Chapter 41
Angela
Of all the ways I saw my day going, sitting in my wrecked car in a tropical storm while Garrett tells me he’s falling in love with me didn’t make the list. I take his hand, press it to my cheek, and make a sound that’s half laugh, half sigh, all relief.
This growly, grumpy man who never wanted a relationship…wants me.
His gaze bounces across my face, then drops to my lips. I cup his jaw and pull him close. His kiss is sweet. Desperate. It’s a promise. A confirmation. His tongue sweeps across my lip and my heart, oh my heart. I could stay like this forever.
Garrett presses his forehead to mine. “I don’t know what I would have done if I lost you.”
“But you didn’t. You won’t.” Wind rocks the car and rain pelts the glass as thunder rolls in the distance. “Our story doesn’t end in tragedy. I think I was made for you.”
The admission feels ridiculous. It’s too soon.
Too much. But it’s been there from the start, this knowing.
This awareness. The first day we met, standing side by side at Seaside Mobile, it felt as if Garrett could see through my bullshit to the real me.
The moment I met his eyes, I felt uncomfortably alive and finally it all makes sense.
I am for him and he is for me.
We’re more. We’re everything.
Now that the layers have been pulled back, the boundaries between us obliterated, we can see it. Admit it. Do something about it.
Garrett threads his fingers into my hair, his energy chaotic, wild. “Jesus, Angel. I’m still…I’m sorry. So sorry.” He traces the cut above my eye with a gentle finger. “I don’t know what I would have done…another fucking car accident. Another woman I love…gone…”
“But none of that happened. I’m right here and when I say I’m not going anywhere until you tell me to, I mean it. I’m not Elizabeth. I want you for you. The good. The bad…I want all of it, for as long as you’re willing to let me have it.”
But how long can I have him when he’ll be leaving so very soon?
Garrett’s sharp exhalation is an admission. He doesn’t know what happens next either.
Everything feels bigger now, after what we’ve said, what we’ve done, but love doesn’t change the fact that we live in different states. That the two of us coming together is temporary. The structure of our lives makes us impossible.
I don’t know what comes next.
I avoid the future in favor of the present.
“My family will not be doing business with someone like Jordan Clement. I can tell you that much.”
Standing next to the man at the hotel made me want a shower. The way he leered, hanging on my every word, the pompous toss of his hair as he expected me to hang on his. I won’t have someone like that connected with the Hutton Hotel.
Especially knowing what he did to someone who called him “friend.”
“Damn straight.” Garrett bobs his head. “Not if I have anything to say about it.”
I text Dad to let him know we were in an accident, that we’re okay, but running behind.
My phone rings immediately.
“What happened? How bad is it?”
“I promise, we’re fine. Some guy was driving like an idiot, and we swerved into the guardrail.” I don’t mention that Garrett was the idiot and shoot him a look as he rubs his forehead.
“You’re sure you’re not hurt?”
“I’m fine, Dad. We’ll be there as soon as possible and listen, don’t start the meeting without us, no matter what Mr. Clement says.”
“Angel.” There’s a moment of silence and I imagine him moving away from listening ears. “You know I’m going to need more information.” A long peal of thunder joins forces with the wind and the rain. It devours Dad’s hushed voice.
“I know and I’ll give it to you, but now isn’t the time. It’s really loud out here and I want to focus on the road, but I promise I’ll fill you in when we get to The Hut. It’s just…it’s important, okay? That guy isn’t who he says he is.”
“I’ll stall, but damn it, Angela, you know better than to be out in these conditions.” The fatherly concern in his voice has me shaking my head. No matter how old I get, I will always be his little girl. We say our goodbyes and I end the call.
“Some idiot, huh?” Garrett lifts a brow.
“Yeah, I kept trying to tell him to slow down, but…” Humor is easy to hide behind, when everything is up in the air, when we don’t have time for the difficult conversation of what happens for us next.
The damage to the car appears mostly cosmetic and the drive back to the hotel is harrowing, though uneventful. While we drive, I steal peeks at Garrett, only to catch him stealing peeks at me.
I’m giddy. Stupid-in-the-head, jump-up-and-down, cheerleader-on-amphetamines giddy.
Love.
He used the word love.
I’m falling in love with you.
I was so afraid to tell him about my feelings, so afraid to chase him away, and then just blurted it all out there at the worst possible time. His question said it all. Now? You’re going to start this conversation now. In your mind, this is the best time to talk about…about feelings?
He had enough on his plate without me piling on too and I was certain I’d lost him forever. But no. We’re here. Together.
Whatever that means.
How can we be together when we live so far apart?
Later. We’ll ask those questions later.
Right now, there’s so much more at stake. My family’s business. Garrett’s reputation.
Our future hangs in the balance of what happens next, and it looms like a shadow as we pull into the parking lot of the hotel.