Summer's End (Wildflowers #5) - Jill Sanders Page 0,35

her close again as he sipped his wine. “And the same could be said in reverse.” He tapped his glass to hers. “Three years.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Three years?”

He laughed. “Tonight. I even brought you something.” He snapped his fingers. “I almost forgot.” He set down his glass and pulled the small box from his jacket pocket.

“Tonight?” She frowned then her eyes grew huge when he set the small box in front of her.

“Relax,” he said softly. “It’s not a ring.”

He saw her visibly relax. She turned to him, ignoring the box. “You’re saying it’s been three years… today?”

“Yes, three years ago, today, I watched you and Elle walk into cabin one. I showed you how to remove the old pink tiles, then kissed you for the first time, and later”—his eyes moved to her lips—“we enjoyed a swim under the stars, and you came back with me to my place.” He sighed. “Three years.” He lifted the box towards her. “Open this. Please,” he added softly.

She swallowed, then reached for the box with shaky hands.

When she opened it and exposed the simple diamond heart dangling from the silver chain, her eyes turned soft.

Reaching in, he removed the necklace and helped her place it around her neck. The heart landed where he’d known it would. Just over her own heart.

She was looking down at it, and he could see happiness in her eyes.

“It’s perfect.” She smiled up at him.

“Since you won’t let me give you my heart…” He ran a fingertip over the diamond. “You’ll have to settle for carrying this around instead.”

Chapter 11

She couldn’t breathe. Feeling the cool stone against her skin reminded her of what Aiden had told her. What he’d meant by giving her a diamond in the shape of a heart.

Whether she wanted it or not, she had his heart. One way or another, he’d found a way to get past her defenses.

It was almost impossible to defend herself against his attacks. What was she supposed to do with a man who, in the past three years, had filled her every sexual desire, then in the past few weeks shown her nothing but kindness and patience while she tried to run in the opposite direction?

Watching Aiden leave her at her apartment door the other night had been pure torture. Not only had she not been sexually fulfilled in the past six months, but now he was messing with her, making her even more frustrated than before.

She was about to burst and could only imagine he was feeling the same. But then how had he easily walked away from her after kissing her blind at her door?

She was growing more agitated with work. It wasn’t as if she didn’t love her job; but having so much pent-up sexual desire was making her daily life hell. Especially since she ran into Aiden almost every other hour. It was as if he was going out of his way to bump into her.

It was three nights after their three-year anniversary dinner, the date of which she’d marked down in her phone so he wouldn’t be able to surprise her again with it. And once again, she was running late to dinner and had yet to change into her fancy costume for that evening’s festivities. Tonight’s theme was carnival, which meant she had a skimpy outfit with loads of feathers she needed to put on. Thankfully, she could pull her long hair up into a tight bun since the headpiece covered most of her hair. Still, she had her makeup, which would take her some time to pile on.

She was so preoccupied with what she needed to do that she didn’t see the dark figure on the pathway until it was too late. She bumped into him and almost toppled the man over.

“Woah.” Someone gripped her shoulders to steady them both.

She realized she’d been rushing down the dark pathway from the docks to the main building without so much as watching where she was going.

“Sorry,” she immediately apologized.

“It’s okay.” The tall thin man smiled down at her.

She narrowed her eyes, trying to remember if she knew the man or what the man’s name was but came up with a blank. Was he even a guest?

“Are you running from someone?” he asked, glancing behind her as if someone had been chasing her.

“No, I’m just late.” She motioned towards the dining hall where even now guests were gathering for dinner.

She’d had a group of kayakers out on the bay and had lost track of