“Let me run you a bath.”
“For two?” she asked as he carried her toward the bedroom.
“For two,” he confirmed with a smile that promised far more than just a simple bath together.
She glanced down at their flushed chests and laughed as she said, “We’re always naked.”
“I think that has something to do with being in love.”
“Or being unable to keep our hands off of each other.” She laughed again. “But I’ll take the first option, too.”
They were heading through the bedroom toward the bathroom when he noticed a package wrapped with a blue ribbon on the center of the bed. He stopped and asked, “Were you expecting a gift from someone…in your bedroom?”
She shook her head, then motioned for him to put her on the bed and pulled him down beside her. Her hair was tousled from making love, her skin was still flushed, her neck and cheeks were pink from his whiskers, and she was gloriously naked. The fact that she didn’t try to cover up her body told him she was opening up to him and starting to really trust him, as well. The nervous edge she’d been harboring also seemed to have dissipated, and his heart soared.
“After I came back to the island,” she said softly as she picked up the package and the note beside it, “I couldn’t help but do some of the things we used to do, like go to flea markets and look for your favorite things.” She lifted one shoulder and dropped her eyes, looking adorably shy as she said, “I think it was my way of still being close to you, and over the years I picked up a few things for you.”
She handed him the note. “I thought about sending these to you more than once but then I worried that you already had them or whether you’d even want something like this from me.” She gave his hand a little squeeze and added, “I’m glad I didn’t. It’s so much better to be able to give this to you in person.” She gave him her own wicked little grin as she added, “Especially while we’re naked.”
Trent read the note. Dear Trent, look at me.
Confused, he lifted his eyes to Reese, who was grinning. “We said no more ‘Dear Trent’ notes. Only face-to-face communication.” She leaned closer and kissed him, before saying, “Dear Trent, I never stopped thinking about you. You were with me at every flea market, every craft show, and every walk on the beach over the past”—she lowered her voice to a whisper—“ten years. I’ve missed us. Love, Reese.”
Trent folded her in his arms, soaking in the love behind every word of the most beautiful note in the world. And as the words settled into place inside his mind—and his heart—he realized this new face-to-face note was finally replacing the memories of the one she’d given him the day she’d left New York ten years ago.
He tipped her chin up with his fingers and pressed a kiss to her lips. “Thank you, Reese. I love you, too.” He couldn’t have asked for anything more.
“Don’t you want to open your gift?” She handed him the gift, which he seemed to have forgotten about.
“I can’t imagine what could mean more to me than the note you’ve just given me.”
She was like a kid on Christmas day; her eyes lit up with anticipation. “Open it and see!”
He untied the ribbon, and the wrapping fell away, revealing a stack of books. He stared down at the hardcover copy of Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson, and his throat thickened.
“It’s a real first edition,” she told him as she opened the book to the title page and pointed to the publication date. “See? 1883. And the copyright page was left blank. I even looked for the errors on pages two and seven you told me about.” She flipped through the pages again. “‘Dead Man’s Chest’ isn’t capitalized.”
“I can’t believe you found this, sweetheart. I’ve looked everywhere for it but could never find it.” Everywhere but a Rockwell Island flea market. “This must have cost thousands of dollars. You shouldn’t have done this.”
“Don’t worry. I bartered for it with my art the summer after we separated.”
The summer after they’d separated? A sharp pang speared his chest. How could he have been such a fool to wait so long to return to the island—and to Reese?
“I can’t believe you bartered your work for me, after everything we went through.” He pulled her in close again and buried his face in her hair. “What did I ever do to deserve you?”
“You loved me.”
And then, with that beautiful answer making his heart feel as if it might have grown too big for his chest, she bounced on the mattress, buzzing with excitement as she pressed her hand to the next book on the pile. “There are more!”