‘What else is in there?’
He pulled out two wine glasses and a bottle of chilled wine.
‘From a Midcoast vineyard,’ he said, holding it out for me to check the label. ‘I hope you prefer crisp and dry over sweet.’
‘I do.’
He poured me a glass. ‘Here.’
‘Thanks.’ And I really meant it.
I took a sip. It was delicious, and just what I needed after a busy few days. I moaned loudly as it slid down my throat, refreshing, and started a warm glow in my chest.
‘Steady on,’ Jack teased. ‘We haven’t even had the oysters yet.’
My eyes narrowed. ‘Wait, is that why you chose them? Because of their reputed aphrodisiac effects?’
He grinned. ‘No comment.’
‘You don’t need to feed me oysters to get me in the mood,’ I told him, feeling my heart swell at the sight of him. This big, strong wonderful man sitting on a picnic blanket in a park, wearing the expression of someone who was as proud as punch of his efforts, as well he should be. ‘This whole thing,’ I said, gesturing around us, ‘it’s unbelievably sweet. The sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me, in fact.’
He shrugged. ‘What can I say, I’m a sweet guy.’
‘And so, so modest.’
‘Jokes aside,’ he said, his face turning serious. ‘This is the bare minimum you deserve, Taylor. You deserve to have romantic picnics, candlelight dinners, movie nights on the couch, boat rides at sunset, campfires on the beach, fireworks on your birthday… You deserve to be made to feel special every single day.’
‘I feel like it might be unsustainable to expect that kind of romanceeveryday,’ I told him, though I felt tears brewing at his words.
He scooted over on the blanket, reaching out to tuck a strand of my hair behind my ear.
‘Stay with me,’ he blurted. ‘Here in Pine Harbor. Stay with me, Taylor.’
The intensity in his eyes made my breath catch. ‘I thought you weren’t going to ask me that.’
‘I’ve changed my mind.’ He shook his head. ‘Since the moment we met I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you. You’re the first woman I’ve ever felt like this about.’
I swallowed hard, overwhelmed by his declarations. By the way he was looking at me. The way his touch felt. ‘Like what?’ I managed to say.
‘Like I’ve met my match. The person I’ve been waiting my whole life to find. I’m not going to say my life was on hold until I found you, because it wasn’t. I’ve lived a full life. But everything I’ve done, every step I’ve taken, it’s all been leading me here to you.’
I opened my mouth to speak but he shushed me with a finger against my lips. I was too shocked and outraged in that moment to argue.
He grinned. ‘I know you’re mad at me right now for shushing you, and you can kill me for it soon, I promise. But I need you to just listen for a moment. I know that you don’t believe in love at first sight and I’ve never personally experienced it, so I can’t say whether it’s real or not. But what I can say is that I’ve feltsomethingfor you since the moment we met. Even when I could barely see you in the dark, I felt a connection.’
I pulled a face.
‘Yes, cheesy I know. But give me a break. I’m an ex-cop, current restaurant manager, soon-to-be restaurant owner, all going well. I’m not a bloody English language professor. I’m doing the best I can with the words I know.’
‘You forgot superhero,’ I murmured against his fingertips. ‘You literally save lives. I think you can add that to the résumé.’
‘Buffsuperhero,’ he corrected.
I nipped his finger lightly with my teeth and he yelped.
‘See what I mean?’ he said, nursing it. ‘You surprise me, all the time. Every time I think you’re going to react one way, you do something else altogether. I love that.’
I sucked in air sharply. Stared at him.
