Page 44 of The Love Fix (The Sunrise Cove #8)

He shook his head. “I had to stay, or he’d have raised hell over Cole being gone. And then...” A ghost of a smile crossed

his face. “I don’t know how Daisy did it, how she always knew, but on the really bad nights, she started showing up. She’d

have a casserole and an easy smile, effortlessly convincing my dad to sit and eat and chat. She’d stay until he passed out,

belly full, still more than half drunk, but most of the mean gone.”

Her chest felt like it’d caved in on itself.

“She saved my brother. She saved me.” He let out a long breath.

“More times than I could ever count. But by the time I was a senior in high school, Cole was... wild. I was afraid to leave for college, but Daisy promised to take care of him.” He shook his head, his voice marveling.

“I don’t know how she did it, but she kept him on the straight and narrow through some seriously harrowing dumbass antics, when even I couldn’t have.

For years, for all intents and purposes, she was the only authority figure in our lives who gave a shit, and it was.

.. everything.” He held her gaze. “She wasn’t perfect.

She struggled with her addiction. Sometimes I think that’s why my dad tolerated her in our lives, because she got it.

She got him and his demons. She understood them. ”

And now Lexi understood something for the first time too. Ashley having a relationship with Daisy wasn’t a reflection of her

mom’s lack of love for Lexi. And by the same token, Heath having a relationship with Daisy wasn’t a reflection of her lack

of love for Lexi. And Lexi had been selfish to believe it in the first place.

“That very first day, watching you come down the escalator at the airport...” He blew out a breath. “It brought back the

grief of her loss. I thought maybe we’d have that in common, but you were so angry. Hurting. And I got it. Your feelings were

most certainly valid. But I thought, hoped, that being here, delivering the envelopes to people who’d known Daisy, that spending

time with Ash... maybe it’d bring to life the mom you never got to see. Not because I wanted or needed you to forgive her,

but because it might be a bridge to the family you have left.”

“For Ashley,” she said softly.

“For both of you. Life’s short, Lex. Too damn short.”

She nodded and mentally pulled up her big-girl panties. “Living with Daisy was... chaos. My dad wasn’t all that different.

It was easier to be angry, I think. At him. At her. I didn’t know how to forgive.”

“You were a kid. She’d flaked on you a whole bunch of times. She’d gambled away your college fund. Your dad took you, then ignored your existence...”

“Yes, but then when I wasn’t a kid anymore, when I was a legal adult and she’d changed... I didn’t.” She had to look away.

“She got clean and tried to come visit me. I told her not to come. I told her I wouldn’t see her if she did. She came anyway.

She was outside my apartment when I got home from work one day. And...” She closed her eyes, hating this memory. “When

she saw me, she... beamed . She was so proud, so happy. She’d gotten her first-year chip, and she wanted me to have it. I could’ve taken it with grace,

and she’d still have left if I wanted her to, but I couldn’t even give her that. I just walked away. She...” She shook

her head. “She tried once a year for the next few years, but if I’m good at one thing, it’s holding grudges.”

“Lex,” he said softly, pained for her.

“I never saw her again. She passed away, and because of my stubborn pride, I didn’t get to say goodbye. I missed out on a

relationship with her because I always somehow believed there’d be time.” She met his gaze. Not easy, not when she’d just

laid her guts at his feet. “I’m ashamed of myself, Heath, and I have no one to blame but me.”

“Do you think my brother and I are to blame for not wanting to be with our dad?”

“No. Of course not.”

He just held her gaze while she blew out a sigh. “Yes, I heard it...”

Hands in his pockets, his gaze again swept their surroundings to assess any threats. Apparently deeming them still safe, he stepped closer, until he was a fraction of an inch from the hood, her knees bumping into his abs.

His nearness, after feeling so very alone, did something to her, something she didn’t know how to process, so she closed her

eyes.

“Lex.” His hands came out of his pockets at last, landing on the hood on either side of her hips.

She opened her eyes to look at him.

“Three things,” he murmured. “One, I’m sorry, so deeply sorry, that I let you down, that I hurt you when I didn’t tell you

about the envelopes. That was never my intention, but—”

“It wasn’t your story to tell,” she said quietly. “I know, I get that now.”

He nodded and gently cradled her face in his hands. “Two... I love you.”

She’d felt it, she’d known it, but hearing it out loud, spoken with such fierce honesty, made her gasp.

“And three...” His gaze slid to her mouth, which had fallen open. “I get that you probably don’t, or can’t, believe me,

nor do you have any reason to after your last experience, but it doesn’t make it any less true.”

Her heart ricocheted off her ribs so hard, she wasn’t sure she hadn’t made up the words in her head. “You... you really

love me.”

“I do. I couldn’t help myself.” He rubbed his thumb gently across her lower lip. “When you first got here, you were so—”

“Irritating?” she asked with a self-deprecating eye roll.

“ Alive .” He smiled at her surprise. “And when I looked at you, I realized I’d fallen into a rut where I was just going through the

motions. You made me feel like a better me.”

Something warm flared in the depths of her chest, a slumbering ember sparking to life as her heart fell right into his hands.

She realized she’d made room for him between her thighs, reaching out to take a fistful of his shirt as if he might vanish.

But his eyes, those beautiful eyes, told her he wasn’t going anywhere.

Still, just in case, she tugged hard, until he got onto the hood with her.

She climbed onto his lap, straddling him, nearly purring when his hands instantly slid to her hips, yanking her flush up against

him.

