We swap more stories. She finishes her cocoa sip by sip. We linger and then she yawns, which sets me yawning.
“We should get some sleep,” I tell her.
“What are you doing when we get off work?” she asks.
And I wish I had the day free when I catch a glimpse of the longing look in her eyes.
“I’m actually helping Cody out at the ranch. We planned it a while ago—before I wanted to save every minute off duty for you.”
“Every minute?”
“Every minute you’re free.”
She pauses. “Grey?”
“Yeah?” I lift her hand and kiss her knuckles. In a fewhours, men from both crews will be gathered at this same table. But right now, it’s our oasis.
“When will our bubble pop?” her eyes soften.
“Our bubble?”
“This magical space that envelops us—it seems like it always has.”
“Never,” I say, being fully convinced I’m right.
“It has to pop.”
“Why?”
“Because this?” She gestures between us. “And that look?” She points to my eyes. “It doesn’t last.”
“What if it does?” I ask her, earnestly. “What if the way I feel about you only grows stronger the more I get to know you? What if every time you do something, like blink at Mo or gasp at a waterfall, or laugh at something dumb Dustin says or does, I fall a little harder? What if that’s true? What if the bubble just expands?”
“When bubbles expand, they pop.” Her lips thin.
“Now who’s the grump?” I ask her.
But I lift both her hands in mine and stare into her eyes. “Hallie. If we go through conflict or seasons of distance … or times when we disappoint one another, we’ll just hang on.”
Her brows draw in.
“Because that’s what you do when someone matters,” I assure her. “You hang on.”
I give her hands a gentle squeeze.
“I like this part—the bubble,” she says, sounding more like Mia than herself.
“I like it too. A lot. And I’m not kidding. What we have is special. I don’t see it popping. I don’t know what it will do, but popping isn’t part of what I see. And I’m a doomsayer if there ever was one.”
“You are!” she shouts, laughing. “Grumpy Greyson.”
“Guilty as charged.”
“But you smile … lately.”
“You make me smile.”
“No pressure,” she says offhandedly.
