“I didn’t see you that morning, Reese. How did I miss you?”
“I left before you could see me, because from the second I touched you again, when you looked into my eyes that night in front of Shelley’s Café, all the walls I’d erected around my heart started crumbling.”
“For me, too.”
“It was unsettling, how quickly it happened. After we broke up, I always felt like I needed to be in control. For ten years, I’ve had a schedule that I’ve followed with work, teaching at Bay’s Edge, and seeing my parents. But then, in one collision of our bodies, one whisper of my name from your lips, the safe, comfortable world I’d created for myself shattered.”
His eyes turned serious. “Don’t you feel safe with me, Reese? I’ve tried not to move forward too fast again, because I didn’t want to scare you away, but it’s been hard, really hard, to hold anything back at all.”
“Even though we have moved forward really fast, I know you would never hurt me on purpose. And I know you’d never let anyone else hurt me.” She hated the thought of his holding anything back from her, which was why she wouldn’t hold anything back from him now.
“What’s been really scary isn’t that you shattered my safety—it’s that you shattered my self-control. And then I couldn’t stay safe from my feelings for you anymore.”
“Do you need to be safe from them?”
“Now that we’re sitting here beneath the stars talking honestly about everything? I’m almost positive I don’t need to be safe from those feelings anymore. But all those years apart, deep down I must have known that if we spent time together again, I wouldn’t be able to keep from loving you again.”
He embraced her, holding her against his chest as he pressed a kiss to the top of her head.
“I can understand why you’d be scared about falling back in love with a man who hurt you.”
She shifted slightly so that she could look into his eyes. “I was, but I was also worried about hurting you again by not being the partner you needed me to be, or the partner I wanted to be for you.”
“Are you still worried about that?”
“We’ve both grown. We’ve both accepted our faults. And we’re working on having an amazing relationship.” She paused before adding, “You said it’s been really hard to hold anything back from me, but I don’t want you to do that, Trent. I don’t want either of us to hold back anymore.”
“I don’t want either of us to hold back anymore, either. But if you still need more time before we officially take the next step and decide to move in together, I want you to know that I’m here and I’m yours, no matter how long it takes.”
He cupped her face between his hands the way she loved and took her in a sensual kiss that made her head spin and her heart go crazy. Then he rose to his feet and reached for her hand.
“Dance with me.”
He drew her in close and they swayed to the music. With the stars shining down upon them and the music in the distance, surrounded by candlelight and the sweet sounds of the bay, they danced and kissed and danced some more. Reese had never been so happy, and she didn’t want this magical night to end.
“I love you, Trent,” she whispered against his chest.
She felt his heartbeat quicken against her own as he gazed deeply into her eyes and said, “I want to give you something I’ve held on to for so long and dreamed about giving to you. But if it’s too much too fast, or if it brings back bad memories, I’ll understand if you don’t want it.” He reached into his pocket, and when he opened his hand, nestled in the center of his palm was a black velvet bag. She could tell by the way his eyes moved between her and the bag that he was nervous, just as she was. With a shaky hand, she withdrew the most gorgeous diamond bracelet.
“Trent,” she whispered, too emotional to say anything more. It was an elegant strand of canary diamonds, and each sparkling yellow diamond was surrounded by a circle of white diamonds, creating beautiful florets. Each of those florets was separated by a cluster of four chocolate diamonds. “I’ve never seen anything so exquisite.”
He took it from her hand and fastened it around her wrist. Then he lifted her hand to his lips and pressed a kiss to it.
“I had it designed for our six-month wedding anniversary. I was going to give it to you the night I found your note.” He ran his finger over the beautiful bracelet. “I wanted it to emulate dandelions.”
“I love it.” She tried to swallow past the lump forming in her throat. “This is so beautiful and thoughtful, and I’m so sorry. You must have been so upset...”