I push my way through the front door. Above me a bell tinkles, causing Eli to gaze up from the register. A deep frown takes over his face at the sight of me, his fingers frozen over a laptop, mid-keystroke. Neither of us speaks. Eventually, hesighs, takes off his trucker hat, and scratches the back of his head.
Suddenly, I’ve lost all my words. Why does it feel like I have absolutely everything to lose right now?
“Luisa…” He trails off, fitting the hat back on his head. “If you’re here about the charges, Augusto took care of it,” he says, matter-of-fact. “And I already told you, I don’t want your money.” He folds his arms over his chest protectively, shielding himself from me.
The realization sends a stab of pain through my heart. Holly is right, I need to be honest. But where to begin? Should I tell him that all I think about is meeting his gray eyes the second I wake up in the morning, kissing those soft lips just because I can, running my fingertips through his messy hair, smelling the scent of soap and laundry on his skin, telling him every insignificant detail of my day, and then climbing into his bed at the start of every night, staying there forever?
I stare down at my feet, unsure of where to start.
“That’s not why I came,” I say after a long pause. He raises a questioning eyebrow in response, so I step closer to the counter, across from him. “I made a huge mistake, Eli.” He opens his mouth, but I put up a hand to stop him. “Please, before you say anything, hear me out. I know I probably don’t deserve it, considering how I acted, but if I don’t say what I came here to say, I also know I’m going to regret it for the rest of my life.”
His expression softens at this. His shoulders drop slightly as he gestures for me to continue. I take a deep breath, fill my lungs with resolve, and launch in.
“If I’m being honest, I can be pushy, maybe a little difficult, and—”
“A total pain in the ass,” he cuts in pointedly, but there’s no real bite to his words.
“But if I’m also being honest,” I press on, ignoring his jab, “I care about you. And I love how much you care about Pearl. I want to be a part of her life, too.” He listens, some of the apprehension draining from his face. “Eli, I don’t let many people in,” I acknowledge, pushing past the thick knot of emotion in theback of my throat. “Letting people get too close gives me all sorts of anxiety.”
“You’re not the only one,” he says quietly.
“I know,” I respond. “But as Holly rightly pointed out, you have more emotional intelligence than me.” I shrug, self-aware. “I’m a work in progress.” I offer a half smile, hoping to disarm him, but his expression remains impassive. “Anyway…” I continue, undeterred, “what I came here to say is…” I swallow hard, my blood pumping so hard that I can barely hear myself. I’m about to put everything I have left—my heart, my trust, and my future—in Eli’s hands. Carola’s words echo in my mind,Love is an act of faith, Luisa.And so I close my eyes and leap. “What I came here to say is that you and Pearl are already inside my heart.” I bring my open palm over my chest, meeting his gaze as fresh tears run down the sides of my face. I don’t wipe them away. “And more than anything”—I swallow hard—“I’m scared of losing you.”
He exhales, staring down to the floor. It hurts to look at him. So I close my eyes and just stand there, reminding myself to breathe. I said what I came here to say, now it’s time to leave.
I don’t hear him step off the chair or walk around the desk. Instead, I feel his arms reach around me, his fingers digging up my neck into my hairline, cradling my head against his chest.
“Come ’ere,” he whispers, pressing a kiss to the top of my head.
I breathe him in, melting into his body without reserve. His heart is beating just as hard as mine.
“I’m not going anywhere, Luisa.”
I let out a long, easy breath. This time, I believe him.
The bell dings behind us, and we turn to find Holly peering in.
“Y’all decent?” she bursts in impishly. I shake my head, too happy to be annoyed. “Can we go to Ginny’s now and day drink?” She pulls out those ridiculous keys. “I would like to celebrate my kinda-sorta promotion.”
“You a janitor now?” Eli observes wryly.
“She’s the interim general manager,” I fill him in. “But there’s still the matter of King Griggs, ruling the world.”
“But for now, I’ve got the keys to the castle,” she bellows, rattling the keys. She probably thinks this is funny. “I can open every door at the club.” Her eyes go wide, as if she’s just been struck with an idea. “Maybe we can find a secret closet to lock Griggs in?”
“Pretty sure that constitutes kidnapping,” I offer, holding on to Eli with one arm. I may never let go of this man.
“Wait,” Eli breaks in, snapping his fingers. “Does Griggs keep an office at the club?”
“No,” Holly says. “Why?”
“That night that I went to his place, to pregame before the costume party,” Eli explains, “we had drinks in his home office.” He rubs thoughtfully at the stubble over his jaw. “I made a joke, something like, ‘Oh, is this the place where you keep all the classified information,’ and Griggs laughed.” Eli looks from me to Holly, then back again. “He said Anna-Byrd was too nosy, so he kept everything locked safely away at the club.”
“Sonofabitch,” Holly booms, so loud that Eli and I jump. “It’s the second locker.” She takes in our puzzled expressions. “He leased a second locker last year,” she explains. “I had to fill out one of those carbon copy forms with him. In triplicate!”
“You have to press really hard,” Eli sympathizes.
“Exactly,” Holly says, as if he’s just vindicated years of pointless paper bureaucracy.
