Love in a Sandstorm (Pine Harbour Book 6)

by Zoe York

  And if he was disappointed, if his stomach twisted at the thought of saying goodbye in the Urfa airport and not knowing when he’d see her next, that was a problem of his own making.

  The next morning, they were the first people on the cable car to the top of the giant rock that gave Gibraltar its unique purpose and identity, and they spent hours exploring the caves and tunnels. There was a display dedicated to the Canadian engineers who helped dig the tunnels during the Second World War, and they took turns taking pictures with the sign pointing toward Ottawa.

  “Would you like a picture together?” asked a British tourist, and Jenna handed over her phone with a shy smile.

  Sean wrapped his arm around her waist and held her tight as they said cheese. “Send that one to me,” he said after they said thank you and continued along their way.

  Over the last week they’d exchanged dozens of texts and pictures as they each compiled a record of their trip together. Another reminder that once they said goodbye, they’d be going their separate ways.

  But he could still reach out. As a friend, if nothing else. Say hi; find out how she was doing.

  She might not know now that was a good idea. But walking away? That wouldn’t work, either. He knew it deep down. He may not have been in Jenna’s master plan, but plans could change. He wanted to be around if she decided she was ready for something more complicated than a vacation fling.

  Back at the base of the rock, they found their car and drove back across the border into Spain. It was a warmer day than they’d had to date, so they rolled down the windows and put on their sunglasses. Sean told Jenna to find him a scenic drive back, and she sent him through the hills again while they traded stories about the stupid shit they’d done when they were younger.

  “I was a bit of a shithead, to be honest. Sullen and angry, full of hormones. Running was good for me.” He slowed down as he crested the top of a ridge, shifting gears as he started the slither down again into a valley. “So was the military, although it took me a few years to get my head on straight and focused on getting overseas.”

  “That was a big moment for me, too,” she said. “Realizing that I could work with an NGO. I knew I’d need at least five years of work experience, with immigrant communities, too. So when I graduated, I got serious about finding a practice that would give me that. And I loved it.”

  “That was in Vancouver?”

  She nodded. “I did a placement in a rural practice my second year, which I loved, too. But the urban setting was important for the multicultural experience.”

  “Where was the rural placement?” He was so curious about everything she’d done, everywhere she’d gone. He wanted to greedily soak up all the details of her life, so when he headed back to Iraq, he’d have this fully formed memory of her, layered with so much more than just their heady attraction and combustible chemistry.

  “Vancouver Island, so not that far afield.” She pulled out her phone and took a picture of the view out the front window, then a picture of him. “You look good behind the wheel.”

  “I like driving. I haven’t done it for a few months. I miss my truck.”

  “Of course you have a truck,” she teased him.

  “Have you ever made out in one? They beat a car, hands down.”

  “Can’t say I have.”

  One day he’d show her. One day he’d make her moan his name in the cab of his truck, and all would be right with the world.

  She took another picture, then leaned back in her seat and started flipping through stuff on her phone. When she groaned, he knew she’d gotten another email from her mother.

  He couldn’t quite sort out their relationship. It wasn’t as antagonist as his deal with the Colonel. Sometimes Jenna talked about her mother with awe, and other times she had to grit her teeth before replying to an email.

  Today it was the latter.

  He must have glanced over enough times that she knew he knew what she was reading. She sighed and rolled her head back. “My mom is blowing up my phone again about the PM photos. ‘There’s a real opportunity here,’ she keeps saying. No, Mom, there isn’t. Stop chasing rainbows. I swear, if I ever have kids, I’m not going to pressure them to do anything with their lives. If they want to be beach bums, that’s totally fine by me.”

  He could picture her on a beach, teaching a kid how to surf. Golden brown hair whipping in the wind, beaming, proud grin when they figured out how to jump up from a crouch. “Those would be lucky kids.”

  She laughed. “Well, we’ll see. Lots of adventuring still to do, first.”

  “So your biological clock didn’t start ticking when you crossed thirty?”

  She shot him an amused look, one eyebrow curving high. “No.”

  “Back home, everyone is having babies.” He didn’t know why he was sharing that. “I’m an uncle now. Officially. I was one unofficially last year…” He found himself telling her about Rafe and Olivia Minelli, and their daughter. About Dani and his brother Jake, and how he hadn’t yet met his little nephew in person, but he’d seen lots of pictures. “I spoiled the shit out of him at Christmas. Thank God for online shopping.”

  “Is your biological clock ticking?” She asked with a sweet laugh. No judgement, just poking at each other’s secrets.

  He was surprised to find himself not thinking no, but instead, not yet. Maybe.

  Maybe he could see himself teaching a kid to surf.

  WHEN THEY GOT BACK to Arcos, they had a nap that was seventy-five percent rest, twenty-five percent arousing snuggles. Sean kept drawing lazy circles on her side, and finally Jenna rolled onto her back and pushed his hand between her legs. He followed with his mouth, and once she got off, he rose above her and stroked himself until he came in messy spurts across her naked torso.

  Then he cleaned her up, and they actually fell asleep for a bit.

  Jenna was going to miss siestas so much.

