13
Dane
You will never know that you came into my life just as I was ready to give up. Watching someone you’ve been in love with for years move on without you is a pain I can’t even describe. I told myself falling in love wasn’t worth feeling that way again, but you broke down my walls… -N
James glaredat us as we descended the staircase into the lobby. There was a family in the library, parents slathering sunscreen on the kids before they headed down to the beach. I prayed they’d take their time so we could avoid an argument. Wanting to show James I wasn’t walking away from the inn, I leaned down to kiss Brook’s cheek. It wasn’t enough, but it was all I could do since he was already over an hour late for work. Well, James could kiss my ass if he wanted to get pissed at Brook, because this was my place too, and I was all for Brook being tardy one time since it’d been my fault.
“Nice of you to show up, Brook,” James greeted him through gritted teeth. After our lunch yesterday and Brook’s revelations about James’s visitors, I was seeing my uncle in a new light. I didn’t much care for the unfiltered view of him. “Dane, do you have a moment?”
I swallowed hard, feeling as if I was being called into the principal’s office. I’d promised Brook I’d find a way to keep the inn safe, to turn it into a place for us to call our own, but I couldn’t imagine James backing down any easier than I would. If Brook was right, heneededa cash injection, quick. And fuck him very much, because I couldn’t help but think how much worse this would have been had Dad already been out of prison and down here. Would he have gotten Dad messed up in his shit, which would have led to him being locked up again? Well, again, fuck him very much, because I wasn’t going to let anyone steal any more time I had with my father.
“Yeah, I’ll be right there. Going to grab some breakfast first,” I told him as I detoured to the breakfast room.
“That food is for the guests,” he scolded me.
“And until the paperwork is finalized, I’m here as a guest,” I countered, feeling mighty smug. Speaking of which, I needed to find an attorney of my own—like, yesterday—so James couldn’t fuck me any more than he already was. “Besides, Brook’s going to be throwing everything out in twenty minutes. Might as well throw some of it into my stomach.”
“Just hurry,” James said in a huff before disappearing into his office.
Brook followed me into the breakfast room. As soon as he confirmed the room was empty, he pulled me into a corner hidden from the view of anyone in the lobby.
“Try to not piss him off today,” he warned me.
I pressed Brook against the wall, loving the way his hips instinctively arched toward me. I widened my stance, bringing us closer in height before leaning in to kiss him. Brook whimpered against my lips, opening them with a sigh as my tongue traced the seam. We shouldn’t be doing this here. One kiss with him was never enough, but as I’d pointed out to James, breakfast was served for another twenty minutes, meaning anyone could walk in on us. I pulled away, smiling when Brook groaned. Unlike the casual fucks of my past, there was never any guessing what Brook was thinking.
“If he didn’t want me to challenge him, maybe he shouldn’t have gotten himself into a position that could fuck all of us,” I pointed out. “But I promise, I’ll go in there and be a mature adult. Whether or not he can see my point of view is out of my control. But I made you a promise and I intend to keep it. Not right away, but soon, I’m looking forward to both of us calling the manager’s suite home.”
It was yet another huge promise I couldn’t bring myself to regret making. When it came to Brook, I was coming to realize I would happily promise him the moon and stars if that’s what he wanted. He’d allowed me back in this morning, given me the opportunity to explain myself, and he’d forgiven me. That earned him whatever he wanted, and while I wouldn’t tell him, I already knew what I was going to do to prove to him that Bird Island Inn was as much his as it was mine, no matter whose name was on the deed. I mentally added another call to the to-do list for the day before turning my attention back to my boyfriend, who seemed on the verge of a breakdown.
I smoothed my hand down his face and rubbed my thumb back and forth across his cheek. “Like I said, I don’t mean today, but I want you to know where I see us heading. You’re not a summer romance for me. You’re the real deal. And I fucked up last night because what I should have said was that I love you.”
“You do?” His eyes widened as he stared at me.
Was it really so hard to believe I was capable of falling in love with him? Okay, so maybe it was, given the fact I’d denied what I felt for him when I was on the phone with Jen, but that was different. Not wanting to admit it to her and not acknowledging between us what Brook meant to me were two very different things.
“Yeah, I do. I wish it hadn’t taken insulting you and pushing you away to realize that, but I’ve warned you repeatedly I’m no good at relationships. Now, I’d better get in there and talk to James, see if we can’t figure out a way for both of us to be happy.”
“Good luck with that.” Voices echoed outside the breakfast room, so I swiped a bagel and a few sausage links before stealing one last kiss and leaving Brook to greet the stragglers. In my experience, hotel staff were easily annoyed by those who came to breakfast in the final minutes, but not Brook. His voice was as light and cheery as it ever was when he dealt with guests. He had a knack for making everyone he encountered feel special; that was an asset you couldn’t put a price tag on.
* * *
I didn’t bother knockingon the closed office door. Even though we barely knew one another, I could immediately tell James was a wreck. He was wearing the same shirt from yesterday, slightly rumpled from sleep. His hair looked like it’d been wrung through his fingers as he worried. I’d stormed in here, prepared to rant to him about how his personal problems shouldn’t have anything to do with the legacy his father tried to leave for him, but now that felt like kicking a man while he was down. Instead I slid into the chair across the desk from him and slid it closer.
James glanced up, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Have you come to a decision?”
“I have,” I confirmed, my tone measured and even. Fighting with him wouldn’t solve whatever problems he’d created for himself.
“And?” he prodded when I didn’t immediately give him my answer.
“I don’t think selling is the right move,” I informed him.
His jaw twitched under the force of his clenched teeth. He swallowed hard, and I could imagine he was fighting to keep from blowing up at me. This was not the answer he’d been expecting.
“From everything Brook has told me, my grandfather wanted this place to be something of his own, his mark on the world. I might not have known him, but I can understand wanting that. It doesn’t feel right to throw that all away. He left this place to us because it was something he could do for his family. He wouldn’t want us to sell it now that he’s gone.”
“Don’t you sit there and tell me what my father would or wouldn’t have wanted,” he spat out. “He wanted a lot of things he never had. In an ideal world, this wouldn’t be an issue, but it is. Do you honestly think this is what I want? My parents were miserable together, and it was only because of the inn that I really got to know the man he could have been if he hadn’t been beaten down by my mother. No matter how much she berated him, he came to life when he walked through those doors. But life isn’t a Hallmark movie. I can’t keep the family business running all on my own. If he’d been smart, he’d have left the whole place to you.”
“But he didn’t and he had to have a reason for making the decision he did.”
