Page 65 of One Week in Paradise
Never mind. My sympathy is capped.
‘Earth to Bailey.’
A balled-up pair of socks hit me slap-bang in the middle of my forehead. ‘Hey.’
Cash laughs and expertly dodges the return fire. ‘Did you hear what I said?’
‘No.’
He rolls his eyes. ‘We need to go on a date.’
I crawl over to him and lay my head in his lap. His fingers come up instinctively to run through my hair. ‘Hasn’t this whole week essentially just been one long date?’
‘I suppose. But I still want to take you on a date. As amazing as this has all been, it’s not how I planned to make you mine.’
‘Oh?’ I quirk a brow. My heart flips at his casual use of the wordmine. ‘You’ve had a plan?’
‘At least ten years in the making.’
Ten years.
I can’t believe we’ve missed out on ten years of this. My mind plays back every wasted moment from the last decade of our lives. How many times have I looked at him, thinking there was only dislike and irritation bubbling under his surface when it’s really been love the entire time? I feel like an idiot. Iaman idiot.
‘Hey.’ Cash’s hand slides along my jaw, tilting my head up to face him. ‘What’re you thinking?’
‘Thinking about you,’ I say, and my honesty surprises me. I have no filter with Cash. Not anymore.
‘Oh.’ He wiggles his brows. ‘Bedroom thoughts?’
I roll my eyes and shove him slightly with my shoulder. ‘Keep your head out of the gutter, please. I’m thinking about you. I’m thinking about us.’
‘What about us?’ His voice is soft.
‘About how easy this all feels,’ I say quietly. I link our fingers together and hold our hands in the air to make my point. ‘Why is that?’
‘Because we’re good together,’ Cash says simply. He pulls my hand towards his mouth and kisses it. ‘Does that scare you?’
‘A little bit,’ I admit. ‘It’s never felt this easy – thisright– for me before. Not with Ethan. Not with anyone.’
I know that hindsight is everything, but looking back on my two years with Ethan, I can’t remember ever feeling this content or safe with him.
‘Why is that a problem?’
‘It’s not,’ I say. My brows knit in the middle. I’m frustrated that I can’t get the right words out. ‘I just feel like we’ve wasted so much time. All this time, we could’ve been together. We could’ve beenus. I don’t know. I just feel like an idiot for missing it all these years.’
‘Hey.’ He pulls me onto his lap, snaking his arms around my waist. ‘Youdidn’t miss anything. If anything, this is on me. If I’d said something, you never would’ve spent years thinking I hated you.’
‘In that case, let’s agree to blame Dane.’
He laughs, rocking forward slightly as his head dips into my neck. ‘I can get behind that.’ He pulls back, his gaze turning serious. ‘Don’t overthink this, okay?’
‘Okay,’ I agree.
His lips quirk upwards into a grin that’s more sly than anything else as he scooches back on the bed until his back hits the headboard. He presses his lips against mine, and his hands begin to wander. They leave a fiery trail in their wake as they dart under the hem of my T-shirt, and I grin into our kiss. I’m not going to waste any more time.
I know what I’ve got in front of me now, and I don’t plan on letting it go.
Chapter Twenty-One
