Page 66 of Hate To Be Mine

“Wait. What about this area?” She pointed to a spot on the eastern coast. “It’s marked as a shallow lagoon, protected by a natural breakwater. If the bottom is sandy it could work.”

I cross-referenced it with our scout photos. “We didn’t check this one out. It was too far from the main shooting locations.”

“We should look at it tomorrow morning. First thing. If it works, I can start drafting the environmental impact statement while you’re shooting, and we can submit it by end of day tomorrow.”

“You can write one that fast?”

“I’ve done a few.” She smiled. “One of the perks of working in specialty insurance. You learn all kinds of random useless skills.”

I watched her work, her brow furrowed in concentration, completely absorbed in solving this problem for me. Her hair was pulled back with a clip, and a few strands had escaped to frame her face. She was beautiful.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” she asked without looking up from her tablet.

“Like what?”

“I don’t know. You have a weird expression.”

“I’m just thinking.”

“About?”

About how I’m falling for you. About how you make me want more than one night together. About how I’ve never met anyone who gets this excited about environmental impact statements.

“About how lucky I am to have you on this shoot,” I said instead.

She looked up, meeting my eyes. “I think that might be the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me.”

“I say nice things, Little Bee.”

“You say charming things. There’s a difference.” She held my gaze. “That felt genuine.”

“It was genuine.”

“Thank you. For asking for my help. For trusting me with your idea.”

“Thank you for not shooting it down immediately. And for not making fun of me for knowing about Botticelli.”

She laughed softly. “I really am sorry about that.”

“I know.”

Silence settled over us as we went back to work.

I opened my mouth to say something and glanced over to see her head tilted to the side at an awkward angle. She’d fallen asleep.

She looked so peaceful. Beautiful.

Fuck, I’m definitely falling for her.

I closed my eyes and let sleep take me too, feeling at peace with her at my side.

24

BERNADETTE

Iwoke up slowly, awareness creeping in piece by piece. There was something solid beneath me that was definitely not a mattress.

And it was so warm. And moving.