Camped out on the living room carpet, wearing nothing but one of Ethan's shirts, Alyssa set down her fork atop her plate and was almost tempted to swipe up the last bit of the romesco sauce with her tongue.

Holy shit the man could cook.

The meal had been Michelin star worthy—and she'd certainly know having frequented more than a few in the last seven years. Whenever she'd set off to travel on business, Alyssa had always made a point to track down the best restaurants in the city and explore all kinds of stunning cuisine. From authentic to cutting edge, food had always been a source of comfort and pleasure.

To think he'd been subjected to her amateur attempts in her own kitchen over the last few weeks made her flush with amused embarrassment. 

"Who taught you to cook like that?" she asked as he rose to carry their empty plates into the kitchen.

"Mom." Ethan slid their plates into the rack of the loaded dishwasher, reached for the box of soap from under the sink and slid a capsule into the cartridge. "She was big on making sure we could take care of ourselves—all of us. Cooking, cleaning and laundry, we all took shifts in the Davies household, learning everything we needed to know from the ground up." Slapping it shut, he pressed a couple of buttons and she heard a low rumble followed by a wet swish of water.

Alyssa eyed him thoughtfully, smiled. "I like that. A mom who doesn't cater to her boys because they're boys."

Ethan snorted, leaning back against the counter. The hard lines of his body stretching the material of his shirt taught over his biceps and chest. "You've met my mom, so you can definitely say she doesn't cater to anyone. We each had to pull our weight. No excuses and no special allowances. Not even for Rhiannon."

Nose scrunched, Alyssa worked through the list of his siblings' names he'd once told her but stumbled after Jenelle. "Which one is she again?"

"Ria's the youngest of us, and was diagnosed with Aspergers—a high functioning form of autism, when she was about nine."

"Hm." She nodded, her memory jogged. "The artist, right? How old is she now?"

"She'll be twenty in May. She got a scholarship to an art school in Paris after high school. Mom thought it would be great for her to get away and experience life abroad to develop her own sense of independence, though dad wasn't too happy about it. But we have a cousin out that way keeping an eye on her, checking in from time to time." 

"So you have seven siblings. How many cousins?"

"Never thought to put a number to it before." Pausing to think, Ethan stroked a hand over the back of his neck. "Mom's from a big family herself. She was the middle of ten and her family's scattered about, so...couple dozen at least. Every couple of years we all get together for a big reunion. Sometimes here, sometimes elsewhere."

Alyssa whistled.

"What?" He nudged her with his shoulder, amused by her stunned surprise.

"Nothing. It's just...I'm so envious of your family life. Growing up with all those siblings, aunts and uncles and cousins. So full." Holding her glass, she swirled what remained of her wine. "It was never like that for Eva and me. We only had each other. And mom," she added with a roll of her eyes, "though mom was a difficult pill to swallow even on her best day. I can't say it was all bad, but it wasn't all great either."

Taking her glass, Ethan topped up her wine as well as his. "What about your dad?"

"Never knew him. And mom refused to speak of him. Ever. When I turned eighteen I got it in my head I'd find him. Track him down. But," she jerked a shoulder, "I didn't have much of anything to go on and couldn't afford the private investigation fees. So I gave it up. Don't even know why I'm telling you all of this...it was so long ago."

But she did.

This place, something about this place, being surrounded by Eva and the Davies and the close-knit island community of Haven was sinking deep beneath her skin.

Stirring up old wounds and waking old ghosts better left buried.

"That must've been hard."

She jerked her shoulder again. "It was hardest when Eva was gone and mom died—I'd never felt so alone in all my life. You never appreciate your family until you're left with nothing. With no one. I never want to feel that way again." 

Reaching for her, Ethan tugged her close, the strength of his arms folding around her. Warm and tight. Closing her eyes, Alyssa settled against him, not resisting this soft and easy offer of comfort that was so innately him and offered entirely without pity. The protector. The giver. The shelterer. All of these made him who he was and what tugged on her heart, made it squeeze and ache and kick.

