Someone Like You(62)

'Shit, Elizabeth. Don't do that.'

Now she was confused. The last thing she wanted to be doing with Dan  right there, filled with that look in his eyes that melted her bones,  was discuss her personal finances. 'I'll look at it later, Dan. There's  something I want to say.'

He grabbed the envelope, unfolded it, then grabbed her hand and made  sure she took it. 'A man's trying to give you something here. Open it.'

She stepped back, puzzled at his insistence. 'Well, okay.' Lizzie slid  her index finger under the flap on the back and pried it open. Inside  was a simple A4 piece of paper, folded into three. She lifted the top  flap, took in what was printed there. Held her breath.

'Dan,' she gasped.

He rubbed his fingers across his stubbled jaw, watched her.

She unfolded the bottom third of the letter and could feel the shakes  start in her knees and then in her stomach. She simply stared at it.  What it said. What it meant. Looked off into the distance, to the  coastline she knew like the back of her hand, and then looked at the  letter again.

He couldn't be serious. This was too much. She tried to control the  pounding in her head and the pulse that seemed to be throbbing in her  stomach. For the first time in her life, she was totally and utterly  speechless.

'Well?' Dan asked, eyebrows raised.

Lizzie looked again from the page to the face of the most precious man in the world.

He shoved his hands in his pockets, shrugged. 'Look, I know it's not the  most romantic thing in the world, a letter from a travel agent. They  don't do real tickets anymore, you know that.' He chuckled, then reached  out to stroke the fine hair by her ear.

Lizzie read the letter again, could finally let the words sink in. It  told her that she could pick up a return air ticket, to anywhere in the  world, all expenses paid, whenever she wanted.

A gift to Elizabeth Blake from Dan McSwaine.

She could barely get the words out. 'Dan, I don't know what to say.'

'Just say you'll take it.' He reached for her hand, twined his fingers  in hers. 'You deserve the big adventure you never got to have,  Elizabeth. You packed all your dreams away when you came back from  London. What happened to you wasn't fair. Losing your dream wasn't fair,  either.'

Her dreams. She hadn't hoped for anything much in her life for so long.  Until she met this man, standing before her, with a gift more valuable  than an air ticket. He was giving her so much more. This simple gesture,  spelled out plainly on a white piece of paper, was worth more than  money. He'd given her the gift of knowing her. Of knowing who she really  was and of finding his way into her heart.

All she could do was throw herself into his embrace, her arms tight  around his neck, and she wasn't sure if he'd lifted her but she felt  like she was floating on air. This man, who not so long ago was crushed  and broken himself, held her tight, his fingers splayed on her back, his  heart beating fast in time with hers.

'Take the ticket. Go see the world. It'll love you, Elizabeth,' he whispered in her ear. 'But not as much as I do.'

She found his lips, kissed him with everything she had and he responded  in the exact way she hoped he would. It was fierce, passionate, not just  lips joining in love, but two hearts seeing into the future and  imagining something good.         

     



 

He loves me and yet he's willing to let me go.

Her heart leapt at the sheer simplicity of what had to come next. A calm  settled over her and that mysterious confidence she'd been looking for?  She felt it. It had been inside her all along.

'You say you love me but you're sending me away alone? What if I meet an  Italian football player, a Swedish supermodel or even a Greek tycoon … '

'A Greek tycoon? In their economy?' Dan laughed and dropped her to the sand. 'Yeah, maybe I didn't think this through.'

'The world is a very big place filled with lots of handsome men. What if  someone just as sexy as you tries to sweep me off my feet?'

He tapped a forefinger on his chin, thought for a minute, grinned. 'Give  that back,' and he lunged forward to snatch the envelope from her hand.

'Oh no, it's mine now, Big Guy.' And she ran backwards, hopping from  foot to foot, beckoning him to follow her, which he did with his sexy  eyes on her and his long limbs pounding the beach. And then he had her  and they tumbled to the sand, arms and legs tangling, both laughing and  breathing hard. As she toppled, Dan pulled Lizzie onto him, breasts to  chest, heart to heart.

