In Over Her Head: An Anchor Island Novel by Terri Osburn (reading eggs books .TXT) 📗

He shook his head. “No, I’m good.”

“How about you, sis?”

“I’m okay.” As her brother crossed the room, Lauren watched him with pride in her eyes. A second later, she turned her attention back to Nick. “I apologize for taking so long.”

Feeling like a man caught in the crosshairs, Nick’s body tensed. “So long for what?”

“To give you an answer.”

Now he was truly confused.

21

“You already gave me your answer on that,” Nick said. “Followed by ten days of silence to drive the message home.”

Lauren didn’t blame him for being mad, though she hoped there was some hurt as well. That would mean he still cared.

“I’d like to take that answer back.”

“Pretending I’d agree to that, why?”

She’d been formulating this speech from the moment she’d stepped into the shower, but she was struggling to remember the words now.

“Because I’ve had time to think about it some more and my answer has changed.”

Brown eyes narrowed. “That isn’t what I mean. Why has it changed?”

This was already not going to plan. Taking a deep breath, she tried again.

“What I’m about to tell you is not an excuse for how I’ve hurt you, but it will give some context for my answer. I mentioned in the past that I had to take care of Knox from a young age, and that we never knew our fathers. Well, father, now, but that’s another story. Anyway, the truth is that we were really poor, we moved around a lot—usually because we were evicted for not paying rent—and Mom fell into one bad relationship after another.”

She took a breath, mustering up the courage to say the rest.

“The lesson I took from all of that was that letting people get close to me would mean getting hurt. Men left—or sometimes they sucked you dry, stole all of your stuff, and then left—but the bottom line was don’t trust and you’ll be safe. What I didn’t realize is that not everyone is like those people Mom brought home. That trust isn’t always used as a weapon, and letting someone in can actually be a good thing. You taught me that, but it wasn’t until today that the message sunk in.”

Nick leaned back with an unreadable expression. The longer he remained silent, the faster her heart beat.

“I understand if it’s too late,” she said, “but I wanted you to know all of this either way. I don’t remember much about that last night, so I don’t honestly know what answer I gave you. Since I haven’t heard from you—”

“Since you haven’t heard from me?” he cut in. “Are you saying you didn’t want this to end?”

“I just didn’t want to get hurt,” she replied. “But being scared is no excuse for the way—”

Before she could finish the sentence, Nick was on his feet and tugging her into his arms. Without another word, his lips were on hers and all she could do was hold on as the kiss turned her bones to jelly. Not until he finally pulled away did Lauren realize the other diners were applauding.

Cheeks hot from both arousal and embarrassment, she buried her face in his shoulder as a roomful of strangers whistled and cheered in support of a love story they knew nothing about. Happier than she could ever remember being, Lauren looked up into warm brown eyes and a little voice said, “Don’t mess this up again.”

Laying her cheek against Nick’s chest, she whispered, “I won’t, Mom. I promise.”

“What was that?” Nick said, nudging her head up with a gentle touch of her chin.

“I was just saying thank you.”

“No, thank you.” He kissed the tip of her nose. “I thought I lost you for good.”

She’d been lost all right. For much longer than the last ten days.

“Looks like we might have something to celebrate,” Knox said, returning to the table. He held a bottle of champagne in one hand and three glasses in the other. “This seemed more appropriate than a beer.”

Lauren laughed and let go of Nick long enough to kiss her brother on the cheek. “I am definitely ready to celebrate.” Turning back to Nick, she added, “It isn’t every day a girl realizes that she’s fallen in love.”

Nick kissed her once more, eliciting more oohs and aahs from the crowd, then he pulled away, flashed a crooked grin, and said, “I’m glad you’re finally catching up.”

Nick couldn’t believe she was back in his arms.

Lauren curled up tighter against him, sighing as she slid her soft calf along his. “Do I want to know what I said that night?” she whispered.

He rubbed his thumb along her shoulder. “You said you didn’t like needing me and that you were sure I’d walk away.” Turning to kiss her forehead, Nick said, “I’ll never do that.”

“I should have been braver,” she mumbled into his chest.

“You are brave. It takes guts to go your own way. To move to a new place to chase a dream. Not a lot of people would do that.”

“That isn’t the same, though. I’m talking about us.”

Tucking her beneath his chin, Nick watched the ceiling fan spin in the dark. “You came back to me. That’s all that matters.”

Twirling a finger through his chest hair, she said, “I never would have guessed how much coming to this island would change my life. I found you, and now I have a cousin and a whole new family to learn about.”

Confused, he said, “A new family?”

“Oh, I haven’t told you that yet, have I?” Lauren leaned up on an elbow. “Will Navarro is my cousin.”

“How did that happen?”

“Her uncle is mine and Knox’s biological father, though he apparently never knew that we were his. Before she died, Mom tried to track him down and the hunt led her to Will. That’s how I ended up here. Mom’s last wish was for me to get my dream, and since she knew Will is super rich… Do people here know how rich she is?”

Nick knew