmer flashes through his eyes and he pulls me up until my mouth is mere millimeters from his.

“Deal.”

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