“We should make a wish,” Aiden suggested. “It’s on our list.”
Abby’s heart was so full, she couldn’t imagine what she would wish for other than Aiden never leaving the island, but she played along. “Okay. You first.”
“Let’s make them together.”
“Mine can’t come true. The only thing I want isn’t realistic.”
“A very special woman once told me that dreams are made of what ifs.” He kissed her cheek and said, “So tell me, my love. What are wishes made of?”
“Miracles,” she said wistfully.
“Then I say we go big.” He took her hand in his and kissed the back of it. “Let’s shoot for miracles, Runner Girl.”
She tilted her face, smiling up at him. “This is a super-big one.”
“Then we’ll wish extra hard.” He kissed her and said, “Close your eyes.” When she did, he whispered in her ear, “Wish hard, baby, because I want all your dreams to come true.”
She wished as hard as she could, and then she relaxed again, trying not to think about his leaving. But that was like trying not to breathe. Their confessions of love had brought elation and a sense of peace that was stronger than the undercurrent of Abby’s worries about expectations and disappointments. But old habits die hard, and those worries refused to go away, lingering like a slow-moving creek, its babbling nearly imperceptible. A subtle reminder that if a storm hit, the creek would flood and upend everything in its path—a reminder of why she needed to be in complete control of her life at all times. She laughed softly. How could anyone be in control when love showed its all-powerful, beautiful face?
Aiden pressed a kiss to her head and said, “What’s funny, babe?”
“Life.” She tipped her chin up, shifting so her side was against his chest and she could see his handsome face. “I was a workaholic, dedicated to my job above all else. I dated a guy for almost a year and never gave much thought to when I’d see him again during the times we were apart. Then you come along and effortlessly change the way I live. I have spent more time enjoying life since meeting you than I have in almost twenty years. And somehow we also managed to give the Bistro a fabulous face-lift and get the entire business almost up and running. And still we had time to connect with my friends, clean out my mom’s house, get to know Cait, and for this. For us. How did we do it?”
He pulled one of the blankets around her shoulders and said, “I’m at as much of a loss as you are. Before you came into my life, time off was spent planning or analyzing work. But the truth is, I’ve barely even thought about work since our first breakfast together, and while that should scare the life out of me, it’s had the opposite effect. It’s made me appreciate all that I’ve been missing. And the best answer I can come up with as to how this happened is that we, two self-professed workaholics, have finally found someone, something—the love between us—that is more interesting, more meaningful, and more powerful than the work we’d been hiding behind.”
“I don’t think I’ve been hiding.”
He brushed his lips over her cheek and whispered, “Hiders never think they’re hiding. Myself included.” He smiled and said, “I knew you’d become more important than work when I was at the road show. Nobody but Remi has ever come before work. But today, as I watched you getting excited about lights and knickknacks, I thought about all that I’ll be missing when I go back to work, and I felt it here.” He put his hand over his heart. “Like rocks stacking up, jagged and wrong. I’ve never been in love before, so I have no basis to compare my feelings to, but love like ours is scary, Abs. We found something in each other we’ve never found before, and it soothed the workaholic in us. We trusted each other early on, shared the details of the things we’ve kept locked inside or had told very few people. I think our connection brought us both out of hiding. You were afraid to believe in someone, and I was afraid to let anyone come ahead of Remi. And for the last two years, it was more comfortable to hide behind work than to go out and find the life I never felt I was lacking. But from the moment I met you, hiding and working were the last things I wanted to do.”
His words burrowed inside her, touching all the places she had no idea longed to be touched. Then again, Aiden had a way of reading her mind and fixing things before she even had a chance to voice her concerns. Last weekend she’d been silently lamenting their time together coming to an end. On their way to the hardware store to pick out paint colors for the living room, junk room, and her mother’s bedroom, he told her he’d made arrangements to come back to stay for the entire week of the grand opening. And just like that, she’d felt better.
“Maybe you’re right, and I was hiding so I wouldn’t be faced with disappointment,” she said. “But as for you, I feel like you worked so much during your vacation, you didn’t get any time off.”
“It didn’t feel like work. It felt like we were building something together, something meaningful that allowed us to get to know each other on more than a superficial level. And that is what allowed us to come out from behind the walls we erected. That made it possible for us to embrace every minute we had together.”
“So, what happens when you leave Sunday? Will you go back to being Workaholic Aiden Monday morning?”
“I have no idea who I’ll be on Monday.” He took her hand and said, “I have a few insanely busy weeks coming up with back-to-back meetings. I’d like to think I’ll be able to focus when I need to, but if the road show was any indication of what happens to me when I’m away from you, it’ll be an uphill battle. But we’ll talk every day, and knowing I’ll be back next month for the grand opening will make it a little easier.”
“For me, too.”
“You’ll be busy winning the competition and then interviewing and training staff.”
There it was again, his endless belief in her. “You’re so confident about my winning.”
“I’m even more sure of it after tasting all the recipes you made this week. You’ve got this, Abs. But on the off chance Wells pays off the judges, you have to know how proud of you I am and how proud your parents would be.”
She nudged him. “Wells won’t pay off the judges.”
“That’s the only way he’ll win. You’ll wow them with your cooking and mesmerize them with your gorgeous smile.”
“And if that doesn’t work?”
“Then the judges have no taste, and the competition isn’t worthy of your time.”
Swoon! “You’re really good for my ego.”
His eyes turned seductive. “Your ego, huh? I’d like to think I’m good for a hell of a lot more than that.” He kissed her neck and swept her beneath him, sending the blankets to the deck.
“Coldcoldcold!” She shivered, laughing as he pulled the blankets over them, blocking the wind.
He lowered his lips to hers, turning her laughter to desirous moans as he took the kiss deeper and their bodies ignited. She loved kissing him, feeling the strength of their passion colliding like two rushing rivers feverishly blending into one. She pushed her hands under the back of his shirt, needing more. His muscles were hot and hard against her palms. He made a low, guttural sound that sent lust spiking through her, burning hotter with every slick of his tongue. Need pulsed between her legs as his hands moved hungrily over her breasts, and in a complete contradiction to their wild passion, he slowed their kisses to a sensual dance of sliding tongues and grinding hips. Her senses reeled as he eased from one whisper of a kiss to another, so light and tantalizing, she whimpered for more. But he continued tasting and taunting until she couldn’t take it anymore.