Grant spread out the beach blanket and set down the basket of food he’d had the resort restaurant pack for them.
Ava stood at the edge of the blanket. “Are you sure no one will see us here?”
“As sure as I can be in this situation.” Grant brushed sand away from the basket and began pulling out boxes of food as he cast a grin over his shoulder. “Anyway, we’re just having a picnic.”
He dropped down and stretched out on his side. “Want to join me?” he asked, patting the fabric in front of him, a gleam in his eyes.
A long time later, they collapsed back on the blanket, breathing heavily and staring up at the sky.
Grant rolled over onto his side and ran one finger lazily up and down Ava’s arm. “When we get home—” he began.
“Wait,” Ava interrupted. “What do you mean, ‘when we get home’? We catch our flights tomorrow morning, and when we arrive in Dallas, I’m getting my car and driving back to Necessity. You’re headed back to—where is your latest job?”
Grant frowned. “This one’s in Nebraska, but…”
“But nothing.” Ava shook her head emphatically. “You have always been absolutely certain that you needed to get out of Necessity. Grant, this has been amazing, but it doesn’t change anything. You can’t leave your job, and I can’t leave Necessity.”
“Why not? It’s not like you have the kind of job that would keep you there.” As soon as the words left his mouth, he knew they had been the wrong thing to say.
Ava began gathering her clothes to dress.
That is not how you ask her to come with you, dumbass.
Grant’s heart constricted in his chest as he began pulling on his own clothes.
He could barely breathe. She wasn’t going to come with him.
What had he been thinking, anyway? It’s not like she had ever promised him anything. But he had built a fantasy of a future together anyway.
Based on what? The fact that she was charmed by Antigua? That she was willing to go on a few island adventures with him?
Is that what I am—another island adventure?
This is exactly what he had done to her that New Year’s Eve. Had amazing, mind-blowing sex, then … left.
Not exactly without saying goodbye—he wasn’t that much of an ass—but definitely without finding out what, if anything, she wanted from him. No, he had made that decision for her.
Just like she was making this decision for him.
For the first time ever, he wondered if maybe she hadn’t wanted anything other than a one-night stand, even back then.
Ava finished getting dressed, then turned to face Grant again. “You know, I may only be a waitress, but that doesn’t mean my job is any less important than yours.”
“I didn’t mean that at all.”
“I think you did. More to the point, I’m pretty sure you’ve already decided exactly how this relationship is going to go, without even asking me what I want. For your information, this doesn’t mean anything.” She waved her hand in a wide arc, encompassing Grant, the beach, possibly the entire trip. “This is nothing more than a … a last fling.” She practically spit the last words at him.
“Last fling? What the hell, Ava? Are you engaged or something? Have you been cheating on someone with me?”
She felt her cheeks go hot, but did her best to ignore the blush. “You wouldn’t know, would you? You didn’t even stop to ask. You just assumed I would fall in with whatever plan you had.”
“I thought, when you said you wished you could travel—”
Ava interrupted him. “Maybe I did. But that doesn’t mean I will drop my whole life and follow you wherever you go. I do have a life back in Necessity, you know.” Even if it isn’t much of one. “And people who rely on me.” Like Gran.
Grant’s brow furrowed into a scowl, exactly as it always had when he was upset and trying not to show it.
Dammit. I know him far too well for my own good.
Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and puffed her cheeks out on the exhale for a slow count of five. Opening her eyes, she tried to moderate her tone. “Look. I can’t go running off with you just because we have amazing sex.”
His eyes brightened a bit at the change in her tone, and the frown smoothed out as soon as she said “amazing sex.”
Leave it to a man to decide that’s the most important phrase in that sentence.
“Grant, when I get back to Necessity, I am moving back in with my grandmother. She can’t afford to keep up her house by herself. She needs me.”
When Grant didn’t answer, she shook her head and walked away.
She had promised herself that she would never again be surprised to discover that she and Grant wanted different things. That had lasted all of two days.
I hope Seth and Kristin are doing better with their vows than I am with mine.
Nine