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“I know,” he says “And the truth is, if ood for?”

I propwhere he is going with this

“I can’t o away,” he says “And I can’t shoo away the photographers I can’t even promise it will be better the next time we come But what I can do is make it better now”

His words are like a soothing bal me with hope

“Will you trust ht?” he asks, his eyes fixed on le-handedly rules an e this to me

“You’rehim what he already knows “You’re the beat of my heart You are the essence of me And I will always trust you”

Chapter 12

I push my ept hair out of e man, his coffee-colored skin slick with sweat His sold as he helpsdock that shifts beneath me as I step onto the weathered wood

Dah to pay theus over

“I be bringing your staff, too, you just say the word, mon”

“No staff,” Damien says “Not this trip But I’ll radio e need you to coainst hts in the pressure of his fingers Alone Together Paradise

I turn my head to smile at him That sounds like heaven to me

The captain returns to his little boat as Da shorts and a tank top My feet are bare The captain unloaded our luggage onto the dock, but we leave it there for the ti this wide-open, nearly wild island in the Bahamas

The sand is warm beneath e There are barely any waves; instead, the turquoise water sits as still as a painting, wide-open and vibrant and never-ending, this fabulous tableau broken only by the silhouette of similar small islands in the distance

Behind us, the sand rises toward a line of vegetation, and I see a rustic path cut through the brush I folloith my eyes and can just make out a small stone house

“That’s the only structure,” Da up, but it’s perfectly livable The cay is seven acres of undeveloped wilderness and pristine beaches And there’s not a soul here other than us”

“You really bought it?” I’m still in awe

“I really did”

I wade out until the ater hits rin “I thought you didn’t impulse-buy real estate”