Chapter 16
Sebastian
BY MID-AFTERNOON, DAVE was on board with the revised plan and assured me he was ordering the right materials and equipment. He’d stopped pushing back, mostly. Still, as I handed him a printout of the updated specs, he glanced at me sideways.
“So who do you usually work with?” he asked, like maybe I was poached off another construction site.
“NASA.”
He huffed a laugh. When I didn’t respond, he tilted his head back. “Wait, seriously?”
I nodded.
Dave scratched the back of his neck. “I mean, I’m not building a spaceship here, you know.”
“No,” I said, folding the printout neatly. “But the math’s the same. That’s the beauty of it.”
Soon after, his crew was on their last break before wrapping up, and I didn’t feel like breathing down anyone’s neck. So I headed to Sea Glass Cabin, grabbed my laptop, and set up on the little patio table out front. Shade, decent Wi-Fi, and the ocean just beyond the trees. I could work with that.
As long as I hit my deadlines, adhered to security protocols with the info on my laptop, and didn’t crash a satellite, I could work off-site.
I logged in to the systems portal and ran a new iteration of our optimization. While it processed, I pulled out my phone and FaceTimed Nathan, my friend in Houston, who, at this hour, was either gaming or working—the same thing in his case.
He picked up with a headset already on. “Hey, man. Didn’t expect to see your face today.”
Funny, since he wasn’t even looking at me. His eyes were glued to his other screen, where his game was probably running.
“I’m in California,” I said, and that made him move his gaze to me. I grinned at his surprise. “Actually, meant to ask—can you water the plants for me? I’ll be here a little longer than planned.”
He leaned forward, toward the screen. “Everything okay? The parents okay?”
“Yeah. They’re fine. I’m helping a friend with a construction issue. Coral Bay.”
“Ah.” His expression shifted slightly. “That friend.”
I huffed out a smiling affirmation, admitting my failure to downplay where I was.
“You staying at her inn?” Nathan played ten steps ahead in games, and I could tell he was taking my answers apart in his head.
“Yeah.”
He paused. “You doing okay?”
I nodded. “It’s good here. Quiet. Productive.”
“And Ruby?”
I decided to take the question at face value. “Holding up. Storm damage. Contractor issues. I’m helping with the redesign.”
“That’s more than running numbers.”
“Just keeping things from falling down.”
He smiled. “You always do.”
I almost said thanks, but the silence between us felt easier.
He didn’t poke further, and I appreciated that.
We never really talked about Ruby beyond the basics—that we’d known each other forever and hooked up every now and then.
And when he did poke, I was honest. There wasn’t anything else going on.
“I’ll keep your plants alive,” he said finally. “I’ll even try not to let them die of loneliness.”
That got a smile out of me. “You’re a hero.”
“I’ve been told.” He gave me a small salute. “Check in when you can.”
“Will do.”
The system pinged just as we hung up. I reviewed the results and made a few notations for the next test cycle.
I didn’t mind working here. The inn was always charming, even now, with saws buzzing and dust hanging in the air. Ruby’s staff gave me nods and food like I belonged. And somehow, I liked ending the day here better than I ever did back in my sleek Houston apartment.
I kept working until the sun disappeared into the water, painting Coral Bay in dark pinks, oranges, and purples.
The air smelled salty and sweet. A mix of the sea and the honeyed fragrance of honeysuckle, drifting on the breeze in the early evening, when the air was still warm.
That mix had always reminded me of summer. Of home.
If longing or missing had a scent—this would be it.
I didn’t hear her approach, just the crunch of gravel and then her voice.
“You hiding or just enjoying the fact that no one’s using power tools for the first time today?”
I looked up. Ruby stood a few feet away, still in the clothes from the morning, minus the heels. She was in sneakers, her makeup a little smudged. Looking tired. And so damn beautiful.
“A bit of both, I said, nodding to the empty chair beside me.
She didn’t sit. “Wanna have dinner at mine?”
I stood. “Sure. You cooking?”
“Ordering. The restaurant is closed, and I’m not that ambitious.”
I chuckled, returned the laptop inside, locked the cabin, and followed her down the path to her place.
“Thai okay?” she asked. “From that place you liked last time.”
“Sounds great.”
The sky had deepened to indigo. The fairy lights in the trees and the lamp posts across the garden were lit, casting a golden glow over the paths and flowerbeds.
Light spilled from the empty main house windows and glowed along the sidelines all the way down to the beach, where the waves whispered out of sight.
Ruby kept the lights on, so the inn “would still feel like itself.” Despite being mostly deserted, the whole place felt alive—with warmth, with calm, with her.
In her kitchen, Ruby poured two glasses of cold white wine and handed me one. A local Thai place delivered curry dishes, rice, crispy fried chicken, and a few extras Ruby ordered, “Just in case.”
We ate on the carpet, backs to the sofa, arms and knees touching. For all the undercurrents between us, being with her still felt easy, natural.
“How’s NASA doing without you?” she asked.
“Shut down all operations.”
Ruby laughed. After another bite, she asked, “Your parents know you’re here? ‘Cause I spoke to my mom today and she’ll tell them.”
“They know. I plan on driving to Blueshore later this week. Wanna come with?”
“Nah. Saw her and Alan the other day. They already grilled me about the renovations—what happened, who’s doing the work, why you’re here. I gave them the full press release. Besides, I’ve got a mountain of things to do here.” A delicate crease curved just above her lips when she frowned.
I swallowed another piece of shrimp cake. Her mother wasn’t the only one asking. Mine had been treading lightly, but I could feel the curiosity humming under every call. About the inn. About her. About us.
“I’ll see how it goes tomorrow,” I said. “But based on today, I think Dave is toeing the line we drew him. Hopefully, that’ll take some load off you.”
She turned her head to look at me. “It will. Thanks for that.”
“My pleasure.” I bumped my shoulder against hers.
We kept our gazes on each other for another beat, smiling, then went back to eating.
Later, when the leftovers were boxed and the wine bottle low, we carried the containers and plates back to the kitchen.
We moved around each other easily—passing plates, rinsing glasses, brushing close.
When I reached for the towel, she was already holding it out for me.
I dried my hands, then set it down on the counter. She was right there, the curve of her hip grazing mine.
I turned to face her.
She looked up. Her blue eyes became hazy, soft, wanting.
I reached for her waist and pulled her closer.
When I kissed her, she gripped my nape with one hand while fisting my shirt at my chest with the other, pulling me closer.
I pressed her back against the counter and deepened the kiss.
She moaned into my mouth, and her legs tightened around my waist as I lifted her, my hands gripping her thighs.
She wrapped her arms around my shoulders, still kissing me as I walked us across the living room and down the short hall into her bedroom.
I lowered her onto the bed and followed her down.
Her top came off. Then mine. Her bra unclasped and dropped somewhere on the floor. She tugged at my waistband, and I helped her with her slacks.
She lay back, legs opening for me, fitting around me, like we’d done a hundred times. There was nothing rushed about it this time. No armchair, desk, or counter. No quick, heated fuck.
I slid inside her, slow and deep.
Her lips parted on a quiet moan, hands splaying across my back.
I didn’t thrust. Not right away. I just stayed there, buried inside her, forehead resting against hers.
When I lifted my head, her eyes locked with mine, and I kissed her.
I started to move, slow, prolonged. A rhythm just for us. Her body pulled me in, her hands clutched at me when I pushed deeper.
We kept our eyes locked. I let my gaze glide to her lips only when she gasped my name, and her moans became louder, and I knew she was close. She was so beautiful, unraveling beneath me like that.
I kissed her again, one hand slipping under her hips to hold her closer as we both tipped over the edge together.