Chapter 16 Phoebe
PHOEBE
I yawned, hugging a pillow under my head, and then smiled even though I was still half asleep. The sound of water lapping onto the shore filled the room. The air smelled salty too. I heard footsteps and opened my eyes to see Griffin was already dressed.
“Sorry, I didn’t want to wake you up,” he said.
His morning voice was unexpectedly sexy.
“That’s fine.” I tilted my head. “And come to think of it, I wouldn’t have minded if you’d woken me a few minutes earlier.” I wiggled my eyebrows. “Such as when you were getting dressed.”
He started to laugh. “You’re funny this morning.”
“The humorous side of my brain is the first one to come to life.”
He came to my side of the bed, kissing my forehead.
“You look surprisingly fit.”
“I went for a run,” he said.
I blinked. “Wait, what? Today?”
He nodded. “Yeah. I did a good time too. Five miles. I beat my own record by twenty seconds.”
“Last night gave you a good burst of energy, huh?”
He laughed. “You could say that. I even took a shower and didn’t wake you. I’m going downstairs to get a coffee. I didn’t have one before my run.”
“All right,” I said. “I’m going to need some time in the bathroom.”
“Don’t worry.”
After he left, I was tempted to go back to sleep because this mattress was utter perfection.
When I moved into my house, I’d bought the cheapest mattress at Home Depot.
Let’s just say it was cheap for a reason.
I was pretty sure it had given me a permanent neck strain.
But this had some sort of gel or something.
It was amazing. But I knew if I put my head back down, I’d probably fall asleep again, so instead, I headed to the shower.
As the water poured over me, last night’s memories became more vivid.
My skin started to simmer just thinking about every delicious thing Griffin had done to me.
I stepped out quickly and put on yet another beach dress before hurrying downstairs.
I didn’t want to make anyone wait too long to eat breakfast.
When I reached the lower floor, there was no one around. Then I realized they were already outside. They’d set the table, but they were all standing, pointing at something in the water.
Crap, crap, crap. I’d made them wait.
I hurried outside, exclaiming, “I’m here!”
Emma and Jude turned first. “Good morning,” Emma said.
“I’m so sorry to keep you waiting,” I said. “That bed is so comfortable that I didn’t want to leave it.” I inspected the table. It was bursting with food. “Oh, I didn’t help set the table for breakfast.”
“You’re a guest,” Emma said. “Let’s dig in.”
“Before we do that,” Jude said, “we want to share some great news.”
Griffin smiled widely.
“What’s that?” I asked as we all sat down.
“I have decided that I’ll consider Griffin’s proposal to invest in my company. I was far too quick to shut him down.”
“That’s fantastic!” I exclaimed. Mission accomplished.
My heart was so happy. Griffin deserved this. I glanced his way, and he beamed at me.
“We’ll get together to discuss this in more detail because I don’t want to spoil the weekend talking shop,” Jude continued. “But I have a feeling that we’re going to get along just fine.”
“So do I,” Griffin said. “I promise you won’t regret this. I’ve got—”
“Tut, tut,” Emma interrupted. “No business talk.”
Griffin laughed. “You’re right.”
I was ecstatic all the way through breakfast, but then a realization started to dawn on me. There was no use for our ruse anymore. Griffin could tell him that we broke up after this weekend, and that would be that. I might tell him to blame it on me so Jude wouldn’t think less of him.
“All right. How about we spend the rest of the day doing nothing at all? I suggest we just lie in the sun, enjoying drinks,” Emma said.
“Sounds like my kind of Sunday,” I agreed.
We finished breakfast quickly, and then Emma and Jude asked us to help them take out some lounge chairs to put by the water.
I wasn’t sure how to act around Griffin. At some point, I was certain we should talk about last night, but I blushed every time I even thought about it.
As we sat down on our respective chairs, I applied sunscreen, then held the bottle for him.
“Sunscreen?” I asked.
He tilted his head, a playful smile on his lips. If he was going to ask me to apply it on him, I’d spontaneously combust. But he probably suspected as much, because he simply nodded and took the bottle. “Yeah, thanks.”
We didn’t actually get the chance to talk at all, though, because either Emma or Jude was always around. But every time I caught his eye, my stomach somersaulted and my pulse sped up.
Only after Emma and Jude decided that it was time to start packing did we have our first moment completely alone. We stayed behind, carrying our respective lounge chairs to the woodshed behind the house.
It was completely dark inside. After I dropped off my chair, I started to head out, but Griffin touched my forearm.
“Wait a second.” He drew in a sharp breath. “Fuck, I’ve wanted a moment alone with you the whole day.” He ran his fingers along my jaw, and I shuddered. There was no need to pretend, so why was he touching me? Then again, after last night, that wasn’t really a valid question.
“Phoebe, last night was surreal,” he said.
What a good opener. Why didn’t I think of that? Every time I tried to play out in my mind how this conversation would go, I got tongue-tied.
“It was,” I agreed.
“I don’t regret it one bit.”
I smiled in the darkness. “You don’t?”
“No fucking way. You?”
“No, not at all. It’s just that…” I paused, and Griffin swallowed hard. I couldn’t see him, but my other senses were on hyperalert. His breath quickened. His cologne smelled even more delicious than I remembered.
“I’m not sure what it meant,” I admitted.
“It can mean whatever we want it to. I’d like to see you again.”
My heart was beating even faster now. “I don’t think Jude will need—”
“This isn’t about him. I want to see you.”
“Oh, Griffin… I’m honestly still reeling from everything I’ve been through. It’s not fair to pull you into all of this.” I’d said all of this quickly, rambling nervously. I paused, taking a deep breath, before whispering, “I’m not ready.”
“I understand.”
“You do?”
“Of course.”
“We could still be friends.”
“I can’t just be your friend, Phoebe. Not after I’ve tasted you. Not after I’ve had you. I could never do it. Not in a million years.”
A pang of disappointment sliced through me.
“So, where does that leave us?” I asked. “After today, we won’t see each other anymore?”
I realized that I couldn’t bear the thought.
For a few seconds, neither of us spoke.
My God, that cologne was giving me wild ideas. What if I jumped him again, right here in this shed?
You can’t do that, Phoebe. Behave.
“We’ll see,” Griffin said. And then I felt his arm by my side. For a fraction of a second, I thought he was going to pull me into a kiss. My entire body vibrated. I parted my lips, even rose on my toes to meet him halfway.
Oh, he just pushed the door open. Light filtered in, blinding me momentarily.
I lowered myself back to my heels, trying not to show how disappointed I was.
He stepped out first and gestured for me to walk in front of him. “For now, let’s go upstairs and pack.”