Page 57 of Sweet Escape at Bayside
He kissed the top of her head, and she felt his heart beating faster against her cheek.
“I didn’t realize we were walking a plank.” He brushed her hair away from her face and kissed her forehead. “Are you ready to talk about the future? Every time I try to bring it up you avoid it like the plague.”
“I do not,” she snapped, but that wasn’t true. That was her stupid self-preservation kicking in. “I’m sorry. It’s true. But do you blame me?” She tilted her face up and said, “I screwed us up once, and I don’t want to do it again. I want to be with you, but I want to be here, too, and I know I can’t have it all. I’m not asking you to fix it or figure it out. I just wish I knew what to do. Desiree is coming back, and all I can think of is how far we’ve come—her and me and you and me. My heart is yours. I hope you know that, but she’s—”
“Shh, babe.” He gathered her in his arms and held her. “Nobody wants you to choose.”
“Oh,right,” she said sarcastically. “Maybe I can pack everyone’s things and drag them across the world, too.”
He gently rolled her onto her back and gazed down at her with a sexy smile.
“Sex isn’t going to solve this,” she said half-heartedly.
“I don’t want to have sex. I want you to close your eyes and justbreathe. Come on. Do it with me, just like you taught me to do. Remember?”
“How could I ever forget? When you finally closed your eyes and relaxed, I wanted to crawl into your lap and disappear.”
“Even with my eyes closed I felt you watching me, and I knew then that if I were ever to get through all your beautiful layers, I’d never want to let you go.”
She closed her eyes and felt the sting of tears again. “Stop. No sappy stuff right now. It’s too hard.”
He kissed her and said, “I want you to be with me always, but figuring out how to make that work takesconversation.” He brushed his lips beside her ear and whispered, “It takes two, baby. This has never been a one-sided decision. I need to know what’s in your heart.”
“You,” she said quickly. “And Desiree. I committed to running the inn with her. I can’t justabandonher.” Pain washed over his face.
“You think following your heart means abandoning the people you love, but it doesn’t. You see gray areas of potential in everything around you, but you also have this belief that some parts of your life—the people you love, your relationships—can only exist as all or nothing. Maybe that comes from Lizza cutting ties with Ted and Desiree when you were young. Or maybe not.Whyyou believe it isn’t as important as realizing that there is a world of possibility between all and nothing.”
He was quiet for a long moment, his gaze drifting over her face again, as if the answers were written there. She hoped they were because the only thing going through her mind was,Which side are you on, or where do you fall in between? Wherever it is, I want to be there, too.
“What if you could have both?” he said softly. “What if we spent the time between clinic openings here with Desiree and your friends, and we worked our schedules to be here each summer to help with the inn?”
“I can’t ask you to change your schedule for me—”
He silenced her with a kiss and said, “You don’t have to.”
Cosmos raised his head and raced out of the living room, barking as the girls barreled into the kitchen in a cacophony of conversation. Violet groaned, and he kissed her again, smiling against her lips.
“Come on, babe. Those are the friends you don’t want to leave, remember?” He climbed off her, tossed her his T-shirt, and pulled on his jeans.
She put on his shirt and her leather pants from last night, and they headed to the kitchen. Serena had her nose in the fridge, Chloe’s hand was stuffed in a box of cereal, and Daphne had just bitten into an apple. Gavin and Emery were standing by the coffee machine.
“Where the heck did you two come from?” Emery asked.
“Living room,” Violet said, ignoring Gavin’s raised brow.
Drake and Dean ran through the door. “Sorry!” they both said in unison.
“We thought we’d beat them here,” Dean said.
“It’s okay,” Andre said.
“What’s going on?” Emery asked. “Why were you trying to beat us?”
“Something wrong with your place, Vi?” Serena asked. “Oh no, did you guys have a fight? Is that why there’s no breakfast?”
Andre chuckled.
Violet rolled her eyes. “We got you doughnuts last weekend. Maybe it’s time you madeusbreakfast.”
