Shannon felt like someone had taken all of her vital organs, rubber banded them together, twisted everything up, and then let go. Everything quaked, and she hated that there were four other women only a dozen feet away, watching.
Jeremiah finally came up beside her, and she blurted, “I’m sorry.”
He didn’t look mad. Or frustrated. Watching him interact with his staff by passing out coffee and signing forms was one of the sexiest things she’d seen, and she didn’t even know why. He wore a suit, as always, and he smelled like pine trees and sea air.
She moved closer to him, because she craved his touch. She couldn’t believe it, but she did. She wanted to be near him, and she wanted him to hold her hand so she’d calm down. Hercules had been a good friend this week, but he was a poor substitute for his owner.
“You don’t have to be sorry,” he said.
“Why haven’t you been texting me?” she asked, hating the hint of a whine in her voice.
“Shannon, I thought it was pretty clear that the ball was in your court. I said I could be patient. That was me being patient.”
He didn’t sound super patient at the moment, but she supposed he had interrupted his busy morning. “Okay,” she said, drawing in a big breath. “So this is me bouncing the ball back to you. Can you go to lunch today?”
He finally looked at her, and she let herself dive right into those ocean-blue eyes. “Let me talk to Flo for a second.”
“You don’t know your schedule?” Oh, how easy it was to slip right back into flirting with him.
“I know my schedule,” he said. “And lunch will probably work if we can go early. Like, eleven o’clock early, and I have to be back by noon.”
“I can do eleven,” Shannon said, hope blooming in her chest. “Can we go to The Lunch Spot? It’s Thursday, and they have crab bisque on Thursdays.”
Jeremiah smiled, and everything that had been missing in Shannon’s life these past few days returned. “Sure,” he said. “We can go to The Lunch Spot.”
“Great, I’ll meet you outside at eleven.” She stretched up and pressed her lips to his cheek, the way she’d done a few weeks ago when they’d first started seeing each other. He put his hand on her waist and held her there, and the moment was one of the most tender she’d experienced with him.
Then he fell back a step, cleared his throat, and said, “See you then,” before walking back over to the reception area.
Shannon practically danced out of his office and down the boardwalk a few yards to Your Tidal Forever. She’d spent the last few days of lunches with Riley and then Charlotte, who had plenty of stories to tell about her husband, Dawson.
Charlotte had come to Getaway Bay after a nasty divorce, and she knew all about needing time to figure things out before a real relationship could begin. Shannon had taken comfort in knowing that someone else had tread the same path she was on and come out victorious.
“He said yes,” she practically yelled when she entered the building. Inside Charlotte’s office, a chair scraped, and a few second later, the blonde appeared in the doorway.
“He said yes?” She looked from Riley to Shannon, who bounced on the balls of her feet.
“We’re going to The Lunch Spot at eleven. He has to be back by noon.”
“I told you he wasn’t mad at you,” Riley said.
“Oh, girl, he likes you,” Charlotte said.
Shannon grinned and went over to hug her friends. “Thank you for helping me with this,” she said. “I just…sometimes I can’t trust my own thoughts.”
“Does he have any single friends?” Riley asked, and not for the first time. “You keep saying you’ll ask him, but you never do.”
“Riley, if you need a date, you should’ve come to me,” Charlotte said. “There’s this new pilot that works with Dawson, and he is gorgeous.”
“Really?” Riley asked, and Charlotte nodded. “Let me go get his number.” She clicked herself and her heels back into her office, and Shannon shrugged at Riley.
“I keep forgetting. I have a lot on my mind when I’m with Jeremiah.”
“Right,” Riley said dryly. “I think you’re too busy kissing him.” She grinned at Shannon, who hitched her smile in place as she walked toward the hall. No, she had not told her friends everything—that was why she paid a professional therapist. But her friends had been very helpful in pointing her in the right direction, which ironically was the same one Doctor Finlayson wanted her to go in.
Conversation. Have a conversation about it, Shannon.
Talking about serious things was not easy for Shannon, though she wanted to do better. She settled at her desk, realizing that she had a ten-thirty conference call with a paper supply manager on the island of Lanai.
She could complete the call in thirty minutes—if she had a strict agenda. So she set to work to make one of those, because she was not missing this lunch date with Jeremiah.
At 11:05, she hurried down the hall toward the front entrance of the building, her thumbs flying over her phone. She sent the text, surprised to hear Jeremiah’s notification echo right back to her.
She found him in the reception area, bent over a table with Riley. “Hmm,” he said, pulling his phone from his pocket. “I think this one.”
The simplicity of him being there, of helping Riley choose a stationery for the company party invitations, got Shannon’s pulse pounding.
“Hey,” she said as he started reading her text. “Sorry I’m late. Conference call went over.”
“It’s fine,” he said, and Shannon wondered what it would take to ruffle him. Maybe she didn’t want to know. She had seen him upset a few days ago, and she hadn’t liked it.
“Be back later,” she called to Riley, and she and Jeremiah went outside. “Wow, it’s hot,” she said.
“You’re having an outdoor company party in July,” he said. “And you think it’s hot now?” He chuckled and shook his head. “I think I’m going to be out of town that week, by the way.”
“You are not,” she said, bumping into him with her hip and laughing. “And you’re coming to that party. I went to that swanky gala with you.”
“You loved that ‘swanky gala’,” he said, reaching for and securing her hand in his. The moment sobered, and he asked, “This is okay?”
