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Chapter Twenty-Seven

EDEN

“That was the longest day of my fucking life,” I groan.

We’re leaning on the railing, watching Berty’s speedboat—and the rest of the brothers—disappear around the rocky outcropping to Sunrise Island. The race is over, we only have half an idea who finished first, and nobody really cares. The important part is that the good guys won.

George and his staff were shuttled off hours ago to wait in the cramped little floatplane terminal for the first flight back to Vancouver. As the long summer afternoon gently faded into evening, and over bottles of ludicrously expensive champagne, I became one of the Sunrise Island Brothers.

Now, as the sun is finally sinking beyond the mountains, it’s just the two of us left.

“You’re telling me,” Murph rumbles in that deep, calming voice. He leans sideways against the railing, grabbing hold of my lifejacket straps to pull me in against his chest—or rather, his lifejacket—for a soft, warm kiss. The world fades away, and it’s just the two of us aboard my creaky little boat.

It’s almost breathtakingly romantic… almost.

I can’t help feeling a little bit ridiculous. It’s like a video I saw online, with people running around a soccer field wearing huge, clear, blow-up ball outfits, bouncing into each other and rolling all over the place.

Murph is trying to kiss me again, but I can’t stop the giggle from bursting out of me, ungraceful and sudden. “Pfff—” I snort, almost spitting right in his mouth before I manage to turn my face away.

“What?” Murph grins, grabbing the strap on the other side around my ribcage. Holding me by both straps, he sways back and forth like we’re slow-dancing in the sunset. “Isn’t this the closest you’ve felt to me all day?”

I raise myself on tiptoe, leaning back for momentum. “I’m sure I’ve been!—” I grunt, throwing myself against the padded foam wall of his chest. “—a little!—” I try again. Murph grabs me to wrap his arms around my waist as I manage to finish my sentence between my giggles. “—closer!”

“What? Is six inches too much?” Murph murmurs, raising an eyebrow.

That breaks through my foggy, overtired haze of laughter. I finally catch my breath and push myself to stand upright again. “Uh—that—” I stutter, shaking my head. “That depends on the details. Anyway, come on. Let’s go inside and ditch these.”

“Yes, sir,” Murph teases, following me to the door.

Once we’re inside Dawn’s Embrace, he gently unbuckles all the straps on my lifejacket first, pulling it off over my head. I don’t even hesitate—I just raise my arms and let him do it, even though by this point I know how. And now, of all moments… it’s even more intimate.

I blink back tears as I finally kick off my shoes, sitting heavily on the edge of the bed. I feel so much freer all of a sudden—but also strangely fragile and small without all that extra foam padding. “No more lifejackets today.”

Murph grunts in agreement. He unbuckles his own lifejacket way faster, stripping it off without so much of a show, and tosses both of them out onto the back deck. Then he closes the door and leans against it, drawing a deep breath as he thumps his head against his forearm.

I rub away the prickle of tears, watching his broad back. I don’t need to see his face to know that he’s thinking the same thing I am.

If only we could shut out everything that happened today, as easy as that.

But we can’t. I promised myself earlier that I wouldn’t let anyone hurt me again without asking for answers. And even though I know Murph loves me the way I’ve long wanted, and always deserved… that makes it even more important that I know why .

“Murph?” I draw my legs up to sit cross-legged, patting the bed in front of me.

Murph sighs and turns to sit on the edge of the bed. “Hit me with it,” he says as the mattress squeaks under the weight of all those muscles.

“You didn’t know who George was to me, right?”

Murph winces, shaking his head. “God, no. But I should have put two and two together. No, fuck. It’s more than that. I shouldn’t have taken that job at all.”

“You couldn’t have known. I’m the one who avoided ever saying his name,” I sigh, shaking my head. “I just didn’t want to let him creep back into my life. And I thought I could just avoid talking about him ever again.”

Murph sighs and takes my hand to squeeze it. “I understand that,” he promises. “But that’s not what I mean. I… I told you to use your body to tell me, remember?”

I nod. How could I forget?

“And you did. But I didn’t listen.”

“What? When?”

“When we were talking about the job. About cancelling the barge party,” Murph says softly. “You slid into that… that thing you do. When you act like everything’s fine and you chatter away to hide whatever’s really going on. And now that I’ve met George…” he trails off, his eyes flashing with fury again. “Well, it makes sense,” he says tightly.

Holy shit.

My throat is almost too tight to gulp. For a guy who isn’t good with words, he’s excruciatingly on the money. I’ve never put this part of me into words before, much less known where it came from.

