Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 68033 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 340(@200wpm)___ 272(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68033 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 340(@200wpm)___ 272(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
Kerris stood in the middle of the room for a few moments, absorbing all that had happened so far.
“Come out and go where?” Kerris asked the empty room.
She opened the door, and her attention was immediately drawn to a crystal-encrusted card on the floor in the dimly lit hallway, the first in a trail of cards telling her exactly where to go. The first card said FOLLOW. Kerris saw a trail of glittering cards until the message FOLLOW YOUR HEART TO ME led her up a shallow flight of steps and out onto the upper deck.
“Looking for me?”
Kerris turned in the direction of the voice she could pick out from a million others. Walsh stood by a small round table positioned near the boat rail. Tall, with his dark hair ruffled by the slight breeze rolling in with the setting sun, flawlessly tailored jacket molded to his broad shoulders, linen shirt left open at his tanned throat, hands in his pockets. A casual stance, but there was nothing casual about his eyes. They were ravenous, eating up every detail the beauty battalion had so painstakingly attended to.
He extended a hand to her.
“Come here, Kerris.”
The words were spoken so softly she barely heard them over the water lapping up against the houseboat, but they commanded her. Those three words reached into her chest and pulled her to him by the heart. She was in his grip. Surely he knew that, but something in his eyes seemed to wonder if she would come.
With every step she took toward him, a certainty, just a seed before, went deep and rooted itself inside of her. She was his and he was hers. He had known it before she did. He had tried to tell her, but her fear, her self-doubt, her own insecurities, had sabotaged their first chance at happiness. Every step she took toward him was redemption, a declaration. A promise. Maybe she did still have some issues to work through about her mother, about TJ, about Amalie, about how she had mishandled things with Cam. The residue of those things might always coat her perspective, even if just a little. But Walsh was her bright future, and for once, she would grab what she truly wanted with both hands.
She didn’t stop when she was close. She walked right past the hand he held extended and into his arms. She slid her hands up his shoulders, standing on her toes until she could hook her elbows behind his neck. He wrapped his arms around her, suspending her, and her toes left the ground. She pulled back just far enough to whisper in his ear.
“I’m sorry it took me so long.”
Chapter Sixteen
The words she’d spoken burned his ears and flipped his heart. Walsh made a conscious effort to loosen his arms, which were auto-clamped around Kerris like she might disappear if he blinked. And it still felt that way. After so long, she felt like smoke in his arms. Like she’d dissipate if he didn’t clutch her close enough. She pulled back and settled on her feet. In the heels he’d chosen especially for her, she was a few inches taller than she usually stood, but still barely made it to his shoulder. He’d always dated models and tall girls like Sofie. That this petite woman who stood heart-level in her bare feet had owned him so completely, effortlessly, almost from the beginning still amazed him.
“I know it’s been a long time, but—”
“Worth the wait.” He had to cut her off, dragging his thumb over one high cheekbone. “Don’t ever doubt that you were worth the wait, Kerris.”
The last few years had sliced him open, jerked out his insides, and stuffed everything back in messily, sloppily, haphazardly. Nothing had felt right until now. They still had a landmine to negotiate. Walsh had never dated anyone quietly. What had started as the media’s casual interest in his love life even when he was in high school had only intensified when he dated Sofie, and hadn’t dropped off nearly as much has he’d like. The three-ring circus of him dating his best friend’s not-even-ex-yet-wife? Inevitable. Kerris would hate that. Walsh would hate it, too. This perfection between them—this connection of heart, mind, and soul—shouldn’t be sensationalized. So he’d be discreet, but he had no intention of being subtle. Not tonight.
“Hungry?” He gestured to the table, already set with stuffed lobster tail, asparagus, and new baby potatoes.
Once she noticed the food, her eyes widened and she licked her lips. Walsh would wait his turn, but he planned to lick her lips, too. He pulled out her chair, leaning down to draw in the smell hidden behind her ears and along her neck. He’d made sure Kerris’s vanilla scent was on Trisha’s shopping list.
As easily as they had always talked with each other, there was little conversation over dinner. Walsh barely ate, doing no justice to the delicious meal he’d had delivered from Stream, the seafood restaurant in town. Kerris would glance up from her food and find him staring. She didn’t bother to ask what he was looking at or if anything was wrong. Absolutely nothing was wrong. Things were finally right, and he almost couldn’t believe it. Time for phase two. He glanced at his watch and reached across the table to take her hand.