Page 64 of Hush Money
“What about me?” she asks. I lift my hand back to her face, stroking her cheek again.
“Before you came back to me, I had given up on trying to change the world, Eve. It felt impossible. It felt like, no matter what I did, people were still suffering. It was too much. Too big. So I zoomed in. I focused on smaller things. Things I knew I could take on. But since I’ve been with you again…you make me feel less scared. You make me feel like I can handle the big stuff again.”
She smiles against my hand, turning her head to kiss it.
“You can do anything, Keat,” she says. “You are changing the world every day. And the little stuff matters too. Ally is just one person, but you are going to make her life so much better. One person is still one person. One neighborhood, one town. It all matters. And the things you do are important,” she says. God, I love her. “And even if nothing you ever did ever worked again, you changed my whole world.”
I smile at her, staring at her in awe.
“How did I do that?” I ask.
“You became it.”
KEATON
It’s been a week since we met with Ally, and frankly, I feel like I’ve been running a non-stop marathon since then. Working late nights to get everything done for my businesses back home, reading through files from Wren during the days.
I’ve been running myself ragged for the past week, and I’m feeling it.
I’m sitting here in my office, finishing up a few emails when I hear my door creak open. She pads across the floor wearing one of my sweatshirts, and instantly, my whole body warms. I love how she looks all the time. But there is something extra special about her being in something of mine.
Mine.
She makes her way across my office and around my desk. She doesn’t wait for me to finish any last thoughts or words, she just nudges me with her knee, and I roll the chair away from the desk. She straddles my lap, wrapping her arms around my neck, and pulls me into her. I inhale her. I let myself melt into her, savoring every single zap that her body gives mine.
“Hi, baby,” I whisper against her hair as I kiss just under her ear. She smiles, pulling back so that she can kiss me.
“Hi, yourself,” she says, rubbing her nose against mine. “It’s time to take a break now.”
I rest my head against the chair, just staring at her. Letting my eyes cover every inch of her face. The big green eyes fanned by those thick lashes. Those cheekbones that make way for that devastating smile. That little strand of hair that falls over her eye. I lean forward and give her one last kiss, nodding. She takes me by the hand and pulls me to my feet, then leads me out into the apartment. We walk toward the elevator doors, and I raise an eyebrow as she nods at Mac.
“Where are we going?” I ask her. She doesn’t answer, just smiles.
A minute later, we’re getting into the Escalade, and Mac is pulling out of my garage.
We drive through the city streets, and she’s leaned up against me, our bodies morphing together like they tend to do. Then I realize where we’re going.
We pull up to Coney Island after a few minutes and hop out. Mac follows close behind us, but she takes my hand and leads me onto the boardwalk.
It’s still chilly for Spring, and luckily it’s later at night, so there aren’t many people around. I’m still able to walk around fairly invisible. Some people recognize me, but not the way they recognize my father, or even Julian.
I wonder how much that will change when everything comes out.
We walk a little ways, her hand wrapped around my arm, our fingers clasped, and we just take in the sights. The sun is going down, there is a breeze, and the salt is thick in the air. She looks at me and smiles, and I feel my knees buckle a little. Then she tugs me across the boardwalk, and I see exactly where we’re headed: the little ice cream shop we used to come to all the time.
The one where we would go on lunch breaks. Then on breaks from college Then the last time, when I thought I was losing her.
And I’d go through it all again to end up right back here. With her on my arm and on my heart.
She orders one pistachio and one cookies-and-cream, and swipes her card before I can even move. She sticks her tongue out at me playfully, then I follow her out of the shop.
“You need to stop doing that,” I warn her. She rolls her eyes.
“Easy, big fella,” she says. “You are richer than just about every other human on the planet. I don’t think anyone is worried that you’re mooching off of me.”
I roll my eyes before I lunge for her arm, snagging a lick of her ice cream as she squeals.
“It’s not about that and you know it,” I say, licking the ice cream off my lips. “I told you I was going to give you the world. And I meant it.”