“Yes,” she said with conviction. “And so is this.” She darted in front of him and practically threw herself into his arms so they could share a kiss.
He moved carefully, slowly, like he didn’t want to scare her off or break her. Part of Shannon liked it, and the other part wanted him to be able to act naturally. Maybe this was natural for him.
“Mm,” he said, keeping his eyes closed after she pulled away. “I’ve missed you, Shannon.”
“I missed you too, Jeremiah,” she whispered.
“Okay,” he said, starting forward again. “Something light for conversation today. Our game of Things We Don’t Know. You go first.”
“I don’t like tapioca pudding.”
“That’s because it’s disgusting.” Jeremiah laughed, the sound as magical as his touch in healing Shannon’s soul.
“Your turn,” she said.
“I learned all my magic tricks from an online workshop,” he said.
“Wait a minute,” she said. “You mean you’re not really a wizard?”
He chuckled and shook his head. “Sorry to disappoint you.”
“Wow.” She swung their hands a little exuberantly. “I had no idea you could be so deceptive.”
“Your turn,” he said.
“I hate the color red,” she said. “I won’t even use it when I decorate for Christmas. It’s all blue and silver and gold at my house.”
“Fascinating,” he said. “I think you’re beautiful.”
Shannon’s heartbeat jumped up into her throat. “That doesn’t count,” she managed to say through a wad of emotion. “I already knew that.”
“Did you?” He cut her a look out of the corner of his eye. “What about this one? I like you just how you are.”
“Stop it,” she said, half playfully and half serious. “You’ll make me cry, and we’re almost to The Lunch Spot.”
“Fine, just one more. I’ll wait as long as it takes to be with you, Shannon, because I’m falling in love with you.”
She stopped walking, unable to think, and breathe, and process his words at the same time. Her emotions spiraled up like they were on that roller coaster again, and she swiped at her eyes when she felt the moisture there.
“Jeremiah,” she said, and he reached over and tucked her hair behind her ear. He’d done it a few times in the past, and each time was so full of adoration and caring that Shannon could feel it way down deep in her soul.
“Too heavy for lunch conversation,” he said. “I’m sorry. How about this one? I’ve only been to the Mainland once, and I’d love to go to New York City for Christmas.” He started walking again, a little slower than before, and Shannon simply went with him, the game apparently over.
She couldn’t speak to continue the game anyway, because what she wanted to say was trapped behind her fear. I’m falling in love with you too.
An alarm went off on Shannon’s phone, and she looked up from the ledger where she’d been working for twenty minutes. She’d taken to segmenting her tasks, so she didn’t spend too much time on some and not enough on others.
May was the craziest month of the year—well, besides November—what with the eleven June weddings on the calendar. And the Poulson wedding was going to come in right under budget, thank you very much.
Shannon had negotiated a deal with a new paper supplier that had saved Your Tidal Forever almost ten percent in stationery and announcement costs. She’d never seen Hope so happy, and Shannon’s confidence had grown with each success she’d achieved this month.
And now she needed to move on to the Keller file so everyone would be ready for the final consultation that afternoon.
She closed her budgeting ledger on the computer and spun around to dig through the physical files for the Keller’s. Her stomach growled, but she still had an hour to go before Jeremiah would saunter into the building and whisk her off for sixty minutes of eating, laughing, and kissing.
They’d worked out a nice schedule over the past month, where they got together for lunch a few times a week as their schedules allowed. And every evening found them walking together, one of them holding a loose leash on Hercules.
Shannon had seen more sunsets in the past few weeks than she ever had, and she didn’t mind leaning into Jeremiah’s strong chest as the last of the light drained from the day. Then they’d walk Hercules home in the twilight, kiss under her porch lights, and do it all again the next day.
He had been patient and kind about her issues, and she’d been seeing Doctor Finlayson twice a week. Shannon almost felt like herself again, and she was starting to imagine what her own wedding would be like.
Her buzzer sounded, and then Riley said, “Jeremiah’s here.”
“Already?” Shannon asked, glancing at the clock. She easily had another hour of work to do before she could take a break.
“He’s coming back.”
Shannon tried to speed-read the rest of the file she’d already spent sixty minutes on.
“Hey,” he said easily, taking the chair in front of her desk. Hardly anyone but him sat there, and Shannon snapped the file closed.
She put her arms over the folder and smiled at him. “I’m so sorry, but I’m going to have to cancel lunch.”
His face fell for a moment, but he recovered quickly. “All right. Want me to bring you something back?”
“Where are you going?”
He shrugged and said, “Wherever.”
“You know what I like.”
“Shannon.” Hope appeared in the doorway to her office. “Oh, hello, Jeremiah.”
“Hey,” he said, standing. “I’ll see you later, Shannon.” He walked away without looking back, and Shannon’s attention was divided between watching him leave and wanting to do whatever Hope needed her to do.
“I didn’t mean to interrupt,” Hope said.
“It’s fine,” Shannon said, shaking herself. “I’ve been over the Keller file, and I’m set to pick up the cookies at two.”
“Great,” Hope said. “I want you to run the meeting, too.” She gave Shannon a smile, but Shannon’s insides shook.
“Me?”
“You’re ready.” Hope gestured for her to come into the office. “And I have a new client I want you to take the lead on. Start with them. Go through every step with them, from beginning to end.”
Shannon knew what all of the pieces were to plan a wedding, but she’d never taken on a single bride and seen to every little detail from start to finish. A new level of excitement bubbled up inside her, and she hurried to follow Hope into her office to learn who her first real client would be.