He stood before her—tall, bewildered, uncharacteristically vulnerable. And she felt something inside her respond to it. Not fear, not anxiety. Something else. Unknown. Aching.
And suddenly, she felt suffocated by all the half-truths, the pauses, the strained wording. She took a step forward, bravely closing the distance between them.
“Do you like me, Jasper?” she asked directly, surprised by her own bluntness. Because even for a woman inexperienced in relationships, it was clear: something wasn't right here.“As a woman. I want to know.”
He flinched. Looked at her as if she had just voiced his biggest secret. Or perhaps he didn't believe she had actually said it out loud. She didn't believe it either—neither her words nor the conclusions she had reached. Was this possible? Could it be?
“Will you go out with me?” he asked, countering her question. Then he took a step back, as if aiming to increase the distance. As if her proximity affected him, making it hard to control his thoughts and actions.“This Saturday. I’ll pick you up.”
And he fled, just as unexpectedly as his proposal had sounded. Nina stood stunned on the porch, catching herself smiling as she watched him go. She went back inside, closed the door, and ran to her phone. Her hands were trembling from the intensity of that brief, late-night encounter.
“Too cowardly of you to run away without hearing my answer,” she messaged him and fell onto the bed.
What the hell was going on?
CHAPTER 58
“When I asked you out, this isn’t exactly what I had in mind,” Jasper muttered, tugging a pair of work gloves onto his hands.
Nina stood beside a trash bag, struggling with the tangled handles. Ocean water lapped at her sneakers, the wind played with the hem of her long skirt, and the sun seemed determined to fry them alive before it even reached ten a.m.
“Sorry,” she exhaled at last, finally undoing the knot.“Lynn suddenly suggested joining the volunteer cleanup. I couldn’t say no to her. You understand what that means to me, right?”
He shot her a quick look. Said nothing. Then he bent down, picked up a plastic bottle, tossed it into the bag, and only then answered:
“I do.”
Nina knew he truly did. It just felt important to say it out loud—to make sure he knew how much it meant to her to be near Lynn.
Lynn was somewhere up ahead, in a bright orange volunteer shirt, a bucket in one hand and a trash grabber in the other. Energetic, cheerful, glowing. Nina doubted she realized just how meaningful this invitation was.
“Strange she didn’t mention that you’d be here too,” Nina added more quietly, watching Jasper gather trash from between the rocks.
He straightened, wiped his forehead with the back of his hand.
“That’s very much her style.”
Jasper looked at her. Too openly. Nina was the first to look away.
Every time he looked at her like that, something inside her shifted. Jasper grabbed a couple more bottles and tossed them into the bag.
Nina stole another glance at him. He really was handsome. Especially today. In a simple gray T-shirt, hair slightly messy, gloves on his hands, sun beating down on him. Who would’ve thought manual labor could look this… so damn sexy? And why, for God’s sake, did he pull her in like a magnet?
She lowered her gaze, as if it could silence the thoughts in her head. It didn’t.
He was tense too. She felt it.
Every now and then his glance brushed her—quick, sideways. But she caught it. And then he pretended nothing was happening. They both pretended. Neither of them knew what they were supposed to do anymore.
Nina turned away so he wouldn’t notice how her fingers trembled while she twisted the neck of the trash bag.
“Since that night,” he said suddenly,“I haven’t known how to act. But honestly… I just wanted to be near you, Nina.”
She stayed silent. There was nothing she could say. Everything she felt was too tangled to fit into a sentence—maybe even into a single page.
He stepped closer, stopped in front of her. Nina lifted her head to meet his eyes.
“Let’s make a deal,” he said quietly.“Let’s not overthink anything. No huge expectations, no dissecting the situation. And then… we’ll see where it goes.”
