“I still can’t imagine ever wanting to leave. You have so much here. Don’t you ever miss it?” He could tell she wasn’t asking to try to convince him to stay, but because she was truly curious. “I think I’d miss it, and I’ve only been here a few days.”
“The island has that effect on a lot of people,” he agreed. “I see it in Trent’s eyes now that we’re back, actually. It might not have been his initial choice to come back here, but now that he’s been back a little while, I can tell he’s fully committed to being here again. Excited about it, actually. Whereas Derek can’t wait for the handcuffs to come off so that he can leave again. Then again, Derek has never been the kind of guy who’s ever been happy settling down in one place.”
When Shelley settled her hand over his after he said the word handcuffs, and her eyes went serious, Quinn easily guessed that she must be thinking about how vehement he had been about leaving when they’d first met.
“You’re a careful thinker, Quinn, and this has all happened so fast. The speed of our relationship doesn’t faze me, but I can’t help wondering if in your mind you’re still processing it. Us.” She rubbed her thumb across his palm. “I just want you to know that I get it, because I never saw you coming, either. After all,” she said with a laugh, “this was supposed to be my solo honeymoon. I never expected to meet you in the cove at midnight and fall head over heels in love with you, practically at first sight.”
Not for the first time—or, he was certain, the last—Quinn wondered what he’d done to deserve her. He’d never met a woman who understood his need to overthink things. Nor had he ever met one who was so honest in every moment, even when honesty wasn’t the easiest path.
Most women, he knew, would either be giving him an ultimatum about staying on the island or they’d be offering to move to Annapolis with him. But as much as Shelley loved him—and he knew without one single doubt that she loved him as much as he loved her—she had way too much self-respect to ever give up her own dreams to follow a man. Especially not when she’d been searching her whole life for a place that felt like home, and there was no doubt that Rockwell Island was that place.
He’d known she belonged here from the moment he’d seen her in the cove that first night. She’d bonded with the elements, both tangible and intangible, and had become one with the island in the same way most of his family was. And the truth was, seeing the island through her eyes had him also now feeling the pull of the bay, the draw of the close-knit residents, and the love and support that his family doled out effortlessly and consistently.
But more than anything, he knew he’d be drawn back to the island again and again by Shelley. “You make me want so much,” he told her as he laid her gently on her back and kissed the ridge of her shoulder. “You make me think about my future in such a different way than I ever have before.” He kissed a heated path down her arm. “You make me feel like the island is home again, when it hasn’t been that way for a very long time.” He pressed a kiss to the pulse point at her neck, then licked out against her deliciously soft skin. “And tonight, when you talked about having kids, you made me realize how great that would be...and that I want to be there for my kids the same way my parents were there for me.”
“You’re a loving, caring son and brother, Quinn,” she said softly, her breath hitching from his mouth playing over her skin. “So I know you’re going to be a protective, loving father one day, too.”
He lifted his head to look into her eyes. “You have so much faith in me, don’t you?”
Because even though he now wanted all these new things, he also still needed to figure out how to balance this powerful love he felt with his crazy schedule and propensity to overwork. He wanted to be there for her when she needed him and not let her down by canceling trips to see her at the last minute because of a meeting about the resort or an issue at the shipyard.
“Always,” she said against his lips before pressing a kiss to them. “I’ll always have faith in you. Just like I know you’ll always have faith in me.”
“How did I get so lucky to find you, Shell? You’re sweet, you’re beautiful, and you’re mine.”
“Yours,” she agreed in a whisper as he ran his hands over her, from her shoulders to her waist and then over her hips. “Love me, Quinn.”