“Oh, Trent…”
He lowered his lips to hers with a tender kiss, one she returned just as sweetly, before asking, “When do you think we should tell our families that we’re trying to make things work again?”
“Actually, I’m going to have breakfast with my parents tomorrow morning, because I don’t want them to hear about us from someone else before they hear it from me. If everything does end up working out between us, I’ll want you to come with me. But for now I think I should talk to them myself first.”
He tried not to clench up at the way she’d said, If everything does end up working out between us. She’d been nothing but honest about needing to build a new foundation beneath them, step by step, one piece at a time. And she was right...even if all he wanted was to get down on one knee right this very second and ask her to be his again forever.
Still, he wanted her to know, “If you end up deciding you’d like me to be there, my day is pretty open. Just call or text, and I’ll swing by to say hello to them.”
“You have no plans? No resort business to make yourself crazy over? No legal work to bury yourself in?” Disbelief was evident in her tone. “Even I’ve got tons to take care of between the mural and my gallery.”
“Tomorrow’s Sunday, and since I’ve been back on the island, I usually meet up with whatever family members are free to have lunch. I’ve also been going over to Shelley’s café to help out with getting it ready for her grand opening in two weeks. I’d like to tell my family we’re dating again, if it’s okay with you.”
Thankfully, she didn’t pause before saying, “Of course it’s okay with me. And if you need me,” she added with a smile, “just let me know.”
“I always need you, Reese,” he told her as he curled his body around hers the way he always used to. “Always.”
Chapter Nineteen
REESE FELT TRENT’S arms tighten around her waist the following morning and smiled. It felt so right to share a bed with Trent again, and their talk last night had done wonders for her nerves. She even felt a little guilty having so much on her plate today when Trent’s day was wide open. Wasn’t that a shocking change?
She rolled over in his arms, and he kissed her forehead. “Good morning, beautiful. Are you freaking out, or are we okay this morning?”
His hair was tousled from going to bed with it wet from their shower, and he had a light peppering of scruff along his jaw, but it wasn’t just his looks that continually tugged at her heart. It was all of him, and the fact that the first thing he wondered about was her state of mind made her even happier.
“I’m so happy you stayed.” But she also knew she needed to be completely honest and admit, “And I’m also freaking out a little.”
“Only a little?”
She gave him a small smile. “Okay, I might be freaking out a lot, actually. But I’m starting to realize that doesn’t mean I have to run from what I’m feeling. It just means there’s a lot on the line with us...and I don’t want anything to go wrong.”
“It won’t, Reese. Because we are going to build that great foundation that we need this time.”
He sounded so confident, but after their talk last night, she now knew that freaking out didn’t necessarily just go one way. She hadn’t been the only one scared in New York City; Trent had been scared, too. Not only had she never told him how terrified she was, but she had never thought to ask him if he felt the same way.
“What about you?” she asked him now. “Any second thoughts?”
“Only that I love waking up with you...and that I love you even more this morning than I did last night.” He slipped his warm hands onto her waist beneath the hem of her T-shirt. “What time are you meeting your parents?”
“I don’t need to leave until eight, so we have a little time.” She eased her body over his. “Maybe if we make love now we won’t tear each other’s clothes off in some inappropriate place later.”
“Inappropriate? Your studio is hardly inappropriate.”
“The car?” she reminded him, then silenced him with a kiss as she straddled his hips.
She could still hardly believe that Trent was here with her. Not just in her bed, but back in her life again. Every moment with him was so exciting, and at the same time, there was a lazy sensuality to every kiss, every caress, every whisper of need as they loved each other with the morning sun washing over them.
She gasped with pleasure as he sat up, then wrapped her legs around his waist to bring them even closer together. She buried her face in the crook of his neck and he groaned out her name as they moved together. Two lovers rediscovering the joys of waking up in each other’s arms and greeting the day with the sweetest pleasure imaginable.