  She glanced from his face to where his fingers tangled around hers. His already tan skin had darkened over the last week. Had it only been that long? Every inch of his body was now familiar to her. Every expression.

  Was it only yesterday that she told him they shouldn’t talk about what came next for them? She was kidding herself if she thought she wouldn’t think of him every day they were apart.

  They would write. He’d said they had wifi on his base. She’d email him and when he could, he’d email back.

  And then he’d come and visit her. She could play coy all she wanted, there was no denying she’d be counting the days until that reunion.

  Once it was dark, they got dressed up and headed to a restaurant they’d already visited twice before. The waiter recognized them and welcomed them with a big smile, arms wide. “You weren’t here yesterday!”

  “We went to Gibraltar,” Sean said as they sat at what she’d started to think of as their table.

  “Ah yes. You had said that. We missed you, but you had good weather for it. Can I get you drinks?”

  Sean looked at her, and Jenna shrugged. “Beer? Wine?”

  They’d mostly stuck to beer, because Sean only liked to have one drink most nights, but tonight he grinned. “Let’s do a bottle of wine. Do you want white or red?”

  They settled on a bottle of Spanish red that the waiter said would complement what was coming out of the kitchen tonight. He set two glasses on the table before uncorking the bottle. “Did you see any weddings when you were there?” he asked as he poured them each a small amount to taste.

  “In Gibraltar?” Sean handed her the first glass, then lifted his own.

  “Yes, yes. It is known for… how do you call it? The shotgun wedding.”

  Jenna blinked at him in surprise. “Really?”

  “Indeed. They have the easiest rules in all of Europe. Here, there are so many rules. Waiting time, translations. So people go to Gibraltar and it is done in a day.”

  “It’s that quick, eh?” Sean tipped back his glass and she watched his throat work. His eyeli
ds hooded his gaze as he lazily picked up Jenna’s hand. “Something to think about.”

  Energy zinged up her arm.

  When she lifted her gaze to his face, the look was one she’d learned intimately. Yearning. She swallowed hard and squeezed his hand.

  She felt it, too. Big feelings. She could see Sean being the one, which surprised her. But it didn’t scare her, and that was surprising, too.

  Her stomach flip-flopped hard.

  “Too bad,” she offered, her voice low and husky. “Missed opportunity, maybe.”

  Sean made her feel things she’d never experienced before. Nothing like the puppy love of her first adoration in high school, or the safe affection of her relationships since.

  She thought falling in love would feel like a tumble down a cliff, something scary and big, the fall taking some time. Bumpy, maybe. Terrifying, definitely.

  Who knew it could be simple and quiet, like a drop of water in a still pond?

  Plink.

  SHE DIDN’T TELL him that night. She showed him, though. She loved him so thoroughly they fell asleep in a pile, all arms and legs and full hearts.

  And in the morning, she woke before him for the first time and just watched him, her Adonis at rest. Had she fallen in love with him because he was beautiful?

  Maybe a little. There was no denying the physical attraction. She traced her finger, feather light, along the straight line of his nose, then over his perfect lips.

  He blinked his eyes open.

  “Sorry,” she whispered. “I woke you.”

  “It’s okay.” He gave her a crooked, sleepy smile. “I never do this. Sleep in.”

  “We could stay in bed all day. Isn’t this the best?”

  “You’re the best.”

  “You’re just saying that because you want to get lucky.”

  “I’m already lucky. I woke up beside you, didn’t I?”

  She didn’t tell him then, either, although the words almost slipped out on their own.

  They got up and went for a long walk. Their hands just slid together now, Sean’s fingers wrapping around hers.

  They stopped at an open-air market and he bought her a tiny wooden box. “To put your secrets in when I’m not around,” he said as he flipped the lid up and down.

  She hadn’t shared with him as much on this trip as he had with her. She didn’t have that many secrets, really. But she’d share anything with Sean.

  Her heart swelled, and again she thought, I’ve so fallen for you. There was a secret she could give him, since he seemed so hungry to know her, inside and out.

  And yet something still held her back from saying it out loud because it was way too soon.

  “I should get you something,” she said as they wandered through the stalls.

  “So you admit you want me to remember you,” he teased.

  Her heart tripped over his words. “Yes.”

  “Can I ask again about visiting you?”

  She nodded. “Yes.”

  “Okay.” He grinned, and she laughed.

  “Aren’t you going to ask?”

  “No, you shot me down last time. I’m going to wait until you’re feeling all soft and mushy towards me, and use that to my advantage.”

  She blushed. “That’s all the time.”

  “Really?” His eyes lit up and he pulled her close. “Lucky me.”

  She wondered if he’d bring it up again. She waited for it all day, her secret growing inside her. I’ve fallen for you.

  He waited until they were reading in bed that evening. “So…”

  She grinned and closed her book. “Yes?”

  “In the summer, I might be out west. If I were to look you up…”

  “I don’t want to wait until the summer,” she said, surprising both of them with her candour. She sat up and took a deep breath. “I know I said things, but I was wrong. I…you…”

  He took her hand and waited.

  “If you want to stay in touch, I want that.” Her heart squeezed. Fortune favoured the bold. “Actually, I want more than that, but we can take things slow.”

