Total pages in book: 47
Estimated words: 46733 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 234(@200wpm)___ 187(@250wpm)___ 156(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 46733 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 234(@200wpm)___ 187(@250wpm)___ 156(@300wpm)
“Are you okay?” Mila asks quietly, shuffling up next to me.
“I’m fine,” I mutter.
She laughs, causing me to look at her.
“What’s funny?”
“Nothing,” she says. “Except…well….”
Our voices are low, but she doesn’t say anything else. I get the message without her needing to.
How can I say I’m fine when it’s an effort simply to look away from him?
“I know,” I say, voice even lower. “But it’s not like I planned to fall in.”
It’s the truth.
But as Banner walks onto the shore, water sliding down his body, all I can think about is falling in again.
All I can think about are his hands on me, how safe I felt, how protected.
He takes a towel from one of the guides, says thank you, and then looks over at me again. He’s staring hard. And I can’t stop myself from returning his gaze with the same intensity.
We have to stop.
We’re…what?
We’re eye-fucking each other.
CHAPTER 12
Banner
We’re back on our island, sitting around a long table as we eat a late lunch. The morning tour of the islands was difficult, especially after I pulled Brooke from the water.
I had to keep catching my thoughts, reminding myself not to obsess about how she felt in my hands, how right it was, like she belonged there.
Because she does, and she always will.
She sits on the other side of the table, picking at her food. Her hair has fallen across her face. It looks as though she’s begging for somebody to reach over and brush it away.
“Thanks again, Banner,” Gil says from beside me.
I look at him way too sharply, as if that will prove I haven’t just been gazing longingly at his daughter.
“Don’t mention it,” I say. “Really, Gil. What else was I going to do?”
“I get that,” Gil replies, as people talk around us in their own private conversations. “But it still means a lot. It’s good to know if….”
“What, Gil?”
“If something were to happen to me, you’d be there. You’d look out for her.”
“Don’t be silly. You’ll be around for a long time yet.”
“I thought the same with….”
It’s almost too much to take, the sadness in his voice.
“I know,” I tell him, understanding he’s talking about his first wife. “But if something did happen, I’d look out for her. I always will.”
This is true, but I’m conscious of it not being exactly what Gil means.
He’s talking to me as a family friend, not as somebody who means it down to his bones. Not as somebody who would die before I let anything happen to Brooke…or our children.
Brooke excuses herself and goes to the bathroom.
It’s almost physically painful not to let my head turn, to track her movements, the way her hips shift as she walks on the soft golden sand.
“What’s the plan for later?” Mila asks, looking over the table at Gil.
“We’re going to have another party, but we’ve also got the rehearsal tomorrow, so I’d understand if people want to skip it. There are activities too. Rappelling, if anybody’s interested. The guides have more information.”
Mila nods. “I think I’ll ask, then. I’m all partied out.”
Whatever happens, I promise myself that I’ll try to arrange to be anywhere Brooke isn’t. It will make this easier.
Easier because it will never be easy.
My cell phone buzzes from my pocket.
Despite everything, despite how the text alert should make me feel, the corner of my lip is twitching into a real smile, not a smirk, a genuine the-world-isn’t-such-a-bad-place grin.
I caution myself. It’s not as though I’m the grumpiest man who’s ever lived, but my default state isn’t ear-to-ear grinning.
Or am I overthinking it again, overthinking everything?
When Gil turns and starts speaking to Sonya, I take out the cell phone, quickly looking at the screen.
It’s so difficult sitting across from you.
My fingers move quickly. I don’t have to think about the response.
I know the feeling. It’s almost painful.
There’s no ‘almost’ about it.
I quickly replace my phone, and a minute later, Brooke returns.
She shoots me a look from beneath her eyebrows, highlighting her beautiful innocence like she’s silently begging me to kiss her, to show her how perfect she is.
“What do you want to do later, Brooke?” Mila asks as her soon-to-be stepsister takes her seat.
“I’m not sure. I was thinking of maybe getting an early night.”
My heart starts thudding and pounding, and lightning crackles over and over in my head. There’s something in her voice, a shiver that tells me she’s not interested in an early night.
She wants space so we can keep talking. She wants space so we can be alone, even if it is via text.
Mila’s about to protest, but then her gaze flits from Brooke to me and back.
She definitely knows what’s going on, and her next words confirm it.
“You have been through a lot today. Maybe an early night would be a good idea.”
“This again?” Brooke laughs. “I was almost mauled by a Great Dane last week. Trust me. A little water’s not the end of the world.”