“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” He took the box from her and set it down. “You don’t need to be putting that weight on your ankle. I’ll get the boxes. Anyway, I thought we were doing this tomorrow.”
She ran her hand along one of the shelves lining the wall. “It’s only eight. I thought we could at least get the books to the right rooms. It’s finally starting to resemble a bookshop, isn’t it?”
He came up behind her, putting his arms around her and pulling her close. “It looks great. Let’s go out to eat and celebrate. You need to prop that ankle, and I’d like to spend some quality time with you.”
The hours were ticking away quickly. Before he knew it, he’d be boarding a plane for home.
She leaned back against his chest, tilting her head to the side. “But we still have a lot to do.”
“We’ll have plenty of help tomorrow.” The angle of her head gave him the perfect opportunity to kiss her long, graceful neck. He inhaled her familiar scent as he ran his nose up to her jaw where he pressed another kiss.
“You’re making some excellent points.” She sounded a little breathless as she turned in his arms.
“I can be very persuasive.” He gave her a soft, lingering kiss. He’d been wanting to get his arms around her all day, and he’d been very patient. But it was time for a little gratification.
She didn’t seem to mind. Her arms roped around his neck as she let loose a little mewling sound that urged him to take the kiss a little deeper. He could hardly believe she was his again. In some ways it seemed like nothing had changed since seven years ago. In other ways . . . both of them had changed so much.
Back in the day he’d rushed things physically between them. And as tempted as he was to do so now, he cared too much about their future. With that in mind he slowed things down, giving her a series of soft kisses, ending with one on the tip of her nose.
Even though the exchange hadn’t lasted more than half a minute, his heart thudded and his breaths were ragged. What she did to him. And not just physically either. She had a way of soothing him. She was a nurturer, and she filled something inside him, reached a place that no other woman had.
I love her. His pulse sped at the realization. It was true. He didn’t need more quality time to figure that out.
But instead of reveling at the insight, fear seeped into his bloodstream. What if it didn’t work out? What if she didn’t feel the same way? Sophie had always been too good for him; he knew that. What if she figured that out? What if she broke things off? His palms grew sweaty like they did when he leaped from the door of an aircraft.
He set his forehead against hers and forced himself to move on from the disturbing thoughts. “Hungry?”
“Starving.”
“Let’s try that seafood restaurant down on the wharf that you mentioned. I could go for some crab cakes.”
He was just tired, he thought as they locked up the building. Sophie had loved him once before. Surely she could love him again.
* * *
The Captain’s Hook was every bit as wonderful as Sophie had heard. She splurged on the seafood platter since they were celebrating the near completion of her store.
She and Aiden talked about everything that had happened today, some of it frustrating, some of it humorous. He complimented her on the window display, and she told him about Haley’s offer to hang out sometime.
When she asked about Extreme Adventures she could tell he was worried about how Ross was faring alone. She felt bad that she’d kept him so long. But when he gave her that warm, inviting look, she couldn’t seem to regret it. This extended stay had given them a second chance.
“Were you able to call Joshua today?” he asked during a lull in the conversation.
“I did, and he took it well.” She didn’t mention that he’d given her an open invitation. “He was kind and gracious.”
Aiden wore an enigmatic expression. “That’s good.”
“What about Tiffany? Have you heard from her since she left?”
“Not a word. But I didn’t expect to with the way we left things.”
“You still have to work together . . .”
“I’m sure we’ll fall back into a professional relationship soon enough.”
There was no point in worrying about Tiffany. Sophie had