No, she reminded herself. Falling in love wasn't allowed. Love came with expectations. Love came with unspoken demands she couldn't hope to fulfill. He deserved more. He deserved someone whole and undamaged—unbroken. He deserved life with all of its glorious possibilities.

"I made a cheesecake for dessert. You up for that?" he asked, hands stroking up and down her sides. She felt the press of his lips against her temple and struggled not to cry as she masked the strain of emotion in her voice with a laugh.

"Like you even need to ask."

#

Ethan woke in the hazy blue of predawn, warm in his bed with Alyssa curled against him. He watched her. Heart tripping into love over and over again. She was beautiful. Perfect. And everything about having her here, holding her felt right. Natural.

He woke her with his lips on her shoulder his hands on her skin with slow strokes and easy caresses. 

Sighing, Alyssa stretched, the sheets shifting over her naked body as something between a pout and a smile twisted her lips. "Tease."

Ethan answered her accusation with a brush of his lips across her breast, a whisper of his tongue and smiled at the sound of her groan when he stopped. "I'll finish what I started later, I promise. But I want to show you something. Come with me."

She grumbled something that made him laugh as he left her to get dressed while he went out to setup what he had in mind. Ten minutes later she shuffled out, hair a mess of black and purple around squinting features.

Armed with coffee, he went to her and handed over a steaming mug—freshly brewed with beans he'd ground himself. Alyssa brought the mug to her lips, and took several careful sips of the scalding liquid. Sighed.

"Oh god, this is amazing."

"Only the best at six am." He winked. "Come. It's almost sunrise." Guiding her to the sliding glass doors, Ethan led her out into the covered deck off the living room. He'd lit a brazier for warmth but a lingering chill remained.

Teeth chattering, Alyssa scurried over to the cushioned lounger where he'd left a thick blanket and she burrowed underneath, holding up a corner for him to slid in and join her.

Snuggling against him, her shivering eased, warmed by his body and the coffee she inhaled as the first licks of sunlight spilled across the inlet.

He lived on the other side of the island, on the furthest tip away from Eva and with a view that overlooked a wide, open stretch of sea and sky and nothing else. From this vantage, the sunrise was magnificent; the colours of dawn spilled over that horizon, turning the water and air to shimmering facets of dazzling gold leaving him breathless with wonder. Five years and he never got sick of the view. Of experiencing this. And gauging her intake of breath, Alyssa was equally dazzled.

Alyssa had seen a sun rise before. And set. And rise again. But this—was magic. The way the light fractured over the water, the way it poured across the sky. Here was heaven. A staggering glimpse of it that stole the breath and shook her straight to her soul.

It was like bearing witness to a miracle as that glowing orb rose higher in a majestic sweep over the horizon to soar higher still. A finger traced the curve of her cheek and only then did Alyssa realize a tear had escaped.

Hastily, she brushed the wet trail away with a laugh. "That's some view you have."

Ethan's quiet gaze shifted from her back to the risen sun, nodded. "It's partly why I bought it. I love the simple beauty of being surrounded by so much nature. I was lucky to get this place being so close to the First Nations reserve but my family has ties to the local native population through my great-grandfather."

Ethan slipped out from under the blanket and crossed over to the banister. And because the brazier had warmed up the space along with the filtering sunlight, Alyssa rose to join him. To take in the fullness of that view.

From here, looking down the edge of his property jutted down into a steep incline as the ground fell away, leaving a clear and unobstructed view overlooking bare trees, frosted evergreens and the calm expanse of water.

"I like to come out here some mornings. Watch the majestic rise of humpbacks or the gleeful leap of dolphins. You usually see them between March through to October. This inlet sits right in their migratory path." His hands stroked down her arms, his eyes warm and focused. Watching her with an intensity that burned.

"This place is magic in spring. You should see it for yourself."