Page 37 of Blame It on the Bikini (Ocean Shores #4)

"It fell through. I decided to stop trying to hold it together with desperate moves and let it go. There will be other opportunities. But this definitely hasn't been my most profitable month."

"You don't seem too upset about it."

"I'm not worried about the deals or the money anymore, but I do have one very pressing concern."

"What's that?"

"You," he said simply.

"What about me?" she asked carefully, her pulse beginning to race again at the gleam in his blue eyes.

"I like you, Lexie. Actually, that's not true. I'm falling in love with you, and I want you to be in my life." He moved closer, still leaving space between them as he gave her a questioning look. "I'm hoping you're feeling the same way."

"I am feeling the same way," she admitted. "Not talking to you the past five days almost killed me. I realized how much I want to talk to you and be with you."

A big smile spread across his face. "Thank God."

She laughed. "You weren't seriously worried, were you?"

"I was guardedly optimistic."

"That sounds like you. Guardedly…everything."

"That was the old me. The new me likes exploring dark caves and spooky national parks and watching you find new wonders in the world.

Being here, being with you, made me realize I've been far too narrow-minded in my thinking, in my goals, in my life.

I want to see more of the world and not because I'm making a deal, but because there's so much to see. And I want to see it with you."

"Speaking of seeing the world, I have something to tell you.

I got a freelance job with New Frontiers magazine.

They're sending me to Morocco for five days to do a shoot.

And if I do a good job, there might be more work for me down the road, or, at least, I'll have a pipeline to sell whatever I do on my own. "

"That's amazing, Lexie. How did that happen?"

"The editor is a friend of Sienna, who runs the Art Nest. Saying yes to that show has already opened more doors than I could have imagined.

And it's because of you, Grayson. I had my big courageous moment when I quit the law firm, but then I backed off.

I chose safety and security over what I quit for, which was to live my life in a more passionate, creative, imaginative way.

And when you drove me to that wedding almost a month ago and asked me with your very specific brand of sarcastic cynicism whether I hadn't traded one form of servitude for another, I realized you were right.

That's exactly what I'd done." She turned, pointing her hand to the dining room wall. "Notice anything different?"

He walked around her to take a closer look. "These are all your photos, and they're amazing. Just spectacular," he murmured, his gaze taking in each and every picture. Finally, he turned back around. "You got rid of all the other photos."

"I'm betting on myself now. I'm not going to live other people's dreams. I'm going to live my own." She smiled. "We turned out to be pretty good for each other, Grayson."

"Damn good," he said, walking back to her. "When are you going to Morocco?"

"Monday. When are you going back to LA?"

"Definitely not before Monday." He put his hands on her hips as he gazed into her eyes. "I want to spend as much time with you as I can."

"How are we going to do this, Grayson? I want to travel, not just to Morocco, to other places, too.

I'll have to pick up some work for money in between, just to keep things going, but I feel like I'm going to be on the move for the next year or two.

And I know you have a big job, a lot of responsibility. Can we make something between us work?"

"Absolutely," he said.

"I do like your confidence." She licked her lips. "I have to ask you something, though. Now that I've said I may not be spending much time here going forward, does that change how you feel about selling the building?"

"No," he said without a trace of doubt in his voice. "Because this is Josie's home. And Frank doesn't want to move again. I think he and Margaret might have something going on."

"I think that, too, but they're very cagey about it."

"Brad and Serena just had a baby. Kaia still needs to find the right guy. Emmalyn and Hunter need to be close to Bree and Olivia; Paige and Henry do as well. And Ava and Liam need to help Brad and Serena with the baby." He shrugged. "There are a lot of connections here."

She smiled. "I can't believe you just went through so many names without even a pause. You're part of this community now."

"What do you say we make Ocean Shores our home base for the next year? We figure out our work and travel schedules from there. Maybe we take some trips together. I can look for real estate to develop. You can look for the perfect photo shoot locations."

"But you're a rich guy. Do you really want to live in your apartment or in mine?"

"I don't care where we live, as long as we're together.

I was being too guarded when I said before that I was falling in love with you.

The truth is: I'm already there. I know it's fast and completely out of character for me, but it's how I feel.

When I drove back to LA, I thought I might feel differently being farther away from you, but it was worse.

I missed you every second of every day. And nothing seemed as important as getting back to you.

" He paused, looking deep into her eyes.

"You inspire me, Lexie. You make me want to be a better version of myself. And I want to do the same for you."

She wrapped her arms around his neck, feeling the last of her worries slipping away. "I love you, too, Grayson. And you have inspired me to cancel a bunch of jobs and fly off to Morocco, so I think you've already done a lot."

"I'm really proud of you, Lexie."

"I'm proud of me, too. And I hope I can help you find a deal that will be even better than selling this building, because I want everyone to win."

"You know that rarely happens."

"Well, it's happening right now, so I'll take it. Now, are you going to kiss me or what?"

"I'm going to kiss you, and later, much later, I'm going to tell you about my father and Josie."

"Wait! What?"

"Later," he said as he captured her mouth and gave her a kiss filled with emotion and promise for the future.

And she didn't want to think or talk anymore, either. But later…