‘It’ll be OK.’
‘I just, I don’t want to be hurt again,’ she said in a small voice. ‘Now that I know how wonderful it can be, I’m scared that if you decide this isn’t what you want, thatI’mnot who you want, I’ll never know this feeling again.’
‘You definitely don’t have to worry about that. I knew the moment I saw you on the dock that you had come into my life for a reason. I don’t know how I knew, I just did. Even after you punched me in the face, I knew I had to get to know you.’
She smiled ruefully. ‘We’re bordering on corny, aren’t we.’
‘Maybe.’ I shrugged. ‘But I don’t care. Do you?’
‘No.’ She sounded surprised. ‘I really don’t.’
‘Good. This is no one’s business but ours, so it doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks.’
‘By everyone, do you mean your family?’
I pulled a face. ‘My family will be fine. Most of them, anyway.’
‘Not your mother.’
‘Probably not. But hey…’ I kissed her. ‘Once she gets to know you like I do, she’ll come around.’
She yawned. ‘I admire your optimism. I worry it’s unfounded, but I admire it.’
I chuckled. ‘One can live in hope.’
She snuggled in as close as humanly possible and sighed contentedly, then within minutes was sound asleep. I listened to the steady sound of her breathing, feeling as if my heart might burst. Mae was everything I didn’t know I wanted in a woman. Adventurous, funny, brave. Not to mention seriously beautiful and incredible in bed. It was almost too perfect to be true, and that thought kept me awake for a while longer, but eventually I drifted off to sleep too.
When I woke up, the storm had cleared completely. The walls of the tent were painted with an orange glow. I gently extricated myself from Mae’s embrace, stretching, feeling momentary surprise at new aches in my body, then remembered why andsmiled. She murmured something in her sleep and rolled over. Careful so as not to wake her, I leaned forward and unzipped the tent a fraction. The sun was just starting to peek over the horizon. The sky was clear, the ground washed clean, the sea awash with sea smoke.
I heard Mae stir. ‘Jonah?’
‘Hey, sleepyhead.’
She shivered, pulling the blanket up tight around her chin. ‘You let the cold in.’
‘Sorry. I just wanted to see the sunrise.’
She sat up. ‘It’s happening now? What time is it?’
I checked my watch. ‘Just after seven.’
‘I want to see.’ She sat up, reaching for her crumpled sweater and pulling it on.
I unzipped the flap the rest of the way, tying it back to one side so that we had an unobstructed view over the ocean. She stared at it in wonder, while I stared at her, feeling pride when her mouth formed a little O shape and she exhaled softly.
‘It’s so beautiful,’ she said. ‘The sea is all foggy and mystical.’
‘That fog dancing above the surface of the water is called sea smoke,’ I told her. ‘A phenomenon caused by cold air flowing over the warmer sea water. It disappears quickly, but it’s beautiful while it lasts.’
The sun rose as we watched, bathing the ocean in delicate shades of apricot and pink.
I scooted in next to her and wrapped my arm and blanket around her shoulders. ‘Does this make up for missing the sunset?’
‘Definitely.’
She made a small, kind of snuffling noise, like a hedgehog, and a hand darted out of the blanket to quickly wipe her cheek before darting back in. I felt my body freeze.
‘Are you crying?’
