CHAPTER 17
Anna
Returning from her afternoon swim, Anna slung her beach bag onto her shoulder as she trudged up the path.
The water had been refreshing and the beach house had been everything she’d hoped, but the ten days she’d spent here had also been lonely—especially at night when she wasn’t writing.
She’d had nightmares that featured Spencer, ones that left her crying, shaken, and unable to get back to sleep.
When she slept next to Isaac, she felt safe and unsettling dreams hadn’t been a problem.
Eventually, she’d gotten up to work on her book, taking some time to enjoy the sunrise. Early this morning, she’d written the ending, and tightened it up over tea and breakfast.
She was excited about the story, though it was much darker in tone than she’d expected.
Thoughts of darkness brought her back around to worrying about Spencer.
How would she avoid him when they returned to racing?
If it wasn’t for Isaac, she might have quit her umbrella girl gig.
Money or no money. The reason she loved being at the racetracks was because he was there and he loved it. She’d even become a fan of the sport.
Yesterday she’d expected Isaac to call or text, but once again, he’d been silent.
She could have called him, like every time they’d spoken so far, but she wanted to give him a chance to make the first move.
She didn’t want to seem clingy when he was helping his brother.
He might be too busy to talk to her. Maybe she was bothering him too often when he had more important things to think about.
There’d been several bouts of insecurity recently, with thoughts that maybe Isaac wasn’t head over heels, even if she was.
Maybe she’d misread the situation, and she’d simply been convenient.
That didn’t feel true, but it was her worry.
These thoughts bruised her heart.
She kicked a rock as she left the beach and watched it skitter along the shoreline path.
In the ten days since she’d arrived in Portugal, she’d averaged ten hours a day writing her story.
Her modern fairytale was complicated, rife with both beauty and horror, and she was proud of what she’d accomplished.
She’d written an entire book-length story from beginning to end.
She’d sent Isaac a text mid-morning to share her accomplishment, but he hadn’t replied.
Had he become so wrapped up in Vince and his old life that he was drifting away?
Perhaps the distance made it easier for him to let her go.
It would be easier to bear than fighting and breaking up, but no less painful.
She left the beach and strolled up the stairs toward the house on the cliff overlooking the ocean.
The beach property was perfect, and Portugal was lovely.
It should have been an ideal vacation but, without Isaac, it was lacking.
Being here was something she and Isaac had planned for the two of them.
Since the day she arrived, when she’d stocked up at the market, she had gone nowhere else to take advantage of her holiday.
All she’d done was write and wander down to the water for a swim every afternoon.
It had been more like work than a vacation.
Maybe tomorrow she should celebrate the end of her book by doing touristy things and enjoy herself with something new. She could find some more gelato, too.
She wasn’t sure what remained to eat in the house for dinner tonight, but she didn’t feel like going out, so she’d have to find something.
Tomorrow she’d get groceries and let her story sit for a few days before starting revisions.
Maybe even a week. She’d leave it longer if she could, but her fall deadline still loomed.
She’d read that editing advice somewhere, that taking a break allowed you to have fresh eyes when you read over it the next time.
Maybe that was the same with people. If you were away, you saw things differently when they were around again, like the expression that absence makes the heart grow fonder.
Turning the last corner of the windy stairs up from the beach to the rental, she looked up.
A man sat on the front stairs of her beach house.
She took only another step before the realization of who it was sunk in, and she bounded up the final stairs.
She arrived at the top as Isaac jumped forward and swung her up and around in her favorite kind of Isaac hug.
He felt like he always did and she exhaled a deep breath, all her doubts and worry expelled.
He squeezed her tight. “I missed you. I’m an idiot and should have come sooner. Will you forgive me?” He set her down and met her gaze, waiting for an answer.
A smile tugged at her lips, and she pulled his mouth down to hers. The familiar tingle of electricity ran through her, stronger than ever. Absence hadn’t strengthened her feelings. She was already all-in.
“I missed you too.” She’d missed the warmth of his eyes and the way his smile lit up the world, making everything better. She stepped back, suddenly self-conscious of her sandy, sunscreen-covered skin that had left her sticky.
“You aren’t getting away from me yet,” he said, tugging her closer and kissing her again.
The faint scent of his peppermint soap enveloped her, and she inhaled.
Everything about being with Isaac took the edge away.
She felt safe, something she couldn’t remember feeling anywhere else since her grandmother had died. She’d been silly to doubt.
When they came up for air, she said, “Shower with me? I’m covered in saltwater, sunscreen, and sand. You know how I hate feeling gritty.”
“A shower. Now you’re talking. I’m hot from the road.” Isaac returned to his car and hefted a suitcase from the trunk while she waited before going inside into the air-conditioned interior together. He leaned into the car and grabbed his phone, glancing at the screen.
“You finished your story.” He grinned. “Congratulations.”
“That’s why you didn’t answer,” she said, a wide smile taking over her face. “You were driving.” She turned, unlocked the door, and led Isaac toward the master bedroom and the ensuite’s double shower.
The shower was about getting clean, and they didn’t linger.
After drying off, Anna leaned into Isaac again, kissing him again while his arms wrapped around her.
She wanted to touch him everywhere and remind herself that he was real.
Despite her urgency to have him inside her, she let him take the lead.
His slow, thorough kisses made her toes curl and her insides warm while the electric buzz on her skin everywhere he touched set her heart racing.
When they fell naked and entwined on the bed, she was beyond thought and lived in the moment, enjoying the physical sensations. Isaac took her away from the noise in her head better than anything else. The world fell away when they were together.
“Mi Corazon, I have news,” Isaac said sometime later when they lay in a loose tangle on the rumpled bed while he traced circles on her shoulder.
“How would you feel about me retiring next year? I wanted to tell you in person, but I talked to Angel yesterday and made it official.” He stiffened as he spoke.
He might be worried about how she’d take the news.
She marveled that her opinion mattered.
“You decided not to take the contract extension,” she said.
“That’s brave. If you’re happy with the decision, so am I.
” If he retired, they would probably still watch the races, but then she wouldn’t have to fear for Isaac.
He had said little before now, but Vince’s accident had left him ashen, and she’d known leaving the sport had been on his mind even before the crash.
“I think racing is too dangerous for me now. When Vince was laying there, not moving, I couldn’t breathe.
I can’t stand the idea that one day that could be me, and you’d be the one scared out of your mind.
I never want to do that to you.” Isaac’s warm brown eyes were serious.
It couldn’t have been easy to reach this decision.
“Will you race the rest of this season?” She couldn’t imagine that he’d throw away his excellent season or break his current commitment.
He stroked her hip. “I’m under contract for this season, but then I’m done.”
“What will you do afterward?” She bit her lip while she waited for his answer. This type of intimacy was unfamiliar territory. They hadn’t talked about their future beyond the racing season.
Isaac cupped her jaw in his hand, making her melt once more as he stared into her with milk-chocolate eyes.
“Maybe we can figure some of that out together. I want you to stay with me. I want us to have our own place. My love, my house will not be a home without you inside it. I won’t keep living with Vince.
I hadn’t realized how much I love being around your positive energy until you were gone.
Vince said I was moping.” He gave a rueful laugh.
“You were busy this week,” she said. “I should have asked you about Vince. How’s his eyesight?”
Isaac chuckled. “Vince is on the mend. He might not be ready for the first race in Finland, but probably the following one in Silverstone the first weekend in August. Yesterday, his doctor cleared him to train.”
He hesitated, his face sobering. “I owe you an apology about the way I let you leave.”
Her breath caught at his unexpected words even if they had already made up. “It was for Vince. He’s your brother. No apology required.”