Flynn tried to steady his breath but failed. His entire body burned with an uncapped current of electricity. His fingers tingled against Sage’s lower back, itching to slide beneath the hem of her shirt and feel her soft skin.
He’d never wanted anyone more than he wanted Sage in that moment, and his emotions warred with each other—desire against duty.
He could kiss her, and she wouldn’t stop him. He saw the longing in her eyes. The intensity matched his own need, quickly blazing out of control.
But desperate as he was to taste her lips again—lips that had consumed his thoughts for the last ten years—he couldn’t do it. He couldn’t kiss her. Not when he still had so much to say, to confess and amend. It wouldn’t be right.
She parted her lips and released a shuddering breath. The seductive sound nearly sent him over the edge. He tensed his muscles, determined to maintain control. But if he didn’t step away soon, he was in serious danger of kissing her. And with the mounting hunger coursing through his body, he couldn’t trust himself to stop at one kiss.
Luckily, Cap came to his rescue.
The nutty, storm-loving dog barked again, as if to coax another wave against Mira’s hull. The noise broke through his single-minded concentration, and he inched back, dropping his hands at his sides. “We should try to get some sleep.”
“Uh-huh,” she murmured, sounding distracted. Or was it disappointment he heard?
Wishful thinking. “How’s your ankle? Can you walk back?” He prayed she answered in the affirmative. He didn’t want to think about what would happen if he needed to carry her.
His temperature rose as his mind conjured a vision of Sage nestled in his arms. Get it together.
“Good as new.” She scooped her phone off the ground, flooding the galley with light. Without glancing over her shoulder, she led the way out.
For the next five minutes, while Flynn changed into dry clothes, he gave himself a pep talk.
Relax. It’ll be fine. Cap will be a buffer. Just close your eyes and get some sleep. There’s nothing to worry about.
He felt marginally confident in his game plan until he exited the head and caught sight of Sage snuggled in bed with Cap.
Silver light streamed through the butterfly hatch, illuminating the woman he loved as she cuddled his dog.
He was a goner.
“The waves seem to have settled,” she noted, scratching Cap behind the ears. “And the rain seems softer, too.”
“That’s good. Maybe we’ll actually get some sleep, then.” Ha! Not a chance.
He avoided looking in her direction as he ran a hand along the bed frame. Perfect! Just what he’d been looking for. He flipped up the custom guardrails. “These will come in handy, just in case.” He rounded the bed to her side, still averting his gaze as he locked her padded guardrail into place. Even on his best day, he couldn’t handle how tempting she looked in her huggably soft pj’s, with her unruly hair begging to be tangled in his fingertips.
“Thanks. That’ll make me feel a lot safer. I almost spilled out of bed a dozen times.”
Now, he’d be here to catch her.
He shushed his unhelpful thoughts. Focus on sleep. Sleeeeeep. His one-track mind seemed to struggle with the concept.
Cap wiggled, clearly in heaven, as Flynn crawled into bed on his other side.
“Did I warn you he snores?”
“That’s okay.” Sage nuzzled Cap’s snout. “I doubt I’ll be able to sleep much, anyway.”
You and me both.
He plopped his head against the pillow and stared straight up at the inky black sky. Raindrops dappled the window, blurring the few stars he could see. How would his life be different if he’d gone on the sailing adventure with Sage all those years ago? He wouldn’t have Cap, which was a sad thought.
Maybe he needed to focus less on rewriting the past and more on what he could do now to change the present.
Keeping his gaze fixed overhead, he asked, “What do you plan to do with Mira if you find the diary first?”
A long silence followed, and he almost turned to check if she was still awake. But even with Cap as a buffer, he didn’t trust himself. He was too aware of her presence mere inches away.
“I want to turn her into a bookstore.” When she finally spoke, her voice tiptoed across the comforter, tentative and uncertain, as if she wasn’t quite sure she should trust him with her dream.
At her confession, his chest swelled with a soul-filling surge of happiness. She’d finally get her bookstore. And an even better one than he’d ever imagined.
“It’s probably a silly idea,” she added when he didn’t respond right away.
“It’s a brilliant idea. Beyond brilliant. It’s unique. Creative. Special. People will come from miles away to see something like that.” His excitement grew as ideas rolled in, one on top of the other. “You could even hold themed sailing charters. Moby Dick–inspired whale watching tours. Treasure Island–themed trips to the Tanti Islands off the coast of Blessings Bay.”
Sage laughed softly.
“What?” he asked. “Dumb ideas?”
“No, I love them. It’s like you’ve been thinking about this longer than I have.”
He smiled in the darkness. He’d managed countless businesses over the years, but none had thrilled him as much as this one. “Tell me more about your business plan. I want to hear all the details.”
Flynn wasn’t sure how long they talked, but all their brainstorming must’ve bored Cap because he abandoned them for the foot of the bed. Normally, Flynn would have agreed with him. Generally speaking, shop talk bored him to tears, too. But something about Sage’s sailing bookshop sparked his interest in a way nothing else had before. And as he listened to all her ingenious plans, he’d never been prouder of anyone in his life. He only wished he could be a part of it.
As if the thought had just occurred to her, Sage added, “Please don’t tell your mom any of this. I don’t need her making things harder for me.”
Flynn winced, but she had a valid point. “I’m sorry about how she’s treated you. I thought after we stopped dating, she’d finally let up. Then, she opened her ridiculous bookstore. She could’ve opened a clothing boutique or sold snooty home decor. Anything other than books. It felt like she did it just to spite you.” He’d never fully forgiven his mother for the way she’d treated Sage. Or understood why she’d been so vindictive even after they split. Squelching his rising resentment with a cleansing breath, he added, “I begged her to leave you alone and just let you be happy.”
Another long silence stretched between them, punctuated by the rain and Cap’s rhythmic snores.
Finally, Sage murmured, “I always suspected your mother’s bookstore was a personal slight. I just didn’t want to believe it.” A strange laugh escaped her lips, soft and strangled by sadness. The mournful sound sliced all the way to his soul. “Honestly, I could’ve saved her the hassle. After losing Kevin, then you, happy wasn’t really an option for me anymore.”
Her words didn’t carry any bitterness or blame. Only raw, unfiltered heartbreak. And they hit him with all the force of a fatal blow.
For ten years, he’d lived with guilt and remorse over the way he’d ended things between them. He’d punished himself in countless ways and wouldn’t let himself off the hook with excuses or rationalizations.
But he’d never done the one thing that mattered the most.
The one thing he should’ve done a decade ago.
He’d never apologized.