“Did Cal know?”
“Immediately.” She shrugs and her eyes move to stare at nothing over my shoulder. “When it comes to Celia, I’m a lousy substitute.”
I step back and stare down at the grave of the woman I thought I loved. “I wish I’d gotten the chance to know her.”
“In a way . . .” She peers up at me. “You did.”
“If you were pretending to be Celia, then . . .” I want to hold her to me, to force her to be the woman I came to know, but if I want a real chance with Sawyer I’m going to have to fall in love with someone I know very little about. “Who are you?”
“Sawyer Elizabeth Forrester.” Her spine stiffens as if she’s waiting for my rejection.
“Tell me more.”
“I’m afraid of just about everything including the ocean. I killed my grandmother by giving her the flu and since then a lot of things have gone bad for me.” Her eyes fill with tears. “But in the last few months I’ve experienced the best possible feeling in the world coupled by the absolute worst. I pretended to be my twin sister Celia so that she could die with the knowledge that in the eyes of her friends she lived on, but in doing so I fell in love with a man who brought out a side of me I didn’t know existed. He helped me face what scares me, brought me to the edge of my comfort zone, and taught me that real living only happens when I walk through my fears. But he has a bad history of being lied to and there was no way I could break him with the truth so I gave him up, signing myself up for a lifetime of regret, and I’d do it again if I had to because in those two weeks I’d never felt more alive.”
My thoughts scramble to understand what she’s saying. A jolt of hope swells within me and I hold still in expectation.
“You changed me, Aden. I see it now, the whole point of all this. It was Celia’s last gift to me. And because of you she was able to deliver it in a way that has forever altered who I am.”
I’m mesmerized by what she’s telling me. That she could see me as a person who could make her better when all this time I’ve been convinced it was only her who was helping me. How is it possible for her to view me as some kind of hero after everything I’ve put her through? And God, but up until five minutes ago she was dead and now she’s standing before me confessing her heart and making me believe that there’s a future for us.
“I can bait a hook. Swim in the ocean at night. Make out with a stranger.”
I hold back a growl.
“But more than that, I’m not afraid to fall in love. I’m not afraid of getting hurt because you and Celia have taught me that two weeks of love are worth a lifetime of pain.”
“No.”
She jerks in my hold. “No?”
I sift my fingers through her hair and love how her breath hitches when I bring her lips close. “No. Not a lifetime of pain. Because I’m a man who has felt what it is to be loved by a beautifully loyal woman, one who would sacrifice her own happiness to grant a wish to her dying sister. I’m a man who knows what it’s like to be selfish and lose the only person who brought peace into my life. One thing I am not, Sawyer Forrester . . .”
She whimpers at the calling of her name.
“Is a stupid man. I thought the woman I loved was dead, but she’s here, standing before me, in my hands, warm and breathing, and there is no way in hell I’m letting her walk away again. Understand?”
“So . . . you’re saying—”
“I’m saying . . . I love you. I’m saying I don’t want to wake up another morning without you at my side. I’m saying I’m willing to give up whatever it is I need to give up in order to be with you.”
“But Celia—”
“Is just a name. You’re the woman I fell in love with, the one I’ve been thinking about every second of every day since the last time I fell asleep in your arms.”
“You want me? Even now, after I lied to you?”
“More than I could ever say.” I press a kiss to her lips.
“But . . . when you get to know me, the real me, not the one pretending to be someone else, you might not like what you see.”
“You willing to swim with me at night? Go snorkeling with me out at some remote island? More importantly, you done making out with strangers?”
“Yes, yes, and . . .” She chews her lip and I’m about to give her a punishing kiss for her delay. “Absolutely.”
“What do you say, Sawyer?”
She reaches into her pocket and pulls out a silver coin. I release her and she steps back. As if in slow motion, she flips the quarter, but as it’s spinning through the air, her eyes come to mine and she rushes into my arms.
We kiss with all the passion of two people who lost each other forever only to find each other again. After long minutes pass and we’re tugging at each other’s clothes I pull away and whisper, “You didn’t wait for it to land.”
“That’s because when I flipped it I already knew what my answer would be.”
“Freckles . . .” My hands caress her delicate cheeks. “Sawyer.”
Her eyelids close as she seems to bathe in the sound of her name. “You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to hear you call me that.”
“I’ll say it every day for the rest of our lives if you’ll have me.”
She blinks up at me. “Really?”
“Nothing will take you away from me again.”
“Actually . . .” She checks her watch and those thick lips quirk so adorably I fall deeper in love instantly. “Right now, I do have to go.”
I kiss her neck, soaking in her touch and scent that I’ve missed so much. “Where?”
“I’m having dinner with a friend.” Her breathing speeds up with every brush of my lips.
“Yeah? And who is this friend?”
“His name is Mark.”
My lips freeze on her neck and I pull back. “Mark.”
“Yeah.”
“A man?”
Her hands caress my cheeks and damn but her touch moves me on a soul-deep level. I’d do anything she asked, grant her whatever she wanted. “He’s a man, yes.”
“Any chance you’d be willing to cancel with Mark?”
“No.” She kisses me. “But . . . if you haven’t eaten, how’d you feel about going out for sushi?”
I tug her to my side. “Didn’t know you liked sushi.”
We stroll to the parking lot. “A gorgeous guy introduced me to it awhile back.”
“Oh yeah?” I stop and turn her to me. “And who is this guy?”
Her expression grows serious. “He was in love with my sister, but I convinced him I’m a good second.”
Now it’s me who gets serious. “You will never be second to me, Sawyer.” The name feels as natural as if I’ve said it a million times, moaned it, whispered it. “You’re my freckles. My love, and now . . . my life.”
TWENTY-EIGHT
SAWYER
“Well . . . that was only mildly awkward.” I fish my keys from my purse just as Aden’s arm drapes my shoulders.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I thought it was great.”
I stop walking and stare up at his handsome face as he tries to hold back his smile. God, I still can’t believe he’s here. “Aden.”
He grins. “I’m serious.”