Page 77 of Rogue Wave

When he finally let my mouth go so I could breathe, I tilted my head up to take a good look at him. He looked tired but happy to be here.

“How was work?” I asked.

“Fine.” His smile looked forced rather than genuine, so I knew his reply was just to appease me.

“Okay, cool. How about the real answer now?” I pulled my arms away from him and put my hands on my hips.

He sighed before leaning against the counter. “It wasn’t great, but it will be soon. I’d like to take you out to dinner and not have people constantly asking you about the reward money.”

He was referring to two nights ago when we’d gone out to eat at Luigi’s. Not one, not two, but five different people interrupted our meal to talk to Hank about the reward money and wanted to chat with me. That was the second time in as many weeks that had happened.

I knew he was frustrated by it, and I was too, but not to the extent that Hank was. He seemed genuinely concerned that so many people felt comfortable hounding me over the money.

“I finally got all our local law enforcement agencies to change the wording for the reward so that hopefully it takes some of the heat off you.”

“I’m happy to hear that, but I need you to listen to me,” I said, pulling his face down close to me with my hands on each cheek. “You don’t need to put on a happy face for me, Hank. I don’t want you to hide your bad days from me or pretend to be perfect. You’re safe to be messy, tired, and vulnerable around me. When I ask about your day, it’s because I genuinely want to know about the whole day—not just the good parts.”

He exhaled as if he’d been holding his breath and could now relax. He lowered his head to touch his forehead to mine.

He smelled like soap, sun, and salty air—the perfect combo in my book.

I wrapped my arms around him, trying to give him any strength I had and let him know I was there for him, whatever he needed.

“I love you,” he said without preamble.

What did he just say?

My eyes widened and my heart started racing.

He pulled his forehead back from mine and stared down at me, his gaze soft but serious.

“I know it’s early, but I see a lot of shit in the world, Hazel. I know a good thing when I see it, and that’s you. I also know that for my parents, they knew early on.”

I thought back to his divorce and wondered if he’d felt the same about her.

As if he could read my thoughts, he replied softly as he tucked my hair behind my ear. “I never felt this way about Kenzie. I asked her to marry me because I thought it was what I was supposed to do, not because I loved her. There is no comparison between what I feel for you and what I felt for her.”

I smiled in relief.

“You don’t need to say it back,” he said. “You’ve already told me as much with your actions, and that matters more to me.”

My eyes started to get blurry, and I became overcome with emotions.

“Hank,” I choked out, too emotional to tell him the words back, even though I wanted to.

He slid both his hands to cup my face as he looked at me reverently. “Now, you mentioned my good parts. Which parts are those exactly?” His grin grew impossibly larger, and there was a twinkle of mischief in his eyes as well.

As if his body alone wasn’t a big enough turn-on, his seductive, devilish smile was enough to light my entire body on fire.

Two can play that game, Hank.

“Have I told you how much I love your beard?”

“A few times, yes.” I heard the smile in his voice even without seeing it.

“Well, it can’t be said enough. I love your beard and what it does to me. Definitely a favorite part.”

“Any other good parts?”