Page 80
“You happy?”
That question surprised me. I lifted my head. “Right now?”
“Yeah.”
I thought about it, and the answer came easier than I expected. “Very.”
He smiled then and it was different. There was none of his usual arrogance or teasing. He just looked… relieved. I reached up and touched his beard.
“You?” I asked.
“Yeah.”
“Very?”
He lifted my hand and kissed each finger. “More than I ever expected.”
Suddenly, I knew what people meant when they said their hearts fluttered. I rose onto my toes, which still didn't get me anywhere near high enough. Saadiq laughed, bent down, and saved me the effort. I kissed him. Slowly. Sweetly. The colors of the night sky spread around us while his mouth covered mine, and the water washed over our feet again and again.
When we finally pulled apart, I rested my forehead against his chest. “You outdid yourself, Mr. Masters.”
“Better than the yacht?” he asked.
“Yeah. Better than the yacht,” I admitted.
His hand stroked slowly down my back. “For real?”
“Mm-hmm.”
“Why?”
I looked up at him. “Don’t get me wrong. The yacht, the chef… it felt like a fantasy.”
“And this?”
I smiled as I rested my cheek against his heart.
“This… this feels like us.”
From high above my head, I heard, “I like us.”
(The next afternoon)
Rest.
That was today’s theme. Last night, after the picnic, after he’d folded me into positions my thick ass had no business being in (shoutout to my collagen and glucosamine regimen), Saadiq had asked me what a day of relaxation or rest looked like for me. I told him how I loved to escape through reading and journaling, how I adored my bed with thick fluffy covers, even in the summertime, how the sound of a thunderstorm instantly relaxed me. He couldn’t control the weather but the rest...
Saadiq took me to one of the cutest places I had seen since arriving on Port Isle. From the outside, the cute little stone building looked almost like a private home, all tucked behind flowering plants and broad palms on one of the quieter streets, a little away from The Strand. A carved wooden sign identified it as a reading room and archive, but that description didn’t come close to doing it justice. The moment we walked inside, I stopped.
“Saadiq,” I breathed.
“What?”
I turned around slowly. “How did you find this?”
He lifted his shoulders nonchalantly, like he hadn’t found this place and brought me here because he knew I would love it. “Oh, I just asked around.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Uh-huh.”