“I—uh…” I stutter, clearing my throat at last. “Wow. Yeah.” Murph rubs the back of my hand with his thumb like he’s waiting for me to keep talking. So I sigh, finally staring down at the bed. “Yeah. I needed you today. Long before I was in the water. I said it wasn’t a problem, because… well, I wanted to prove myself,” I admit, my cheeks flushing. “Prove that I can do something to make up for being bad at everything else.”

Murph’s big, warm palms close around my cheeks. He lifts my chin until I can just about meet his gaze, and then he kisses me so gently that it almost hurts—until tears prickle in the corners of my eyes.

He finally pulls back, his breath warm against my freshly-kissed lips. “Fuck that,” he whispers. “And fuck the man who made you believe that you ever have to apologize for who you are.”

I can just about manage a shaky smile past the tears. Whenever I remember all the things Murph said to George today, the way he tore him a new one without ever being unkind or untrue…

He’s a real man in ways George will never be.

“Thank you for what you said.” Murph shrugs and grunts, and I smile with all the affection glowing in my chest. “I know you’d rather show it than say it. So it means all the more.”

Murph nods. “But I’m figuring out that sometimes I need to tell you as well as showing you. You’re worth learning that for.”

“Thank you,” I breathe out softly. “And I’ll try to catch myself when I’m being…” I wave my hand. “You know, like that. I want you to see the real Eden. And I want to tell you important things, like… you know, my ex’s name.”

We share a chuckle as Murph strokes my hair softly, rests his hand on the back of my neck. But even as I smile at him, his face falls again with so much guilt that my stomach twists into knots.

“George might be the bad guy here, but I should have done better by you.” Murph shakes his head. “And I’m sorry. I’m sorry for everything it led to, my love.”

I’ve been trying not to think about it, but I can’t help myself. For a few moments, the tears grab hold of me as the fresh memory surges back to me. “I just felt so alone, and scared, and… helpless,” I clear my throat, scooting closer to Murph so I can press my forehead into his shoulder. He wraps his arms around me, and I clench both hands tightly in the uniform polo shirt he put back on mid-afternoon. “It made me feel like George was right, you know? Like it was all my fault.”

“It wasn’t,” Murph promises fiercely, gathering me into his arms and pulling me until I slide right into his lap. He holds me so tight in that magical way that makes even the ocean depths feel that much further away. “I left you alone when I shouldn’t have. And it’ll never happen again,” he promises. “Never, ever. I’m so sorry, sweetheart.”

And I believe him. As I melt into his arms, I can let the overwhelm rush through me and then let go of it, too, knowing that I’m safe.

“It’s okay,” I finally mumble, clearing my throat as I blink back tears, sitting up on Murph’s lap so I can look him in the eye again. “You were there when it mattered most.”

Murph frowns. “And from now on, I’ll be there even when you’re not sure whether or not it matters,” he murmurs. “Because you come first, and I want you to know that.”

My heart practically skips a beat. In the furrow of his brow, the raw honesty in his voice… there’s no denying what he’s telling me.

I swallow hard, trying for a little giggle. “Above even the ocean?”

But the way Murph grunts with such ferocious passion, like he can’t even come up with words… holy fuck. “When I saw you fall in…” he trails off and clears his throat a few times, looking away from me. When he finally looks back, he shakes his head. “I’ve never been so scared in my life, Eden. That’s when I knew.”

“Knew what?” I whisper. I can barely even breathe.

“That I’m falling in love with you.”

Despite it all, I grin wider than I think I’ve ever smiled in my life. I unfurl in his lap, wrapping my legs around his waist so I can kiss him over and over again—and reward him for all the words he’s used.

We can live in his more natural mode for a while. Touch each other. Show each other how we’re feeling. I’d like that.

When my head is whirling, I pull back and gasp for air. “I love you, too,” I whisper against Murph’s lips. “And you know what else I love?”

Murph shakes his head. He’s listening attentively, holding me tight with those big, rough working hands.

“I—I mean—ohhh, fuck,” I moan. “ That , for starters.” His thumbs have slipped under the hem of my shirt to rub gentle circles on that spot just by my inner hip. It makes me want to arch my back and fall apart in his hands.

“What else?” Murph purrs roughly in my ear, and I shiver. I can feel it in the air: he’s making a plan and taking charge, exactly like I hoped he would.

“I love a man who knows what I should be doing with my mouth.”

Murph winks, those strong arms wrapping around me as every muscle of his body prepares for something—but I don’t know what. And I can’t wait to find out.

“Well, Eden Meyers…” he rumbles into my ear, “I can take a hint.”