He kissed her, hard and demanding at first, then soft. 'You're mine, Lizzie. You know that, don't you?'

'Yes,' she murmured. 'I want to be.'

He held her face in his hands, met her eyes. 'We've got something here  and I'm not letting it go. I'll be waiting for you when you get back.  You'd better come back.'

She stroked his face, saw the serious look in his eyes. She felt shivery  and hot all at the same time. She had to say it back. Needed to tell  him how loved he was. How much she wanted him in her life.

'Come with me.' The words came out in a rush of breath.

'What?'

'I don't know how you knew, but you did. You found your way into  understanding me and that's the most unbelievable thing. Because I was  beginning to give up on that, you know? Especially here in this little  town. I thought I might never find someone who gets me. And you get me.  You get that I need that adventure, that I'm ready for it. Finally. I  want the adventure, Dan, but I want to share it with you. So, come with  me.'

His eyes were full of love for her. 'You're serious.'

'I am serious. And you can't argue with me. This is absolutely  non-negotiable. Because … you see … I love you too. I don't want to let you  go, either. I've waited too long to meet you to leave you here.'

He moved his hand to the spot just above her left breast and when he  pressed there, she hoped he could feel her racing heart under his palm.  He leaned in to press his lips to hers, so gentle, so full of love.

'I love you, Elizabeth Blake.'

She had to know. 'You think we can make it, with all our baggage? All the shit we carry around on our shoulders?'

Dan thought about it, held the silence while he studied her face as if  he was seeing her for the first time. Then he rolled her, so he was on  top of her, half his weight on the sand. The setting sun shadowed his  face but his emerald eyes shone down at her.

'You know, a very wise woman told me something once. "Shit happens," she  said. "And when it does, you just have to keep on getting out of bed  and brushing your teeth".'

'God,' she laughed, 'Who is that woman and why is she full of such crap?'

He smiled. 'She also said that all you can hope for when you get out of  bed in the morning is a normal day. Not a spectacular day. Just an  ordinary day.' Dan looked deep into her eyes. 'I don't know about you  but I think this is a pretty spectacular day.'

Lizzie exhaled, deep. 'I think it's exceeded my wildest dreams. It's a pretty spectacular day.'

'And I'll promise you one thing, Elizabeth Blake. You will never, ever have an ordinary day when you wake up next to me.'

Lizzie stopped, held her breath at what she saw. Not only could she feel  him, hard, pressing into her, but there it was, in his eyes. The sexy,  confident charm she'd seen in him when they'd first met. It was back.

But she also knew he was so much more than the old Dan. She was fortunate to know that he was so much more than that.

'I'll hold you to that,' she replied, her eyebrows raised, and she  wrapped one leg around him, pushed herself into him, making no secret of  how much she wanted him back.

Around them, the curtain of night was falling. The sun was almost gone  behind the western coast, but they didn't move. Held still in the  comfort of each other's arms and each other's love. Knowing that  whatever happened next, they would face it together.         

     



 

'So, Dan,' Lizzie said, moving against him to get closer.

'Yeah?'

'One question.' She nibbled at her bottom lip.

'What's that?'

'You know I hate it when you call me Elizabeth.'

'Yes.' Dan found the silky hair by her ear and stroked it softly.

'Are you ever going to call me Lizzie like everyone else?'

The look of love in his eyes almost melted her bones. 'I'm not like everyone else.'

Thank God for that.

He kissed her again and it left her lips tingling.

'So, Elizabeth.' Dan said her name with added emphasis.

'Yes?' Lizzie replied, almost drunk with love and happiness. This man,  on this beach, with the promise of tomorrow, was almost too much to  bear.

'When do we leave?'

Lizzie gasped. 'You mean it? You really mean it?'

'As long as we come back here. And we talk about what happens next. With us.'

'You've got a deal,' Lizzie whispered into the wind sweeping in off the water, and she sealed it with a kiss.