She faced him fully, something like hurt and anger washing over her face. “Why the hell did you come here, then? Why were you pushing for us to work if you can’t live here?” Then her eyes went wide. “You assumed I’d leave my Podunk small-town life and just follow you.”
The realization sounded blunt when she said it like that. But yes, that was what he’d thought.
“I’m offering you the best of both worlds. You can visit Yachats. Have your bar.”
“You can visit New York, have your company.”
He shook his head. “It’s not that simple.”
“No shit, Grant!” she snapped.
He took a step back. “We won’t work . . . will we?” he asked.
“I can’t move to New York,” she answered.
That was the answer he was afraid of. He couldn’t have both. Couldn’t save his father’s company and his legacy and have Hannah. The empty space in his chest where Hannah had put warmth started to pulse cold. He was four feet away from her, and already, he felt the thousands of miles closing in.
“Understood,” he said.
He looked at her. Watched her perfect face contort with confusion, pain, and if he looked hard enough, he could see love there.
Too bad he knew better than to think he’d seen that.
He turned and walked out of the bar, the smallest sound of Hannah calling his name echoing in his ears as he let the door shut behind him.
It was the last day of the cruise. The sunrise as the boat docked in Cozumel was the second-best sight Grant had ever seen. The first was the woman he’d fallen in love with on this boat over the past two weeks.
Hannah slept with her head on his chest, her black hair splayed out over him. He ran his fingers through it as he looked out the deck window from the bed in his stateroom.
Sunrise.
A new day.
The last day.
He had twenty-four hours left with this woman. Come this time tomorrow, they’d be docking in the States and going back to reality. Their separate ways. A fact Grant couldn’t bear to think about.
She stretched and smiled, and he kissed the top of her head.
“What are we going to do today?” she asked in a sleepy voice. And Grant knew the only thing he wanted to do was to make her his. Forever.
“Something special,” he promised.
The little van that Grant had rented bumped along the dirt road all around Cozumel. After getting out of the city and dock area, Grant had arranged for a tour guide to take them around the water’s edge.
The driver said something to Grant in Spanish and pulled over to the side of the road. Hannah looked out and saw the lovely, lush green jungle on one side of the road and the bright blue ocean on the other side.
Grant got out of the van and helped her down.
“Where are we going?” she asked.
“Exploring,” he said and took her hand and guided her toward the water.
The road and cliff gave way to finely grained sand as they walked toward the Caribbean Sea. Grant clutched her hand tighter as they dipped their toes in.
“This is the most incredible sight I’ve ever seen,” she breathed. The clear blue water was endless. A kind of color she only saw in magazines. And she was standing there, in the middle of the sunshine, and felt grateful. Grateful to have Grant to share this with.
She closed her eyes and could smell his spicy scent drift over the sea air. Feel his warm hand in hers. Allow the waves to tickle her toes.