Page 56 of The Beach Cottage
“Yes, and I need to know how you feel about me. Because there’s no reason we can’t be together anymore. And the longer this separation takes, the worse I feel.” She stood and paced to the deck railing, leaning on it to stare into the darkness.
He followed her, turned her to face him, then rested his hands on her lower back, arms encircling her. “I like hearing that.”
“I’m glad,” she said, her stomach a knot of nerves.
“And I agree — there’s no reason for us to be apart any longer. When Grace went back to live with her mother, I convinced myself you’d moved on. That I’d lost my chance, it was too late. Then I saw you embracing that man at the café…” His eyes clouded and nostrils flared.
“That was Preston. He was hugging me goodbye,” she said.
His eyes narrowed. “Your ex-husband?”
“Yes, with his new girlfriend.”
“Oh.” He smiled. “I wish I’d stuck around to ask.”
“So do I,” she said with a shake of her head. “That’s a rule from now on. If this thing is going to work, no more assumptions. We have to talk about everything. And trust one another.”
He leaned closer. “I can live with those terms.”
“So, are you ready to give this another try?” She asked the question shyly as though she was that teenaged girl all over again, asking Aidan Whitlock to give her his heart.
“With everything I’ve got,” he whispered as he kissed the tip of her nose. “Oh, and I love you too, Bumble Bea. Always have. Always will.”
His hands cupped her face, cradling it gently as he stared into her eyes. The depth of the emotion in his gaze made her heart stand still. Then his lips found hers, and the world stood still too.
Twenty-Six
The cast on her leg made getting around difficult, but Penny was grateful it wasn’t a full leg cast. And at least it was removable — a feature that became increasingly convenient when she was itchy. She hobbled through the living room to the front door and pulled it open just as Rob pushed his key towards the knob.
He laughed. “Well, thanks.”
She stepped back. “What are you doing here?”
“Nice to see you too, Pen. I finished my job early.” He walked into the house and shut the door behind him.
“Sorry. It is nice to see you,” she said, giving him a hug.
He looked her up and down. “What on earth happened to you?”
She sighed. “Come on. We’ll have a cup of tea, and I’ll tell you all about it.”
They discussed her accident and Rowan coming to her rescue. She watched his face as she spoke in an attempt to figure out how he felt about the whole thing. It was no secret that he was adamantly against any one of his friends dating his sister. But that’d been a long time ago. The fact that they’d fought over it before he left the island the last time was still on her mind, though.
When she finished speaking, he leaned forward in his chair. “Are the two of you an item now?”
She tensed. “What if we were?”
He shook his head. “I suppose if it’s serious…”
“It’s not,” she said. “Well, not yet. We’re not even official. I just… Well, I like him.”
He sat back, studying her through deep brown eyes. “Okay.”
“Okay what?” she asked, her stomach flip-flopping over the anticipation of what he might say.
“Okay — you like each other. So, I think you should see where it might go. I had my reasons for not wanting you to see him, but it’s too late for that. You’re already beyond that point.”
“Anything I should know about?” If there was a genuine issue, she’d prefer to know now.
