Her cheeks flush a deep pink before she rests her head on my chest, and we sway in comfortable silence for a few beats. Her fingers keep tracing patterns along my neck. My hand stays on her back, anchoring her to me.
God, she wrecks me in ways I never expected.
One minute she’s making me laugh with her chaos, and the next she’s looking at me like I hold the entire world in the palm of my hand. Like I’m someone worth staying for.
I’ve spent years building walls, routines, and careful distance—protecting the empire I built from nothing. But Sienna crashes through it all with nothing but a smile and a sarcastic remark. She makes me feel alive in a way I haven’t in years.
I don’t know what happens when we leave this island. I don’t know if she’ll run when real life creeps back in, when thevacation haze fades, and the complications of two very different New York lives press down on us. But right now, with her in my arms, I know one thing for certain: I don’t want to return to the version of me that existed before she entered my life.
That version didn’t laugh like this. He didn’t stay up all night talking about dreams and fears. He didn’t feel this bone-deep pull every time a woman looked at him. And he certainly never slow-danced wearing a brightly colored Hawaiian shirt and neon-orange Crocs.
Because of her, I’ve laughed more in the past week than I probably have in the past two years combined. She makes everything feel brighter, bigger, and worth risking.
For the first time in my life, I’m not sure I want to play it safe anymore.
“I gotta be honest,” I break the silence. “This is my first time slow dancing.”
She pulls back just enough to look up at me, surprised. “We danced on our first night here…”
“But that wasn’t slow dancing. Not like this.”
She blinks. “So you’re telling me the great Milo Reyes has never slow-danced in his entire life?”
I nod. “Never had a reason before. Never wanted to hold someone like this.”
Her expression softens into something tender and unguarded. “And now?”
“Now I have you,” I brush my lips against her temple. “And I’m glad my first time is with you.”
I feel her smile against my chest. “Me too.”
We keep moving in small sways that barely qualify as dancing but feel like everything. Every touch from her suddenly feels amplified. I just know this woman is going to ruin me.
She’s sunshine and storm clouds all at once, and I want to stand under both until she consumes me whole.
I think I’m falling, and for the first time in my life, I’m not sure I want to stop.
She must feel the shift in me because she tilts her head back again, eyes searching mine. “What are you thinking? You’ve got an intense stare going on.”
I swallow hard. “I’m thinking about how soft your skin feels and how much I want to take you back to the villa right now to spend the night reminding you that fourteen days with you still isn’t enough…”
Her pupils dilate, and her breath hitches. “Milo?—”
“But we’re finishing this dance first,” I cut her off, my thumb still stroking her back. “Because I like holding you like this. I like feeling your breath against me. I like knowing everyone in this room can see you’re with me.”
“Are you forgetting that you got down on one knee earlier and proposed to me in front of most of these people?” She quirks a brow.
“Didn’t forget.” I shrug nonchalantly.
How could any man forget proposing to a woman as beautiful as Sienna Harlow?
Sienna laughs and rests her head back against my chest, right over my thundering heart. It’s silent for a moment before she speaks again.
“What’s the one memory you return to when everything feels too heavy?” she asks softly, her voice barely carrying over the music.
I take a moment, letting the question settle.
“When I was twenty-six and quit my corporate job to build Reyes Tech,” I answer, my voice low between us. “I put every last dollar of my savings into it. I lived on ramen in a tiny studio that smelled of stale coffee and damp. I was constantly stressed, barely sleeping, convinced I was going to fail spectacularly. Butit reminds me how far I’ve come. That even the scariest leaps can lead somewhere worth landing.”
