Page 46 of The Seascape Between Us

“What’s the deal with you guys?” Finn asked. “How do you know each other?”

I told him about how I’d met Daniel, how I’d fallen in love with him, and how my father had interfered, so we’d break up.

“Holy shit,” Finn said when I was done. “Everyone talks about Oliver Mackenzie like he’s some kind of saint.”

I shrugged. “He did a lot of good things, especially in The Square. That he was a shit father doesn’t change that.”

“I guess, but that’s messed up. Are you and Daniel together, then?”

“Sort of,” I admitted.

“What doessort ofmean?”

“We were kind of messing around even before I found the letter—a business partners-with-benefits situation.”

Finn huffed out a humorless chuckle and rolled his eyes. “Nothing could go wrong with that.”

Irritation fluttered at the base of my skull. Just because he and Alistair were good now, they hadn’t always been, so Finn could dial back the damn sanctimonious tone. “Don’t be a dick, or I’ll remind you of all the times you tried to call things off with Alistair before you finally pulled your head out of your ass.”

His expression turned serious. “First, you were very much on teamhe’s-too-young-for-you. Second, if you and Daniel want this to work, you need clear boundaries between your work partnership and your relationship. It could get… messy.”

I narrowed my gaze, trying to read between the lines. “If you think Daniel would try to use what’s happening between us for my money, you couldn’t be more wrong and fuck you for thinking that. Daniel is one of the most honest and good men I know.”

“Okay, okay.” Finn held up his hands in surrender. “That’s not what I meant, but given how you looked like you wanted to kick my ass for even suggesting the possibility, I’m guessing this is more thanbusiness partners-with-benefitsfor you. Have you thought about what happens next? What happens after the work is done and the hotel opens again? What happens when you both go back to your own lives? Sharing a business could be awkward as fuck if you want more and he doesn’t.”

On one level, I knew Finn had a point. I really hadn’t considered what a future between Daniel and I would look like once we’d finished with the hotel, but I knew I couldn’t just walk away. There was no way that I could go back to my old life with just work and random hook-ups, knowing Daniel was out there. It all suddenly felt empty and trivial.

I wanted more. I wanted forever, but Daniel didn’t think he could fit into my life. When we’d broken up, I said some pretty shitty things to him, and he’d taken them to heart. I hadn’t meant any of it. I’d been hurt and angry, young and stupid, and none of those things were an excuse for what I’d said and how I’d acted, but they’d definitely been contributing factors. If he’d let me, I would spend the rest of my life making it up to him.

“I understand what you’re saying, and I’ll take your advice under advisement,” I told Finn.

“I bet.” Finn looked doubtful, guessing that I was only telling him what he wanted to hear. He meant well, but he didn’t know Daniel like I did. Once I showed him how easily we could fit into each others’ lives, that we belonged together, I wouldn’t need to worry about a future without him in my life.Never again.

Chapter Nineteen

Daniel

Iwoke slowly, warm and relaxed, cocooned in a heavy duvet and a general sense of well-being. Without opening my eyes, I rolled onto my back and stretched. My muscles felt loose, relaxed and a little sore, like after a good workout, and almost instantly, memories of Grey and the night before in this bed cluttered my head; his hands roaming possessively over my body as though memorizing every inch by touch, his mouth whispering filthy promises against my skin, and his cock pumping inside me, leaving me feeling used and owned in the best way possible.

In spite of coming fast and hard last night, my dick perked up with the memory, and I reached across the bed for Grey, then frowned. The bed beside me was empty, the sheets cool.

Where had he gone? Unease tugged at my insides, and I cracked open an eye.

Sure enough, Grey was no longer next to me. I sat up and frowned, the warm, languid feeling fading rapidly. He almost never woke before me.

Then I noticed the light was wrong. The yellow glow spilling through the narrow gap between the drapes was higher and brighter than it should have been.

What time was it? How late had I slept?

I shoved back the blankets and grabbed my phone off the table.Eight-thirty?I never slept that late. Normally, I was up before the sun, planning everything I had to get done for the day. Of course, that had been before I’d taken up residence in Oliver Mackenzie’s house with his son. Maybe having some space between me and the hotel took a little of the edge off so I could relax when I wasn’t working. Hell, maybe being away from the hotel in the evenings gave me a chance to not be working. I trusted my staff to handle things, but when I was there, I felt guilty for not helping out. For years, Brody had lectured me about needing space from the hotel. I hated having to admit he might be right.

I knew, though, it wasn’tjustliving here that had me sleeping better. It was Grey, too. I couldn’t remember the last time I felt like someone had my back. Now, over the last month, since we’d stopped trying to score points off each other, we’d developed an easy rhythm managing the hotel together. He was much better at the big picture issues while I managed the day-to-day. He also wasn’t great at interacting with guests. That unfiltered part of his brain that allowed for a steady stream of whatever he was thinking to flow from his mouth didn’t go over great, so I made sure to steer him away from any customer service concerns. Besides, he needed the extra time to focus on his other business.

The hotel wasn’t the only place Grey and I had fallen into an easy partnership. The weeks spent in his father’s house felt like a cozy domestic bubble, separate from the real world, wherewe talked and laughed and fucked like the last seventeen years never happened, and while I couldn’t get enough, I also couldn’t shake the distant dread buried deep inside myself. We existed on borrowed time, and seeing the hotel slowly become everything I’d wished for, I knew we ticked closer to the bubble popping. I would go back to my life, and Grey to his. When we’d first started this, I told myself I would be fine when it all inevitably ended. Now, I wasn’t so sure.

The idea of returning to my old life, day in and day out, with just work and the hotel, of Grey leaving me behind again, carved me out inside, leaving me hollow.

I climbed out of bed, dressed in jeans and a t-shirt before shuffling out to the living room, where Grey sat impeccably dressed in a gray suit and black shirt with no tie. He held a coffee in one hand while he scrolled on his phone with the other.

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