Page 21 of The Fate of Us

Noah turns off the machine when he sees me. His smile wide. It makes my knees weak. Because I love this man more than anything and I need to tell him.

“Hey Mayberry.”

“You did all this while I was gone?” I gesture to the boardwalk under my feet and the house.

He shrugs. “I know this place means a lot to you. And it needed some repairs. I want you to feel that inspiration here that you used to feel. And I thought if the house looked new again, you would feel it.”

This time I do drop my shopping bags as I cut across the grass and throw my arms around him. He’s sweaty from the heat of the sun but I don’t care. My lips are on his neck, his face, his mouth. He lifts me up, pulling my legs around his waist.

“Thank you,” I whisper as I pull away, resting my forehead against his.

“Anything for you.”

I want to say those three words again but I still hold back. An inkling of fear holding down my emotions.

7

Noah

I sitat the dinette set as I wait for Anna to get ready. I made us a dinner reservation at a seafood restaurant overlooking the waterway and marsh between the islands. It’s our first official date. I feel bad I never took her out anywhere before. Our relationship has been spent mostly in private. Our dates on either one of our couches. I’m not complaining about it either. For some reason it felt right that way between us. We were comfortable at home, allowed to spill our secrets without anyone interrupting.

But with the time I have spent with her at this cottage, I felt I needed to do something special for her. Her heart’s been dragged through hell the last few days and I want to pull her away from all of it.

I hear the bedroom door open and watch as Anna walks out. She is fucking gorgeous. Her body wrapped in a floral dress that hugs her body in all the right places. Her wild red curls full and beautiful. She put on a bit of eyeliner, making her green eyes pop. She kept the rest of her face fresh so I can see the freckles spattering her cheeks.

I walk to her, my eyes focused on her lips, covered with a pink gloss, and I want nothing more than to suck it off. We are attracted to each other like magnets, both of us reaching for the other at the same time. My hands go to her face and I pull those delicious lips into my mouth, kissing her with a fervor only she awakens in me.

I pull away and she takes her fingers to my mouth, wiping the gloss from my lips. “You are covered in lip gloss.”

“I don’t care.”

“Let me fix mine and then we can go,” she says as she turns.

I pull her back to me, giving her one more brief kiss. I can’t keep my hands off her. “You look beautiful, Anna May.”

She blushes. “Thank you. You don’t look so bad yourself.”

I look down at my outfit. A navy button-down that I had brought for dinner with her parents and a clean pair of jeans. Nothing special but I like that she likes it.

When she is finished fixing her lip gloss, we walk out the door. She locks up the cottage and we head to my car. We drive in silence to the restaurant, enjoying the presence of each other’s company.

We are seated outside looking over the water. She sits next to me so we can both take in the scenery. I can’t take my eyes off Anna as she watches the birds dance along the shoreline. My feelings for her are strong and undeniable. With every day we spend together, I find myself forgetting more about my past and looking forward to the future. A future with her.

Those twenty-four hours of not knowing where she was, had me at a loss for words. I couldn’t place the feeling. My heart was heavy, my mind a wreck. I promised myself I would never let a woman control my emotions this way. But with Anna, it’s so easy to let her in. Easy to let my past be the past. Easy to see myself falling for her.

And I am falling for her.

She is this beautiful, talented woman.

Her energy is addicting.

I can’t keep myself away from her.

“It’s creepy when you stare at me like that,” Anna says as she turns toward me and away from the water.

“I just want to make sure you are okay.”

“I am. You make it okay, Noah.”

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