His gaze softened, but his jaw tensed. “Tell me what you’re scared of,” he said.
“I’m scared that if I go, I’ll lose myself,” she said, quietly. “And I’m scared that if I don’t go, I’ll lose you.”
Roman exhaled, slow, as if he’d been holding his breath.
She gestured vaguely at the harbor, at Destin, at everything. “This place has become a home to me. My family is here. My mom, who really is my closest friend. Tessa, who is so much more than a boss. Uncle Eli and my cousins, Jonah and Atlas. Meredith is here at the moment, and Grandma Maggie. Somehow, they all ended up in Destin?—”
“For the summer,” he interjected.
She made a face. “My mother and Uncle Eli—and I assume Aunt Crista—aren’t giving up that house. It’s our new family home and…and…” She huffed out a breath. “I’m not ready to leave them all.”
Roman’s gaze stayed steady on her face.
“So I guess we need to talk about long-distance,” she added. “And how that might work for us.”
He gave her a look that said he didn’t think it could work, but didn’t say anything.
“You see what I mean, don’t you?” she continued. “I don’t want to resent you because I followed you to Jacksonville and gave up my job and family. And I don’t want to miss out on the greatest guy because I was scared.”
Roman lifted his free hand and brushed the hair off her cheek, his fingertips grazing her skin.
“I’m sorry this is such a struggle, Lace.”
“Well, it is,” she confessed, and there it was—the core truth she’d been skirting. “I feel like I’m two versions of myselffighting in my head. One version wants to be brave and say yes to everything and be like Tessa, a world beater who doesn’t need a man. Or like Meredith, superstar workaholic. The other version wants to run back to your arms and hide in your incredible shadow forever.”
Roman’s eyes flicked down to her mouth and back up, as if he wanted to kiss her and anchor her there, but he didn’t. He stayed with her words.
“You aren’t going to hide in anyone’s shadow, Lacey Knight. You aren’t Tessa or your mom or your cousin or any other role model. You’re you. Beautiful, smart, funny, inquisitive, and perfect.”
She let out a sigh. “Eh, you had me at beautiful,” she joked, then looked up at him. “Can we talk about how long-distance could work? I could come for game weekends and when you travel, I?—”
He put a finger on her lips, quieting her. Then he glanced past her toward the open water where the sun was sinking fast, the sky turning flushed and bruised. Then he looked back at her, and something in his face shifted—resolve settling in, unmistakable.
“Actually,” he said, and his voice had a new steadiness, “the sun is almost where it should be.”
She drew back, a frown forming. “For what?”
“Come to the back of the boat. I want to move us to another spot.”
Before she could ask why, he guided her to the helm. She sat on the back cushions as the engine changed pitch. The boat angled into a wider arc, leaving the busier channel behind and sliding into a calmer stretch of water where the surface smoothed and reflected the sky like glass.
“Where are we going?” she asked, trying to keep her tone light.
“The perfect spot.” He steered the boat with practiced ease, then lowered the throttle until theGood Time Girlslowed to a gentle drift. He cut the engine to full silence.
“Look,” he said, pointing behind her. “Dolphins.”
She turned and squinted into the sun-dappled water but must have missed the millisecond that they jumped. She waited for one to rise in an arc but didn’t see anything.
After a beat, she turned, surprised to find him in front of her, holding out a hand to bring her to her feet. Then he took both of her hands and looked right into her eyes, not at dolphins.
Wait, had he just made her turn away for some reason?
“I wanted to be right here,” he said, “when the sun hits the water.”
She wanted to look to the west and see that, but she couldn’t take her gaze off his face. No sunset could be as enticing to her eyes.
“Look, Lace, I know we haven’t had much time, but sometimes time isn’t the measure. Sometimes clarity is.”
