“Did you sleep well?” I asked her, stroking her hair.
She shook her head. “Not really. I couldn’t stop thinking.”
“About what? Your sister leaving in a couple of days?”
“No…”
My hand left the silky strands of her hair and started down her bare shoulder and arm over the sheet. It was torture, since I knew I couldn’t have her again, not when she had to leave so soon, but I couldn’t help myself. When it came to Carly, I couldn’t get enough.
It took me a second to realize she’d gone silent again. “Baby?”
“I was thinking about what you said last night. About falling in love with me.”
“Oh?” My pulse jumped at the mention of it. I’d meant it, but had cut her off before she had a chance to say anything back. Part of me knew she wasn’t going to say it back and I didn’t want to hear an attempt to stumble through a reply that was bound to be awkward.
She tipped her chin up, resting it against me so she could look up into my eyes. “I don’t think I’m falling in love with you—” my heart sank to my stomach. “I’m in love with you, Nick.”
My eyes went wide at her steady declaration. “You are?”
She laughed softly. “I am.”
To prove her point, she kissed me long and hard. “I love you.”
“I love you too,” I said, my voice hardly above a whisper as my throat clogged with emotion. The past twenty-four hours had been such a roller coaster that I couldn’t quite believe the sudden three-sixty difference in how I felt lying beside her compared to the previous morning when she’d stalked out of the house without so much as a goodbye smile.
I kissed her again, letting the memories of the day before melt away. I no longer wanted to think about them anymore. That was the past. Here, in bed with Carly, kissing her softly was the future. Our future.
We parted and I held her close, trying to get every last drop before she would slide away and get up to go see her family. I knew it was an important day and I didn’t want to be greedy, even though I knew it would hurt like hell to let her leave and know I wouldn’t be able to see her much, if at all, during the rest of the weekend.
“Nick?” she mumbled against my chest a minute later.
“I know. You have to go.” I dropped a kiss to the top of her head, breathing in the sweet scent from her shampoo and salty sea air.
“Will you come with me?” she asked. “Come meet my dad and Kelli. I want them to get to know you.”
“Really?” Her offer floored me.
“Yeah. It’s important to me. You’re important to me.
“Of course, baby.”
“Thank you,” she said softly.
I brushed a fingertip over her lips. “You don’t have to thank me for that.”
She kissed the tip of my finger and then rolled out of bed. I followed her and after a quick shower, we both dressed. I watched, mesmerized, as Carly threw on a lightweight sundress over her lush curves. The fabric clung to her body and was too distracting for words.
So was the fact that she’d put on some little bitty sexy ass panties.
I rolled my eyes and pulled on a shirt. “I don’t know how you expect me to sit through a lunch with your family when I know that you’re going to be sitting there next to me with those panties on.”
She laughed and shrugged into her black jacket. “Figure it out. I want my dad to like you, remember?”
“Yes ma’am,” I said, giving her a mock salute.
She giggled and hurried to throw her hair up into a ponytail, using her fingers in place of a comb.
When we were ready, she led the way downstairs to my truck and after letting her in the passenger seat, I raced around and hopped up into the driver’s seat. “All right, you ready for this?” I asked her, starting the engine.
“As ready as I’m gonna be,” she replied, her eyes dancing in the early morning light.
I took her hand across the center console and leaned in for a quick kiss. “That’s all I can ask for, baby girl.”
Breaking down Carly’s walls had taken a lot of effort, but as I stared over at the beautiful woman next to me, watching as her eyes danced with pride and excitement as she prepared to open a new door into her world for me, I knew without a doubt it had all been worth it.
She was worth it.
Epilogue
Carly Two Months Later
* * *
The September sun blazed down over the coast, and I basked in the sultry heat as I watched all of my favorite people gather together for a late summer BBQ right on the beach. Technically, it was a welcome home party, slash engagement party, for two very important friends: Jack “Boomer” McGuire and his lovely—and newly minted fiancée—Holly Parker.