and I had been friends for far longer than we had. He had been right before. We didn’t spend time alone, but it worked now. He was easy to talk to, and the heavy weight that had been on his shoulders for so long seemed to be slowly breaking away, piece by piece as time moved on. He was relaxing. I didn’t think he had relaxed at all these past few months. And I didn’t like that I hadn’t noticed. I’d been so worked up over my issues that I hadn’t noticed he’d been in pain.
Well, I was going to do better. No matter what.
We declined dessert since we were both full and made our way back to the car service after Beckett called. I’d had three glasses of wine, same as Beckett, and I was a little tipsy but not too buzzed. Not drunk at all. I was warm and happy. And as I leaned on Beckett, I felt comfortable. And, of course, part of me felt a little uncomfortable, but I wasn’t going to think about that. I couldn’t.
He looked down at me and smiled, his eyes dark, and then we got into the car, and I told myself that I was imagining things. Again.
We made our way into the hotel, talking about dinner and his sisters, about Benjamin, work, my art. Nothing truly complicated. And then we made our way back to our floor.
“What size balcony do you have?” I asked out of the blue, thinking of my beautiful room.
He frowned. “I don’t know, the same size as yours, I think.”
I shook my head. “I’m on the curve of the building. I think your balcony is the size of a room. Mine’s a little ridiculous.”
“Okay, well now I have to see it.”
I had just invited Beckett Montgomery into my room to see my balcony. Might as well have asked him to see my etchings.
What was wrong with me?
I didn’t care right then. Not even a little.
I made my way into the room, grateful that I had cleaned up before I left. We walked past the suite area, and I noticed Beckett’s gaze move to the bed. I swallowed hard.
We made our way to the balcony, and Beckett’s eyes bulged. “I think your balcony is the size of my first apartment.”
I bounced on my toes as I looked around. “Right? There’s a hot tub. On my balcony.”
“Dear God,” he said as we took in the enormous area. “I thought this was like the penthouse suite’s balcony.”
“No, there’s one of those for the owner, and that’s above us. This is just mine. I’m kind of sad for your little balcony.” I giggled and, though I wasn’t drunk, I felt high on something. Maybe a Montgomery.
He grinned. “Hey, don’t make fun of the size of my balcony.”
I looked at him then, trying to keep a smile on my face, and then burst out laughing.
“You’re ridiculous,” I said with a laugh.
“Maybe, but damn it, now I’m kind of mad that you got this room, and I didn’t.”
“Balcony envy?” I asked.
He rolled his eyes and walked towards me. I moved with him, looking over the balcony towards the darkness of the ocean, the moonlight shining on the small, cresting waves, and I just wanted to breathe it in. Of course, I was me, and I slightly tripped over a divot for the water runoff. I cursed and clung to Beckett as he kept me steady. One hand found his chest, the other wrapped around his forearm.
“Eliza,” he whispered.
“Beckett.” And then he lowered his mouth, and I couldn’t think.
Chapter 14
Beckett
Eliza tasted of wine and sweetness. I barely held back a groan.
What was I doing? This didn’t make any sense. I shouldn’t be doing this. We weren’t drunk, far from it actually, and yet I felt drunk. Not on wine, though. On Eliza. Just her mere presence did things to me.
Had it always been this way? I didn’t think so. Wouldn’t I have noticed?
Or perhaps I just needed a moment to breathe. A moment to think. A moment to be. Maybe I needed all of that. Or perhaps I was losing my mind.
I leaned down to cup her face, and her fingers dug into my chest. Not pushing me away, holding me close. I swallowed hard, knowing that this might be a mistake. I couldn’t stop. I didn’t want to stop.
I needed to, at least for a moment. And so, I pulled away and rested my forehead on hers.
“Beckett,” she breathed.
“What are we doing?”