Page 81 of Blame It on the Bikini
"He did. And that heart you photographed with the blurry initials. They were their initials. It was the last day they were together. When they stood on the rocks watching the tide come in, he said he felt like the ocean was washing away everything that they'd had. It was where they shared their last kiss."
"And where we shared our first," she murmured, meeting his gaze. "That's oddly symmetrical."
"I agree." He paused. "Anyway, at first I thought he'd been the one to leave Josie, but she was the one who told him to go home, that his life was elsewhere. So, he went back to LA and married my mother and merged his company with her family's company, and the rest is history."
"That's a crazy story. Did your father already own this building when he met Josie?"
"No. He bought it for her. He wanted her to be able to always live in the place she'd come to love. He said she knew he was the owner when she became the manager, and she only agreed if she could deal solely with his representative, which she did." He could see the puzzled gleam in her eyes and knew what question was coming. "You want to know if my father wanted to sell. He never did. But when he was thinking about retirement, and we were going over all the company holdings, I pushed him to move the building into my control. We had a lot of arguments about it over the past two years. I didn't understand why he didn't want to sell, and he wouldn't explain."
"Maybe because he didn't want to tell you he'd loved someone else besides your mother right before he got engaged."
"That was probably part of it. He definitely got annoyed with me asking to sell, and he kept saying I wasn't looking at the bigger picture. I didn't know what the hell that meant because I was focused on making money for the company I was going to take over. Apparently, he decided I was too much like him, and maybe I needed to experience the Ocean Shores magic for myself to see if it would change my mind. He wanted to force me to take a break, to step outside of my world, my bubble, and see what else was out there. And he thought meeting Josie would be good for me." He paused. "He said he spoke to her the week before I came. He didn't say what they discussed, but it was the first time they'd communicated in thirty-five years."
"And that's why Aunt Josie was never as worried as I was about the building being sold. She was convinced that being here would change your mind."
"As you were," he reminded her.
"I wasn't convinced at all," she denied. "I knew it would be nearly impossible to change your mind."
"But you did," he said with a smile. "And being here at Ocean Shores did change my perspective. I was caught up in a world of money and deals and ruthless ambition. I didn't have real friends; I had associates. The women I've dated shared the same sort of ambition in a different way. They wanted to marry someone like me. They wanted to live in the same world I wanted to live in, but they didn't have their own goals, their own passions. I never wanted to be with someone who just wanted to be an extension of me."
"Well, I'm definitely not that."
"No, you're not. And I'm not the way I was a month ago. I've changed. I've seen another world, one that I would prefer to live in."
"But you're still you, Grayson. It's okay to be driven, to want to build a company, to want to develop real estate. You have a lot of power and money to change lives. You just have to use it for good."
"I never thought I was using it for evil," he said with a laugh. "But I wasn't taking into consideration the fact that there are always people behind the numbers. I hope to be a realistic but also compassionate businessman going forward. And I'm hoping you'll keep me on track."
"I won't need to," she said confidently. "Because you are a good man."
"Thank you."
"Now, getting back to your father's story, did your dad think he made the right choice?"
"Yes."
"But you said your parents barely live together, right?"
"Right. They've been living separately for a long time. Apparently, that's the way they like it. I don't understand their marriage, but I know I don't want that kind of relationship for myself."
"I don't either. When I'm in, I go all in. No half measures for me. And if you ever feel you can't be all in, too, then we call this thing off. We have the hard conversation, because if we can't tell each other the truth, then what are we doing?"
He loved the fervor in her voice, the passion in her gaze. "I'll always tell you the truth, even if it's difficult. I never lied to you about my intentions."
"No, you didn't, and that's why I trust you. Why I love you."
"I love you, too."
She set down her coffee and kissed him.
He loved the sweet taste of her mouth, flavored from the Italian roast she'd just consumed. He also loved the way her hands moved across his body, the way she helped him off with his shirt, the way they made love to each other again, sealing the promise they'd just made to each other.
Four days later, on Sunday night, Lexie finished packing her suitcase under the careful watch of Kaia and Emmalyn.
"I can't believe you're leaving," Kaia said.
"Did you pack the travel sized, plug-in carbon monoxide detector I gave you?" Emmalyn asked.