  “Slow has never been my speed. I’m an all or nothing kind of guy.”

  She was learning that. She leaned in and touched his face, tracing the lines at the corners of his eyes and around his mouth. “Let me be the brakes to your runaway train, then.”

  He caught her hand and kissed the tips of her fingers. “I don’t know what I did to deserve you, but God, am I ever grateful.”

  And just like that, she was in. All the way in, whatever he wanted.

  “I love you,” she whispered. “I know it’s too soon, but—”

  He rolled her onto her back and loomed above her, his eyes bright and his smile crooked. “Say it again.”

  “I love you.” This time it floated on a breath.

  He leaned in and kissed her, his lips light and teasing. “I love you, too,” he murmured. He kissed her again, then his smile grew. “Marry me.”

  She didn’t answer him. She kissed him instead. Brakes to his runaway train.

  That didn’t stop him from asking again the next day. “We could go back to Gibraltar. We missed an opportunity there, you said it yourself. So let’s make another chance.”

  Jenna smiled. “We can’t just get married.”

  But Sean wouldn’t be deterred.

  And each time he brought it up, the less sure she was about her answer being no, when really, it was secretly not yet.

  AS THE FINAL days of their vacation counted down, they started eating more meals in the apartment. It was like there was an unspoken agreement that their time together was precious, private, and to be protected.

  Four more days.

  A lump formed in her throat as she reached past him to stir the sautéed vegetables. Four more nights.

  He ran the tap until the water was cold, then filled a glass. “You want some?”

  She smiled and took it from him. “Always.”

  He grinned at her as she drank some of the water, then handed it back.

  Always.

  Could it be that simple?

  He hadn’t asked her yet today.

  Maybe that was important, too. That he’d given her a bit of space to think about it.

  Always.

  “Yes,” she said, and his eyebrows pulled together.

  “Yes?”

  “Yes.” Her heart leapt at the rightness of the answer. “Yes. Let’s get married.”

  “Really?” He hadn’t asked her today. His eyes leapt, bright with excitement. “Yes?”

  She nodded and he pulled her into his arms, kissing her hard before he pressed his lips to her temple. “Thank God,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper. “I was seriously starting to wonder if I’d have to kidnap you.”

  “We might not have enough time, though.” She leaned back and gave him a stern look. “You can’t be disappointed if we need to wait until we’re back home.”

  “We can try.” He caught her hand and lifted her fingertips to his mouth. “You make the impossible possible. I have faith we’ll find a way.”

  She wasn’t so sure, but they woke up early and headed back to Gibraltar. She wore one of her new sundresses, and he wore his only buttoned-down shirt, a blue Oxford, with his cargo pants and freshly polished boots.

  They crossed the border just in time for the wedding registry office to open. They were given the application forms and a list of local notaries who could authenticate their ID, and told to come back before the end of the day and they’d be fit in for a quick ceremony.

  “Surely it can’t be that simple,” Jenna whispered as they left.

  Sean just grinned, and took her hand. Instead of starting down the list of notaries, he led her to a cafe, and once they’d ordered coffee, he asked the waitress which notary she’d heard good things about. Which one was the most romantic? She wasn’t sure, but their conversation attracted the attention of a couple nearby, and before too long, Sean had flashed enough smiles t
o the locals that he had a name. A man was known to be sympathetic to soldiers in a hurry to marry their loves.

  So off they went, Sean holding her hand the entire way. They had their passports and a collection of other identification. Sean’s military ID card, Jenna’s letter of employment.

  They had a compelling story and enough euros to sway anyone not romantic enough to see they needed to do this.

  Her heart squeezed tight.

  They did need to do this. Before they headed back, she wanted to make a promise to Sean.

  And she wanted him to make one to her.

  The office was empty when they entered, but they could hear someone moving around in the back. Then an older man appeared and introduced himself as the lawyer they were looking for. He didn’t look like a romantic. Jenna was suddenly seized by panic, and she wondered if she had any more cash in her purse she could shove across the counter as Sean did his slick introduction.

  “We’re hoping you can help us. We want to get married, but we’re tight on time.” He set his passport on the counter, with his ID card on top of it. “I’m a soldier, and I’m leaving in two days.” He shifted his hand, and Jenna saw the neatly folded stack of bills under the passport. “If there is any way you can help us…”

  The lawyer glanced at Jenna, then back to Sean. He picked up the passport and ID. “You are Canadian?”

  “We both are,” Jenna said, handing over her own passport. “We met here in Europe.”

  “Are you staying in Gibraltar?”

  They both nodded. They’d booked a hotel room again for that night. She held her breath, but he didn’t ask any more questions.

  He looked at Sean’s passport, then Jenna’s. Back and forth. Finally, he nodded. “I can help you. Come back in one hour, and I’ll have your documentation notarized. In the meantime, you can search the streets for your two witnesses.” He also named a fee higher than the bribe Sean had already paid, and Jenna was quite certain it was significantly higher than the stated rate for document notarization, but she didn’t care.

  “Thank you,” she breathed.

  Sean extended his hand. “Thank you so much, sir. We greatly appreciate it.”