"Thank you," he said. "For today. For the footage. For..." He gestured vaguely. "All of it."
That's not what I wanted you to say.
"Anytime, Dr. Carmichael." She kept her voice light. "That's what collaborators are for."
Something flickered across his face—disappointment, maybe—but it was gone before she could be sure.
They went to bed on opposite sides of the mattress.
It felt wrong. After a week of falling asleep tangled together, the six inches between them might as well have been a canyon.
Lily lay rigid, staring at the ceiling, listening to Alex's breathing and trying to figure out if he was actually asleep or just pretending.
This is stupid, she thought.We're both being stupid.
But she didn't reach for him. And he didn't reachfor her.
Eventually, his breathing evened out into the slow rhythm of genuine sleep. Only then did she feel his arm slide across her waist, pulling her back against his chest—an unconscious movement, his body seeking hers even when his conscious mind had built walls between them.
She let herself be held, tears prickling at the corners of her eyes.
I think I love him.
The thought surfaced unbidden, and she couldn't push it back down. It sat there in her chest, heavy and terrifying and completely, utterly inconvenient.
She loved him. She loved his grumpy morning silences and his passionate rambles about coral reefs. She loved the way he made her coffee without asking and the rare, real smiles she had to earn. She loved the man who'd dragged her out of a riptide and held her like she mattered.
And she had no idea if he felt the same.
Hawaii, her brain reminded her.He has a job offer in Hawaii. A plan. A future.
One he'd been considering before she ever crashed into his life. One he'd probably still be considering long after she was gone.
His arm tightened around her in sleep, his nose nuzzling into her hair.
This, she thought.This is what I want. This feeling. This person. This life I never knew I needed.
But wanting something didn't mean you got to keep it. Lily knew that better than most.
What if you tell him how you feel and he doesn't say it back?
The thought made her throat tight. She'd spent her whole life performing—being what people wanted, saying what they needed to hear. The idea of putting her heart out there with no guarantee of reciprocation was terrifying.
But the alternative—leaving without ever knowing—might be worse.
Tomorrow, she decided.Tomorrow I'll find a way to ask. To know for sure.
It wasn't a great plan.
But it was all she had.
Chapter Ten
Alex woke before dawn, which wasn't unusual.
What was unusual was the woman curled against his chest, one hand splayed over his heart like she was checking that it still beat. Her wild curls tickled his chin, and her breathing was deep and even, completely untroubled by the thoughts that had kept him awake half the night.
In the gray pre-dawn light, he studied her face—the spray of freckles across her nose, the slight furrow between her brows even in sleep, the curve of her lips that seemed perpetually ready to smile. She looked younger like this. Softer. Less like the polished influencer and more like the complicated womanunderneath.