“I’ve got three things too,” she managed to say. “One, I’m also sorry. You were only doing as asked, as you’d promised, and

I took my fears of falling out on you. Two, in spite of that, I did fall. For Sunrise Cove. For Ashley. For your family.”

She held his gaze. “For you. And three,” she said quickly when astonishment flashed in his eyes, “I love you, Heath.”

His lips quirked. “Even though you didn’t want to.”

“It did take me a minute.”

His eyes were warm as he nudged her a little closer, and she soaked up his strength and heat. “Doesn’t mean it’s not real

and lasting.”

She smiled. “No, it doesn’t, and it is.”

“For me too.” He pulled one of her hands to his chest, set it over his heart. Beneath her palm, his heart drummed. Steady.

Strong. And she had to ask... “Do you honestly believe that the kids we once were can have... this ?”

“I think we can have this because of who we were, who we had to be.”

The tightness in her chest released and something filled the void. Hope . “So...” She smiled. “Are we dating now?”

He smiled back. “Does that work for you?”

Choices. It was always about choices with him, and she could’ve loved him for that alone. “Very much.”

He kissed his way up her jaw to that magical spot just beneath her ear, which he nuzzled. “And where will I find you for these

dates? A five-hour flight away, or...?”

“I’m moving.”

He pulled back just enough to look into her eyes. “Anywhere I know?”

The look in his eyes said he needed her to say it, and then there was just how badly she needed to say it as well. “Let’s just say that I think you’ll like the commute.”

His smile was slow and heart-stopping, and he lowered his head—

“Wait!” She pulled back an inch. “There’s one more thing.”

He merely rubbed his jaw to hers, like a big cat. “Well, don’t hold back now.”

She cupped his face, wanting him to see how serious she was. “I know how much you care for the people in your life, Heath.

I watch you put your heart and soul into every single one of them, putting their needs first, always. And I also know you’ll

do that for me too, but...”

He arched a brow. “But...?”

“I’ll allow it on one condition.”

His mouth curved. “You’ll allow it—”

“ Only if you let me care for you in the same way.”

She’d never seen him truly stunned, until now, his eyes wide, the quick intake of breath. “I mean it,” she said. “You have

to let me do stuff for you too.”

A wicked look came into his eyes, and she laughed. “I mean you have to let me love you in all the ways I know you’re going

to love me. The way you’ve already loved me.”

He seemed almost speechless. “No one’s ever said such a thing to me before.”

And if that didn’t bring her tears back, though she smiled through them. “Consider it a care swap.”

He laughed softly as she slid her hands into the silky strands of his hair and pressed even closer. The kiss was just heating

up deliciously when Ashley honked.

“Now that you’ve worked things out with your tongues, let’s go to the beach!” she yelled out the car window. “We can come

back in the morning with the tire changing kit and get the truck.”

“It’s one in the morning,” Lexi yelled back without taking her eyes off Heath’s.

“And...?”

Lexi laughed. Ashley was... perfectly Ashley. And Heath, smiling at her, was perfectly Heath. And instead of feeling like

the odd one out, Lexi felt like she was... perfectly herself. “Let’s go to the beach.”

Heath braved the bushes to retrieve her boot—without getting eaten or probed—and then they walked hand in hand to the car.

By the time they got to the lake, Ashley was fast asleep in the back seat. When they tried to wake her, she muttered and swore

at them. So they locked the car to keep her safe and walked to the beach fifty feet away. The night being thankfully warm,

they kicked off their shoes and sat with their toes in the water.

Lexi had a hand to her heart. Heath covered it with his. “Okay?”

“More than.” And it was true. “I was just trying to figure out what emotion is sitting on my chest.”

“What did you come up with?”

“Contentment.” She could hear the bafflement in her own voice.

His laugh was low. Soft. Warm. “Same.”

They stared at each other for a beat. She drew a breath. “I’ve never really imagined myself in a moment like this. It feels...

romantic.”

“You sound surprised.”

“I am. I definitely didn’t see this coming. I figured we’d challenge each other, maybe chase each other around a bit, and

then...”

“And then?”

“And then...” She gave him an apologetic look. “Maybe once the chase was over, you’d move on.”

“I do love the chase,” he said, voice low and gravelly, eyes locked on hers. He ran his fingers along her jaw, his thumb gently

resting at the base of her throat where her pulse currently raced. A smile slowly curved at the corners of his mouth. “And

so do you. But I have no intention of moving on from you, Lex. I want this, I want us , for the long haul.”

“You want to be with me.”

“I want to be yours.”

The sweetest thing she’d ever heard, but also terrifying. No, wait. That was her default emotion. The truth was, his words

had brought her a surge of adrenaline, and... more of that happy contentment. “So just how long is the long haul?” She

needed him to clarify. “Like... the rest of the summer?”

He smiled. “I was thinking like the rest of my life. But sure, we can start with the rest of the summer. Whatever you want.”

“Anything?”

He lightly bit her lower lip. “Do you have any idea how much I love you?”

“I think I’m starting to figure it out,” she managed, then shook her head. “And right back at you.”

“Scared?”

“I should be,” she said, and he laughed. She pressed closer to that strong, warm body she craved 24/7 and bit him back, not

quite as lightly as he’d done, before meeting his relaxed, patient gaze. “But I’m not. How about you. Are you scared?”

He smiled that just-for-her smile. “Not even a little.”