Page 27 of At First Flight (Coral Bell Cove #1)

I don’t know what it is about her, this woman who walked into my life like a storm I didn’t see coming, but I know with certainty that she’s it. She’s the one. The person who showed up just as everything else was falling apart and made it all feel steady again.

And I’ll be damned if I let anything, or anyone, hurt her now.

She may not be mine in the way I want yet, but that doesn’t matter. I’ll protect her like she is. Like she’s already everything.

Lila deserves more than just safety. She deserves a world where she doesn’t have to look over her shoulder. Where she can laugh freely, sleep deeply, and love boldly. And I’ll fight tooth and nail to give her that. I’ll stand between her and every shadow that tries to creep in.

I rise from the chair, my jaw locked and mind already turning over the next moves. Extra cameras. A new security system. Whatever it takes. Because now that I know the truth, I won’t stop. Not until Lila’s safe. Not until she knows she’s never alone again. Not as long as I’m here.

What a fucking mess.

A quiet rapt sounds on the door just before Lila peeks her head around the corner.

“Hey, everything okay?” she asks, but before I can answer, a tiny little nymph comes dashing into the room wearing her princess pajamas and crawls into my lap. Her damp hair falls into soft ringlets down her back. “Sorry. I came to tell you that they’re ready for bed.”

When I glance down at my niece, her big brown eyes stare up at me with all their innocence. My mind immediately flashes to a glimpse of her mother when she was young.

“You want Uncle Dean to tuck you into bed tonight?” Over the past few days, the kids have transitioned from Lila doing their bedtime routine to them asking for me. Lila says it’s normal for them to want the reassurance that I’m still there after her newness has worn off.

She silently nods, little droplets of water from her hair dripping onto her arms, making her giggle. God, it’s the best sound in the world.

“Alright then.” I pull her into my arms as I stand. Though the conversation with the PI is fresh in my mind, I give my niece and nephew my undivided attention as I read through three bedtime stories.

After kissing them, and their stuffies, good night, I wait in the hall for Lila to say her own good nights to them.

The door to Oliver’s room opens, and Lila steps out, slowly closing it behind her. As I’m about to speak, she holds a finger to her mouth and gestures for me to move farther down the hall, closer to her bedroom.

“You’re so good with them,” she says immediately, and my chest expands at her praise.

“It’s…uh…easy being the uncle.”

“You’re more than that to them, Dean, and you know it.”

I shrug, uncomfortable with the notion that I’m taking their mother’s space. Lila lets me ruminate for a moment on her statement. Her eyes dart around the hallway where she hung a few pictures she found at the antique store in town.

“Um…I meant to double-check that everything was okay with that call. You seemed a bit worried.”

I run my hand along the back of my neck, feeling the strain in my muscles.

“Yeah, it’s fine. Has your ex tried to contact you anymore?

” She’d let it slip that he’d been messaging and calling her nonstop, even after she’d blocked his number.

I finally got her a new phone, but with his family’s connections, I know it won’t take long for him to track her down.

I was still curious as to why he hadn’t shown up in town yet.

“Just in my email. The one I stopped using. Not to the phone.”

“Good. You let me know if that changes.”

Lila stares up at me, her big blue eyes searching mine as she bites her lip.

“Why?”

“Because I’m worried about your safety,” I explain, stepping closer to her. The room closes around us, and only the small sconces on the wall provide a yellow glow.

“You know I’d never let anything happen to the kids.”

While I know Lila would protect them with her life, I wonder if she would protect her own. She has to know that my biggest fear after the call is Prescott hurting her in some way—my beautiful ghost girl.

“Lila, I’m not only worried about the kids. I’m worried about you.”

Her breath hitches as I lean closer, my hand brushing against the back of hers. The pull to draw her against me is stronger than ever before. She bites down on her lower lip at the moment of contact, and I can’t tear my eyes away from her mouth and those luscious lips I yearn to taste.

“Why?” she whispers as if she truly can’t comprehend that I want so much more from her.

The best parts of my day used to be when I would work on the projects I was passionate about or visit my best friend and his wife.

But now? Now, it’s getting back from a run to find Lila and the kids sitting at the breakfast table in the kitchen, munching on whatever delectable food she’s prepared.

Now, it’s the end of the night, watching her treat my niece and nephew with the same kind of love as a mother.

Now, it’s the special smiles I get from her when I catch her eye.

Now, it’s the way my smallest finger traces the edge of hers.

“Because you’re going to marry me one day,” I say with an intensity that surprises even me.

Her breath hitches before she replies, “You keep saying that like if you repeat it enough, it will inevitably happen.”

“It’s called manifesting, sweetheart.”

“You believe in that?”

“I believe in whatever I need to that gets me you.”

“Dean, I…”

My name on her lips nearly knocks the breath from my chest. Soft and tentative, like she’s tasting it, testing what it means now. What I might mean to her.

She steps toward me, her movement slow and uncertain, but something is determined in her gaze. And then her hand is on my chest, warm and open, pressing against my heart like she’s grounding herself in me.

Her small palm is delicate, but its weight feels like everything. Like the moment before a storm breaks or the second before a kiss you know will change everything.

My heart stumbles in its rhythm, beating hard against her touch.

She looks up at me, and I swear to God, I almost fall to my knees.

Those big blue eyes… damn, I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything more beautiful.

They’re shining with something soft and fierce all at once, like she’s lit from the inside.

Not with fear or pain but with something that feels a hell of a lot like want.

The connection between us intensifies, and I watch, fascinated, as Lila breaks our connection and glances down at my lips.

Fuck. I want nothing more than to kiss her right now, to feel the soft pillows of her lips against mine.

“Mommy!” A frantic cry rings out from one of the kids’ rooms. Lila and I jump apart like teenagers caught by their parents.

“Do you want me to…?” she asks, hand on my arm offering comfort.

“No, no. I have it. You should go relax.”

As the whimpers start pulling at the chain directly connected to my heart, I dash off to Evelyn’s room without glancing backward at Lila.

I find the preschooler curled up in the center of her tiny bed, clutching her stuffed animal and crying in a way I’ve never witnessed. She inhales large gasps of air between each of her sobs.

“Oh, sweet girl.” I pull her into my arms and vacate the spot where she just was.

“Mommy!” she continues to wail until she finally exerts all her energy and falls asleep in my arms like she used to when she was a baby.

My heart breaks all over again, knowing that my sister left these two precious children unable to fight her own demons any longer.

“Fuck, Gen,” I whisper, leaning my head against the pale pink wall.

I’m unsure what else to say. That I need her, that her kids need her, that she left us too soon. But none of it changes the fact that she’s gone, and now I’m left picking up her pieces and comforting her daughter when she screams out in the night for her mom.

And as much as it pains me, it will break my heart even more when Evelyn stops.