Page 17 of Forbidden Forget-Me-Not

“And I don’t plan to.”

“Jesus…” My heart hammered out of control. I nodded once. “I’ll clear it with Nathaniel. He’ll be fine with it.”

Kaylani smiled widely, the happiness blinding but filling me with the same feeling. God, I fucking loved her. I was obsessed with her. Craved everything about her. She kissed me one last time, quick and sweet, then stepped back.

“I should go,” she said. “Before someone notices that I’m no longer in the powder room.” She held my hand a moment longer, touching my ring. “I love you.”

“I love you,” I said, watching her slip away, posture perfect, smile in place, the princess returning to her throne.

I stayed where I was, breathing through the ache in my chest, trying to get myself under control before I set foot in the house.

This was what loving her looked like. Hidden moments. Stolen breaths. Promises whispered in the dark. I had crossed the line three months ago, and now I never wanted to go back, even if this was all we could ever have. I knew with a clarity that terrified me that no matter how dangerous this became, I would never stop choosing her.

Chapter

Six

KAYLANI

“Come on, please join us,” I begged Ren.

She was stretched out on a sun lounger beneath the shade of a palm tree. Blake sat beside her like a loyal shadow. She didn’t even open her eyes when she shook her head.

“The sun and I are not friends. I’ll burn to a crisp in ten seconds. And besides, I don’t know how to swim.”

My jaw dropped. “Wait. Let me get this straight. You’re dating what is basically an entire swim team, but you don’t know how to swim?”

Blake laughed before she could answer.

“Trust me, the irony is not lost on me,” Ren said, sighing. “But yes, water has always kind of scared me. I’ll take lessons one day.”

Fiona tugged on my arm. “Let them be. We’ll have some fun in the waves, and then head ta the mall.”

“Why are you always the reasonable one?”

Everyone chuckled.

“Fine, but don’t even think about weaseling out of shopping and dinner. I need all the Ren time I can get.”

“I promise. Shopping and dinner,” Ren said, smiling.

I wished—fiercely—that we’d grown up together and that this crazy world hadn’t separated us. My entire senior year at Wayward, I’d watched her, knowing exactly who she was. Despite being ordered not to, I’d finally given in and spoken to her. She was my family. Thank God, she knew the truth about who we are.

Fiona dragged me away, and we jogged across the golden sand. Ever since I was little, I’d loved the way it shifted between my toes, like the beach itself was tickling me.

I paused to glance at Goran. He stood watch near the edge of the beach, dressed in a dark suit that should’ve been illegal in this heat. Sunglasses hid his eyes, but I felt his stare like a caress all the same.

I will pull this off. We will make this work.

If I were a man, I would have been applauded for taking charge and claiming what I wanted. But as a woman, my father saw me as a prized broodmare, something to be sold to the highest bidder.

Fiona and I ran hand in hand into the water, joining a few other swimmers floating lazily in the surf. We stayed close to the shore, letting the waves lift and carry us as we swam.

“I wanna learn to do that,” Fiona announced, pointing at a surfer farther down the beach.

“Really?”

“Aye. Don’t you?” Her face lit up as the surfer caught a wave and rose smoothly to his feet.