Page 199 of One Bossy Disaster

I’m splinters.

This time, the sudden pain strikes so hard I gasp. I have to look away before he sees it in my face.

The last time.

The last effing time.

Shepherd squeezes my hand as the whales sink back below the surface and the storm that’s been brewing overhead picks up, pelting the windows with diamond droplets.

“Was it as awesome as you hoped?”

Yes, yes.

And no, not nearly.

I turn, leaning into him, needing to feel him one more time.

“Can you check my pulse?” I manage. “I can’t believe we actually saw them. And crap, I didn’t even get a picture...”

“I had Juan capturing everything with the ship’s cameras. I’ll be sure to forward you the footage. Should be easy enough to edit however you’d like.”

Oh my God.

He really thought of everything.

“You know, even if part of this sucks... I’m glad we came,” I force out behind a sob. “If this is it for us, I can’t imagine a better finish.”

Besides not severing our hearts at all.

He nods slowly, his hands burning my sides.

I wonder if he feels it too.

He gives a long sigh, but before I can ask what’s on his mind, he says, “We’ll keep working on adapting our surveillance technology to conservation. The drones are just the beginning.”

“You really think so?”

“I’d be a damned fool to walk away from a brilliant idea.”

So why are you walking away from me?

I wish I could stop smiling at him calling me brilliant long enough to ask.

Never mind the fact that I get his logic.

I’m too young and sunny and he’s too dark and damaged and obsessed with his work, and we’ve been nothing but trouble since the day we met. And Dad might still put a price on his head, but—

But we shouldn’t be breaking up something so good.

My smile mirrors his, full of sad frustration. My cheeks feel raw against the drying salt on my skin.

“Thanks again, Shepherd. I’ll never forget it.” My voice is so thick. “And I’m sorry if I ever misjudged you when you just keep telling me how smart and pretty I am.”

“You saw me too well, Dess. That’s always been the problem.”

He glances down at me, a frown touching his eyes as his fingers brush my jaw. The caress is so light it feels almost imaginary.

He isn’t wrong.

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