“This place is beautiful,” she said, glancing out across the water. “Is this your family’s home?”
Jaxon shook his head, pride flickering in his voice. “No. This slice of heaven? It’s all mine.”
Claire looked at him, stunned. “Seriously?”
“Oh yeah. I got this place by pure luck a few years ago.”
She tilted toward him. “Okay… what’s the story behind that?”
He turned slightly in his seat, smiling at the memory.
“I came to the island for work a few years back. Two weeks. I was helping open the new finance office. Didn’t plan to stay longer than that.”
Claire leaned in. “But you did.”
“I fell in love with this place,” he said, eyes scanning the horizon like it was a living thing. “Told corporate I wanted to stay. They let me keep the office, so I packed up my apartment in Charlotte and never looked back.”
He chuckled.
“About a year in, I was still renting when my receptionist told me a property was going into foreclosure. Came out here, stood at the edge of this dock, looked at this view—and I knew. I didn’t care what shape the house was in. It had to be mine.”
Claire smiled softly. “And now it is.”
“Five years later,” he said, “and here we are.”
“You feel like you’re from here,” she said. “Everyone loves you. I just assumed…”
Jaxon shrugged. “That’s the thing about this island. It has a way of turning tourists into locals.”
Before Claire could respond, her phone started buzzing in her pocket.
She winced, pulling it out and glancing at the screen. “I’m sorry,” she said quickly as she answered.
Jaxon expected a short check-in. A quick update.
Instead—
“Seriously?”
“I can ask.”
“Damn it, Sara…”
Claire sighed and hung up. “I’m so sorry.”
Jaxonwas already grinning. “Where do you need to go?”
Claire shook her head. “Is there any way you can take me to Tides Rising? Apparently, the girls went back and had too many drinks. They can’t come get me.”
Jaxon laughed. “I had a feeling. I figured they were either calling to save you—or they went a little heavy on the mojitos.”
“I don’t need saving,” Claire insisted, but her voice was gentle.
“Didn’t say you did,” Jaxon replied, standing with a stretch. “Come on. I’ll take you back. Besides… it gives us more time to talk.”
As they walked toward his truck, Claire glanced over.
“How come you call it ‘the grill’ and not ‘the bar’?”
