Page 87
“It certainly is my favorite,” he teased. “But I like everything about you, Jess. Every single bit.”
Jess threaded her fingers around his neck, rubbing her thumbs along his jawline. They lingered in each other’s arms as the storm relented, the rain softening against the porch steps, the gray clouds drifting apart.
“Promise me something?” he whispered.
“Okay.”
“Don’t say it back unless you mean it. I’m not expecting a response. I needed to tell you how I feel, why this means so much to me.”
She nodded, then pulled him into her bedroom.
He released his grip on her hand, then with careful fingers, peeled the wet shirt off her body. She did the same for him, wet layers discarded to the floor until it was only cold skin and warm sheets. The way he held her felt different than New York. Like having her in his arms was the missing piece of a puzzle finally fitting into place. He murmured confessions in her ear as he touched her with gentle, unhurried hands, his soft words of devotion playing through her head long after they finished. Kevin cradled her in his arms, his lips at her temple, her back pressed against his chest.
She felt like love was a word that had lost all meaning, a phrase used to reassure the other that they were still committed, that they weren’t planning on going anywhere.
Yet here, in Kevin’s arms, she felt a spark of something she hadn’t felt in a long, long time…and wondered whether she ever knew what it meant to truly be in love, and be loved in return.
Chapter Nineteen
Her phone chirped on her nightstand at 5:30 the next morning, like it did every work day. Jess seized it and switched off the alarm, then silently began to slither her way out of Kevin’s grasp.
He tightened his hold around her waist, pressing her back to him. “You really thought you could get away that easily?”
She huffed out a laugh. “As Zach says, I have to keep making that bread.”
“Do you mean that literally or financially?”
“Um…both?”
He laughed, his breath warm against her neck. He kissed her shoulder. “Five more minutes?”
She groaned. “Then five minutes turns into ten and then I’m late and rushing to walk Honey before heading to the shop—”
“I’ll walk Honey with you.”
She pried his hand from her stomach and shot out of bed before he could grab her again. She slipped on a sweatshirt. “It’s okay, you sleep, I’m used to the early mornings—”
Kevin flipped the sheet over and moved to sit at the end of the bed, wrapping his hands around the backs of Jess’s knees and pulling her body flush with his. “Jess, you’re doing it again.”
Her shoulders melted at how quickly he realized her tendency to push him away, even before she realized she was doing it herself. She ran a hand through his tousled hair, his morning bed head making her heart twist in her chest. “Walk with me then.”
He smiled up at her, teeth and all, and it made her want to crawl back beneath the sheets and stay there with him the rest of the day. She watched as he stood up, slipping on his sweatshirt and shorts he’d laid out on her armchair in hopes of drying them out, then grasped her hand and followed her out of the house. Honey tugged on the leash, pulling them closer and closer to the beach.
“Seems she didn’t get enough yesterday,” Jess teased, following the puppy onto the sand. “Usually we walk a lap around the block.”
“Maybe she’s feeling brave to try new things, too,” he rumbled.
She peered up at him, watching his eyes roam her face. His skin glowed from the early morning sunlight that broke across the horizon, the rising sun waking up the bay around them.
Honey pulled on the leash again, aiming for the water, causing Jess to practically topple over into the sand. Kevin laughed as he caught and steadied her, then took hold of the leash. “I think she’ll be okay if we let her run free for a few minutes.”
Her eyes widened. “I don’t want to lose her again.”
“I won’t let that happen, I promise” he reassured her. He unclipped Honey’s leash and let the pup run for the edge of the shore. The two of them chuckled as she pressed tentative little paws into the water then yelped from the cold and jumped back.
Fingers brushed her chin as Kevin guided her to look him in the eye. “Do you want to tell me why Charlie was here last night?”
She frowned. “Do I have to?”
