Cape Cod Promises (Love on Rockwell Island 2)

He propped himself up on his elbow so they were facing each other. “Okay.”

“Okay.” She blew out a relieved sigh, but then she frowned.

“What’s wrong?” Was he already screwing this up?

“I was just wondering, do you think we should take a break from sex until we figure everything else out?”

“There’s nothing I want more than for this to work again, for us to be together again, forever this time. But our physical connection has always been an important part of our love. If you want to go without, I will, but...” He ran his hand up her thigh and pressed his hips to hers. “It’ll be torture.”

“Of course I don’t want to do that!” She bit her lip, and he was hard-pressed not to kiss the now-damp flesh. “I just want to be able to think straight.”

He kissed her before saying, “Okay. Think straight.”

She playfully pushed him away and he laughed. “You’re impossible, and I love it, but…” She managed a serious tone. “I want you to know that I’m going to work on telling you how I feel right when I feel it, instead of bottling it up for so long that it eats me up inside.”

“And I want you to know that I’m not going to put work—or anything else—ahead of you.”

“What else do you need from me?” she asked him.

“You’re perfect just the way you are.”

“That’s sweet and romantic, but I want real. We’re good in bed together. We know that. You make my heart and my mind spin like crazy. But we obviously stink at communicating outside the bedroom. I could have supported your career better. I could have attended more of the social functions with you in New York City instead of begging off because of my own discomfort. I could have met you for lunch and taken the scary subway. And I will do that this time. Well, there’s no subway here, but if we return to the city…”

He couldn’t resist kissing her again. She was really giving them another chance, and he felt like he was the luckiest man on the planet.

“I missed you on those evenings. But I wanted you to be happy, and I knew you were never happy at those functions.” He remembered sitting with his colleagues over dinner, each with their wife or significant other, while he was alone. He’d known then things weren’t ideal, but he’d been so wrapped up in getting through each day and proving himself that he’d never slowed down enough to figure out what to do about it. And then it was too late.

“I wish you would have told me then that you missed me, that you needed me there no matter what. If you had, maybe I would have pushed myself harder. I don’t know for sure what might have happened had things been different. All I know is that we’ve got a second chance at a future. And I want us to give it everything we have this time, without letting all of our fears and pride catch us in their grip.”

Trent felt like all of his dreams just might come true after all. At least, if he didn’t completely screw things up again. Which meant he needed to have the courage to actually communicate with her by asking, “Are you sure you want this? Are you sure you want me? I am one hundred percent in this relationship, but if any part of you isn’t, I need you to tell me.”

“See?” She was beaming at him as if he’d just said the most wonderful thing in the world. “We’re already communicating so much better. We’re bridging the gap that we thought our physical love would fill ten years ago.” She pressed her lips to his, then said, “Yes, I want this. Yes, I want you. I have never stopped loving you. I’m just scared that as things come up, I’ll clam up and you won’t notice. Or that I’ll stop supporting your work and you’ll forget that our relationship needs attention.” She reached for his hand and threaded her fingers through his. “It’s hard for me to admit this to you, but I’m scared, Trent. Scared to open myself up to you again and end up even more hurt than before.”

“I know, sweetheart.” He pulled her in close. “I’m scared, too.”

“You’re never scared.”

“That’s not true. I just never used to let anyone know I was scared. But I’ve never been more afraid of anything than I am of losing the only woman I’ve ever loved for a second time. I’m scared that coming back to the island sends the wrong message to my grandfather or that I’ve somehow let down my father. I’m scared that even after all these changes, and the ones I’m going to make in the future, I’ll still mess things up with us. I’ve had ten years to try to figure out what makes my life complete, and what I know for sure is that you’re the only person, the only thing in this crazy world that makes me feel whole. And the only thing that can truly make me happy is loving you the way you deserve to be loved, every second of every day for the rest of my life.”