But when her eyes opened, she was met with the sight of his face, turned towards her.
Elodie wasn''t prepared. Her heart leaped into her throat. It was a confusing mix of nervousness and excitement.
He was undeniably handsome, with perfect, refined features. His eyshes were long, and his high brow bone gave his eyes a deep, soulful look.
It took a while for her heart to calm down. As she stared at him, she recognized the subtle flutter of attraction within her. On an impulse, she reached out, wanting to touch the elegant bridge of his nose.
Before she could make contact, her wrist was seized.
The supposedly sleeping man''s eyes opened,pletely clear and alert.
"You''re not asleep?" Elodie gasped, shocked.
Jarrod looked at her. "You were staring a hole through me. How could I sleep?"
"Aren''t you tired?" Elodie felt like she''d been caught red-handed. She tried to pull her hand back, but he held on tight.
"I''m in good shape."
Elodie didn''t know how to respond. She struggled again. "Well, I''m going to sleep now. You can go be in good shape by yourself."
Jarrod still didn''t let go. He didn''t speak, just looked into her eyes. Elodie met his gaze and felt a jolt run through her, as if her very soul had been shaken. Electricity coursed through her limbs.
The room was dark, lit only by the faint light reflecting off the sea outside therge window. The sound of the waves was a distant murmur, a sound that seemed to echo in both of their hearts.
She didn''t know how long they stared at each other, or who made the first move. All Elodie knew was that in that moment, something broke, and neither of them cared about anything else.
She was flipped onto her back, their breaths mingling in a frantic, desperate dance.
She watched the sun rise over the coastline, its rays slowly illuminating the messy room, revealing everything. They didn''t even know how long they had b
together emboldened by the fact that they werepletely alone, the vi and the world their own private sanctuary, with only the constant rhythm of the waves as their
witness.
It was the first time Elodie had truly, fully experienced it. Jarrod was always mindful
of her feelings. She never knew she could be so uninhibited.
They missed breakfast and lunch.
She had expected them to get to work soon, but Jarrod never brought it up. They just stayed there, their days and nights turned upside down She felt like they hadn''t slept a single night that aligned with a normal schedule.
"Are you sure work is okay?" Elodie found herself worrying about his schedule. For someone of his status, time was always tight. He rarely took short vacations, let alone long ones.
Instead of having the vi staff deliver their meals, Jarrod had gone grocery shopping with her and was now cooking. "I''m handling things online," he said.
He had brought her here to have this time alone together. All his work had been postponed, and anything that couldn''t be was arranged in advance.
Elodie felt a sense of surrealism watching Jarrod cook. "What are we..." she began to ask.
He always had an answer for her questions. "We''re building a life together."
"Elodie, we''re only going to get better."
It was that one sentence that sent Elodie tumbling headfirst into the abyss of love. Jarrod wanted to build a life with her.
All her previous anxieties, her fears that he hated her, vanished into thin air. In that instant, she threw herself into the rtionshippletely. And she stayed there, for many years.
After putting Nadia to sleep, Elodie''s
thoughts returned from the past. Back then, she felt like she was walking through a dream of happiness. The feelings her family had never given her Jarrod did. Back then, they had truly loved each other.
"You have no idea. To spend that extra two weeks with you, your husband nearly worked himself to death at the office before we left," Jarrod said, popping a grape into Elodie''s mouth with a click of his tongue.
Looking back, he was the one who was truly lovestruck back then.