Page 15 of A Me and You Thing
I walk around his desk and sit on his lap, wrapping my arms around him. “How about this?”
“Now we’re talking,” he says.
I slowly remove his glasses. “Ah, there’s Superman.”
He lightly chuckles, then his smile dies. His eyes turn intense as I cup his cheeks with my hands.
“For some reason, I missed you more than usual today,” he whispers.
I move my lips toward his. When he responds, I back up, not letting his lips touch mine, teasing him. He takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly.
“I’m crazy in love with you, Quinn. Do you know that?”
“I might just feel the same way.”
He leans his head back on the desk chair. “You are in a mood tonight.”
I start to back away. “You don’t like it?”
Finally, he unfolds his arms and wraps them around me, securing me in place. “Hold up. Did you hear me complaining?”
I run my hands through his hair, messing it up a little, just the way I like it. “Not a bit.” I unbutton the first few buttons of his dress shirt, and his eyes glitter. “I’m going to miss you desperately,” I whisper against his lips. Then I kiss his cheeks with soft, fluttery kisses. He starts to speak, but I press my fingers to his lips. “But if I don’t go on this trip, I know I’ll regret it. And life is too short for regrets. Regret is all about wishing you’d done something when you chose not to. It’s about agonizing over it. I don’t want to reach the end of my life filled with those kinds of emotions.”
He grins. “Quinn Speech. You know how much I love them.”
“I’m pretty sure you’re the only one.”
He kisses my fingers as they lightly rest on his lips. “I don’t think you’ll regret it. Not for one second. I love you, Quinn.”
“I love you, too. I don’t know if you realize how much. More than you know. That’s why it’s so hard to leave. My heart will be here, with you and the girls. It won’t travel with me.”
“Just concentrate on the reunion. After two weeks...”
“I know... I wanna go just for that reason. Two nights of...”
“Exactly,” he interrupts. “I’ll look forward to it every second of every day.”
“Shut up and kiss me.”
He does more than that. He picks me up and carries me to the bedroom. The distant sound of the waves crashing on the surf are the only sounds in the silent room as Sawyer Denali shows me exactly how much he loves me.
I love the way he always shows how much he loves me.
You know what else I love? Showing him back.
“I LOVE IT. This is perfect. Thank you, Sawyer.”
It’s my last night before I leave, and Sawyer reserved a very special ocean view table at one of our favorite places, the Clearwater Restaurant.
He’s having the black cod with a mango papaya salsa. I’m having the seafood pasta with a Cajun cream sauce. We’re sitting close to the fireplace, and the view of Yaquina Bay is incredible.
I love that Newport is my hometown. I live in paradise. An ocean view never gets old. It’s calming and soothing to the soul—which is odd since it’s a constant reminder that we live among the forces of nature.
“It was a perfect day with the girls too,” I add. “Thanks for taking today off, for making this day special.” The weather was beautiful, so we spent a few hours letting the girls play in the sand as we sat close by, cuddled up on a blanket. As long as they didn’t try to eat the sand, all went well.
“It was nice of the Grandma Gang to let us spend the evening alone.” Sawyer reaches out and holds my hand across the table.
I can’t stop staring into his eyes this evening, as if I’m trying to steal his soul and bring it with me on my trip.
