“Good boring,” she whispered. “The best kind of boring.”
“So that’s a yes to tomorrow night?”
“That’s a yes. But not a greasy spoon. I know a place. We’ll go there and do whatever normal people do when they’re trying to figure out if they fit together.”
Nick’s smile was worth every ounce of fear churning in her stomach. “Fair warning, I’m probably going to be terrible at normal.”
“Yeah, well, I’m probably going to panic and try to push you away approximately seventeen times.”
“I’ll keep count.” His hand slid from her face to caress her hair. “Gina?”
“Hmm?”
“Can I kiss you? Properly this time. No storm interruptions, no life-or-death situations. Just us.”
Her breath caught. This was it. The moment where she either chose safety or chose him. Where she either let fear win orfinallylet herself want something more than just survival.
Her pulse fluttered in her throat, wild and uncertain, but beneath it was something quieter—an ache that had waited years to be met halfway.
“Yes,” she said.
Nick closed the distance slowly, giving her time to change her mind, to pull away. But Gina didn’t pull away. She rose on her toes and met him halfway. And when their lips finally touched, it was nothing like the desperate kiss in the SUV.
This was a promise. A beginning. A choice made with open eyes and full knowledge of all the ways it could go wrong.
His mouth was gentle at first, testing, asking. But when she made a small sound and pressed closer, the kiss deepened into something that made her knees weak and her heart race and every careful wall she’d built around herself feel suddenly, beautifully unnecessary.
When they finally broke apart, both breathing hard, Nick rested his forehead against hers.
“Still think this is just adrenaline?” he asked.
“No,” Gina admitted. “I think we’re in serious trouble.”
“Good trouble or bad trouble?”
“I’ll let you know after that boring date.”
He laughed, the sound rumbling through his chest where she was pressed against him. “I should let you get inside. You need sleep.”
“I do.” But she didn’t move away. “Nick?”
“Yeah?”
“Thank you for not giving up on me. When I said I didn’t know you, when I pushed you away, you could have walked away. Most people would have.”
“I’m not most people.” He pressed a kiss to her forehead. “And you’re worth fighting for.”
She watched him walk back to his SUV, watched him pause at the driver’s door to look back at her. When he smiled, she felt something settle inside her that had been restless her entire adult life.
Maybe this was what it felt like to stop running from connection.
Around them, Irma continued its quiet Sunday afternoon. Neighbors working in yards. Cars passing on their way to somewhere. The ordinary rhythms of small-town life.
But for Gina, everything had changed. Tomorrow, she’d deal with police interviews and media attention and all the complicated aftermath of what had happened at Bearwater. Tomorrow, she’d probably panic and try to push Nick away at least once.
But right now, standing on her porch with the taste of his kiss still on her lips, she let herself believe that she could trust again. Could need someone without losing herself. Could build something real with a man who lived out of his SUV and had no fixed plans beyond staying.
She went inside, closed the door, and let herself smile.
