After he paid, they made their way to the deck overlooking the ocean. Beckett took Samara’s hand. “Walk with me.”
“I’d like that.”
Chapter Fifteen
The ocean spread before them in an endless dark swath that stretched to the horizon, hiding any number of mysteries. Overhead, the sky had darkened to a deep purple that edged on blue and the first stars winked into existence. With the sand cool beneath her feet and the soothing shush sound of the waves, something deep inside Samara relaxed.
She kept her gaze on the ocean, on the sky, on the beach. Anywhere but at the man beside her. If she looked at Beckett, she might take him up on the promise written across his face. She’d known this thing growing between them wasn’t just the shadow of the inferno of chemistry created by their first night together. It was new and different and all the more dangerous because of it. That knowledge didn’t seem to bother him in the least.
She was still deciding if it bothered her.
Liar. It was everything you could do not to throw yourself into his arms and confess that you never really got over him.
She could chalk her failed relationships up to her devotion to Kingdom Corp. She had done that. Every time she sat through another talk about how it wasn’t working, or she pulled the trigger on ending a dying relationship, there was a niggling little voice in the back of her mind that said there was more to it. That she was waiting for someone.
That she was waiting for Beckett, even if she hadn’t been aware it was him at the time.
None of her exes held a candle to the man holding her hand and seeming on the verge of telling her things she’d convinced herself she never wanted to hear from his lips. The racing of her heart gave lie to that. She wanted to hear it.
It just scared the shit out of her. To want it was to hope, and to hope was to set herself up for heartbreak.
You can’t let yourself think like that. We’ve trusted each other with bigger things than our hearts in the last few days.
Samara moved to him and slipped under his arm. The darkness created a false sense of privacy, and the quiet shushing sound of the waves enclosed them. As long as they didn’t look at the city sprawling out at their backs, they could pretend they were truly alone here. They could have been the last two people in the world.
It would have been a relief to have her choice taken away, for it to be just them and no one—nothing—else to interfere. They could have a life. They could spend years getting to know each other again and filling in the blanks of their pasts. There would be no crisis or anyone depending on them. No stakes in any game.
That wasn’t their reality. It would never be their reality.
She had to either make her peace with that truth, or cut this thing off before it went any further. “I don’t know what’s happening. I don’t know where we go from here.”
“Why do we have to have a concrete plan?” He set his chin on the top of her head and cuddled her closer. “Life has a funny way of proving that we’re not in control—we never will be. We can fake it, and lie to ourselves and say that we’ve got it all figured out, but then life comes along and flips the table to prove how wrong we were.”
She stared into the night. “Thank you for that rousing pep talk.”
“I wasn’t done.” Beckett chuckled. “My point is that any plan worth having isn’t concrete. It’s adjustable and has alternatives and backups to ensure you don’t get caught with your pants down by the enemy.”
She huffed. “You make it sound like we’re going to war.”
“War is life—at least the life we chose. There’s no such thing as peace in the energy industry—oil or otherwise. There are always fights that require us to step to the line. That won’t change, no matter what else does.”
“Shouldn’t we be striving for peace?” It seemed the question to ask, if only because she was still chewing on his words. Tasting them to see how they jibed with her worldview.
“Samara.” He shifted so he could look down at her. “You can’t bullshit a bullshitter. You wouldn’t flourish in a peaceful environment any more than I would. We need the battles, whether it’s in the boardroom or facing down the competition over a bid. We get off on it.”
She opened her mouth to argue, but stopped. She’d never made a habit of lying to herself. She did enjoy those battles. Outmaneuvering problems as they arose and working through a situation to get what she needed. There was nothing else like it. “I’m not ashamed of that.”
“Why would you be?” He traced her bottom lip with his thumb. “Some people were built for peace. They are comfortable in it, and they seek it out at all costs. We’re not those kinds of people, which is a damn good thing because neither of our companies would last long if it was run by people who want to avoid conflict.”
“How do two people who thrive in conflict even try to be together? Wouldn’t it be a total shit show?”
His slow smile had her entire body warming. “Only one way to find out.”
“Yeah, maybe.” She didn’t know. There was too much she didn’t know how to deal with, but the one thing she did know was that this moment with this man felt right.
She turned her face into his chest and let him stroke her hair. It was time to admit that Beckett saw her. He knew her. He wanted and cared for her despite all her dark corners and emotional scars.
Or maybe, just maybe, he wanted and cared for her—at least in part—because of them.
Beckett wanted to
