She’d tilted her head, pretending to study him. “You’re Nathaniel, right? The pilot?”
“Guilty.”
“I heard you have a habit of disappearing for days,” she said. “I thought that was just a rumor. But here you are, magically appearing on my pier.”
“Your pier?” he teased.
“Yes,” she replied, with that smile—quiet but certain. “I come here when I need peace. The world’s noisy enough as it is.”
Something about her tone had disarmed him. That night, they’d ended up walking the length of the pier together, trading stories—his about turbulent flights and foreign cities, hers about sketching by the water and the strange comfort of seagulls.
They’d stayed long enough to see the stars come out, their shoulders brushing as they leaned on the railing.
Back then, they were sweet together. Late-night talks. Walks under the stars. Stolen moments in between his flights. She had a way of making the chaos of his life feel calm.
But then… he had chosen Delilah.
At first, it wasn’t love—it was a game. He wanted to test Eleanor, to see if she’d fight for him, if she’d show even a flicker of jealousy. But instead of clinging to him, she’d smiled politely and gone out with another man. That had stung his pride.