Page 45 of Code Name: Atticus

I started to lean away, but he put his hand on the back of my head to keep me still.

“Brenna?”

“Yes?”

“The thing I want you to know, probably more than anything else, is how much you—and this—means to me.”

“I do?—”

“There was a movie that came out before either you or I was born, and while I don’t remember the line verbatim, the guy said something about how, when you decide you want to spend the rest of your life with someone, you want it to start as soon as possible.”

“Mason…”

“Shh.Are they coming through?”

“What?”

“My thoughts. They’re trying their damnedest to get into that beautiful brain of yours.”

“I can’t hear them.”

He moved his head so his mouth was near my ear. “I’ll help, then. They’re saying, ‘I love you, Brenna Austen,’” he whispered.

I tried to lean away so I could see his face, but he hugged me tighter.

“So much,” he added.

ATTICUS

Brenna’s fingers were laced through mine as we walked along the bay path. The morning fog was already burning off, revealing Angel Island across the water. I kept replaying the words I’d whispered in her ear earlier. I love you.

Had I gone too far? Moved too fast? The rational part of my brain said yes—we’d only been in this house four days. But the rest of me knew better. It was like a supernova had detonated in my head, and I just knew. This was it. She was it. Everything made sense in a way it never had before.

I just hoped the speed of everything didn’t scare the shit out of her.

The café had a deck overlooking the marina. We grabbed a corner table where I could watch both the entrance and the dock approach. Brenna ordered tea with cream and poached eggs with toast. I went with black coffee and a southwest omelet.

“You remember that time Luke tried to teach me to surf?” Brenna asked out of nowhere, watching a couple of guys loading boards onto a truck in the parking lot.

“Which time? The one where you nearly drowned, or the one where you actually caught a wave, and then immediately ran over that kid?”

“I didn’t run him over. I grazed him. There’s a difference.” She stirred cream into her tea with more concentration than the task required. “And I didn’t nearly drown. I got caught in a riptide. Also different.”

“Luke pulled you out bodily and had to do mouth-to-mouth.”

“He did not do mouth-to-mouth. He slapped me on the back, and I coughed up water.”

“That’s not how I remember it.”

“That’s because you were flirting with a group of college girls and not paying attention.”

“I was not flirting.”

“Please. The redhead practically had her bikini top off, trying to get your attention.”

I grinned. “You noticed that?”

“Everyone noticed that. The beach patrol almost cited her for public indecency.” She took a sip of tea. “Luke said you dated her for a while after.”