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—Holly—
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My eyes snagged with Sawyer’s, and he grimaced. You could cut the tension in the air with a knife. It hung heavily since I’d announced I was heading back to Portland with Isaiah.
Isaiah cleared his throat. “Pass the salt, please.”
“They’re already salted,” Dad grumbled, yet handed Isaiah the shaker, nonetheless.
Isaiah gave him a wry look while blindly shaking more salt onto his fries. “I like mine extra salty.”
Sawyer snorted from his side of the outdoor table. “You’ve come to the right place for that.”
Dad chuckled into his beer as he lifted it, despite being crabby. “We certainly have a shit-ton of salt for our wounds.”
I sighed and rubbed my forehead, feeling a headache creeping in. The entire situation with my scandal and our family drama was funny, but at the same time it wasn’t. It was horrid and awkward and terrifying all at once.
Dad sat his beer down with a heavy thunk against the wooden table. “Holly, I’ve been thinking. Why don’t you commence your partnership with the firm? Since you’re between jobs, now seems as good a time as any.”
I halted mid-chew. “Uh, Dad, I’m going back to Portland.”
“Well, you’re already set up as a shareholder, so I don’t see why we can’t have you on the books and working remotely.”
I gulped. It was common knowledge that Sawyer and I would eventually take the reins of the family empire. It had grown from humble beginnings by my grandfather into a major engineering firm that Dad had inherited from his father many years ago. Traditionally, it was meant to be passed to the eldest son of the next generation, but Dad broke those rules before I was born, deciding that shares would be split evenly between his children.
Sawyer and I were by no means ready to run the entire firm by ourselves, but it had always been the plan for Dad to indoctrinate us once we’d each finished our degrees. Sawyer was still studying, and I’d put a blip in the original plan when I’d announced that I was moving to Portland straight after college.
At the time, I’d needed to find myself after growing up in Gatlin Falls. I wanted to prove that I could make it out in the big world, doing what I loved, and doing it well. And I had, for a while. Until Isaiah.
I shifted my focus from Dad to Isaiah, who shook his head. “It’s not my decision, babe. The choice is entirely yours, but I’ll back you hundred p’cent.”
Empowerment flooded my chest. It straightened my spine and squared my shoulders. I hadn’t expected Isaiah to be so loyal.
I set down my drink and met Dad’s expectant expression. “Okay, I’m in.”
Elation I hadn’t seen in a long time lit his face, and he grinned while offering me his hand. “Welcome aboard, Bunny. Do you mind sticking around for another week to work through a few things?”
“Absolutely.” Guilt then had me looking at Isaiah.
He shook his head again and circled his forefinger at me. “Let’s get one thing straight: I won’t be holdin’ you back. I’ll be boosting you to new heights wherever I can. Do it, babe. Take all the time you need.”
“Good man.” Dad acknowledged.
Sawyer kicked back and laced his hands behind his head. “I’m coming for you, sis. G’me another year to finish college and I’ll be showing you how it’s done.”
I snorted. “Ruining our reputation, more like.”
“You’re doing that all by yourself.” He laughed obnoxiously loud, then jolted with a yelp of pain when Dad kicked him under the table.
“Fuck you, Sawyer,” I spat. “That wasn’t my fault.”
“It was mine,” Isaiah weighed in gruffly. “But I like to think I’m slowly making amends for it.” He shoved a fry into his mouth and smiled shyly at me while chewing.
“It’s not every day you get an apology on national TV,” Dad drawled.
Isaiah cleared his throat and toyed with his beer. Unease swept through me. He had the look that usually accompanied things I didn’t want to hear.
“So...” he started. “That apology was from Boyd, not me.” Dark-brown eyes connected with mine before settling on Dad. “I’m sorry, Dusty. It was, uh, not meant to blow up the way it did, and I was—”
“Thinkin’ with your dick,” Dad snapped.
Sawyer snickered while Isaiah gave him a wry look.
“Yeah, somethin’ like that. But seriously, I can’t apologize enough. Not only to you, but to Holly.” His chocolate gaze found me. “Especially to Holly. I’m sorry, babe. For the publicity and you losing your job. I’m responsible for all that and now I need to make sure you bounce back. Not stay weighted down by it all.”
While I knew it was meant kindly, doubt pulled my brows low. I stood abruptly and excused myself from the table, asking Isaiah to join me. “Can we talk about this inside?”
Without hesitation, he rose to his feet and gestured for me to lead the way inside. I did, then turned to him once we had entered the living room.
“Are you with me out of guilt or because you actually like me?”
Isaiah’s chin tucked back in offense. “Are you fucking serious?”
“Yeah. Surely you can see why I’m questioning it, right?”
He stepped closer and dropped his voice. “Questioning what?”
My heart kicked with nerves. I prayed I wasn’t about to fuck this all up. “If you’re really in it for me, or if you’re just fulfilling a personal redemption agenda.”
As soon as the words left my mouth, I regretted them. The hurt on Isaiah’s face was the answer, and I’d just deeply offended him.
His brows lifted. “Really, Holly? Is that what you really think?”
I shifted from foot to foot, unsure and uneasy. “Kinda... Not really.”
He spread his arms wide in disbelief that had me rushing to elaborate.
“Everything has happened so fast and I’m worried that it’s too good to be true. I’m worried I’m a passing infatuation that once you’ve ‘fixed’ won’t be needed anymore.”
Warm palms met my cheeks and grounded me. “Mama, I’ve said this to you before and I’ll say it again: I don’t chase my women. Ever. You’re the exception, and that means I intend to keep you.” He added a smirk.
“Assuming I want to keep you,” I countered as my stomach did flips.
“You’ve got a week to ditch if that’s what you wanna do. But know this: the instant you arrive back in Portland, you’re all mine.”
I smirked despite conjuring honesty. “I had ditched, but that was before you turned up at my apartment and argued with Dad and Scout, then used the Trudy Kallant Show to get payback, then traveled to Gatlin Falls to find me.”
His rolling chuckle washed over me. “Don’t forget I took a hot coffee to the chest for you.”
I gnawed nervously on my lower lip a couple of times. Isaiah’s expression softened into raw affection as his thumbs rubbed back and forth high on my cheekbones. “I’m playing for keeps, Mama.”
Given the explosive start to our relationship, I was under no illusion that it would be easy or private, but maybe Isaiah and I really could survive against the obstacles thrown at us. The only way was to be all in and ride the storms if and when they hit.
“Me too,” I whispered.
His gaze flicked from my eyes to my mouth, then his lips met mine. My hands found the chiseled cinch of his waist as we settled into a blissful rhythm.
We kissed until an obvious throat clearing broke the silence. “Get a room,” Sawyer called, before collecting fresh beers from the fridge.
