Well, I’m pretty sure that would break me in ways far more profound than anything I’ve experienced before.
Don’t be scared, Savannah, I can hear Olivia whispering. Don’t be scared. Life is a journey, and you have all the tools to get you where you want to go. Let yourself take this turn and see where it leads.
And so I push up on my tiptoes again, this time not to hug a friend, but to kiss the man that I love. “I love you,” I whisper, inches from his lips, my heart flipping at the relieved sound that escapes him. “And now I’m going to kiss you like I mean it. Because I do.”
He presses a finger to my lips, stopping me before I can seal the deal, and pulls back to smile down at me, his eyes shining just like mine probably are. “Not yet. First, we have a treasure hunt to win.”
I shake my head slightly, loving the feel of his finger rough against my lips. “No, we don’t. I already won. I’m leaving Georgia with a sexy new boyfriend who thinks I’m the best woman he’s ever met. What more could a woman ask for?”
“I don’t know,” he says, brushing his fingertip back and forth over my bottom lip, sending tingles racing across my skin. “Perhaps staying in her hometown with her sexy new boyfriend who’s willing to move to America in the name of keeping his sexy new girlfriend close to her friends and family who he knows she’s missed desperately?”
My jaw drops, but before I can ask if he’s serious, he continues, “And beating that sheep-fucking wanker might be nice. I, for one, would like to see his face when we win. And I’d like our first time together to be someplace a bit less morbid.”
I blink. It takes a moment to realize what he means, but when I do, my heart pounds even faster. “Are you saying…?”
“I’m saying that if I start kissing you, I won’t stop until your clothes are on the ground and my mouth is between your legs,” he rumbles in the sexiest bedroom voice I’ve ever heard. “Someone mentioned going down on you earlier today, and since then, well, I haven’t been able to think of much else.”
My breath rushes out. “That was me. I mentioned that.”
His lips quirk. “Yes, you did, love.”
I grin. “And you’re looking forward to that, are you? That’s something you enjoy?”
“It’s something I’m dying for. I intend to worship your pussy as if you were a queen and peace in the kingdom depended on your utter satisfaction.”
My eyes widen. “That sounds weirdly proper. But also amazing. Let’s go do that now. We can cut through the woods and be at my place in fifteen minutes. Twenty tops. And it’s too early in the year for ticks so we won’t have to worry about Lyme disease!”
He laughs. “I have to check on Beatrice first. I imagine she’ll be waiting with Cassie at the finish line, so…” He nods toward the cemetery. “Shall we find the place that proves love never dies and finish this? Together?”
I wrap my arms around his waist, hugging him closer. “Together. I’m not letting you out of my sight or my arms again for a very long time.”
“Thank God.”
Chapter Nine
Colin
We find the clue behind a statue of a husband and wife holding hands across the space between their two headstones, forming a delicate bridge between them. The stone lovers gaze adoringly into each other’s eyes, making mine fill with tears again as Savannah pulls the clue from a small envelope taped to the back of the larger headstone.
“The factory!” She leaps back to her feet with a triumphant pump of her fist. “The last stop is Sunshine Toys—it has to be! Where else do frisky kitties go to feel pretty?” She spins, and her smile falls as her gaze locks on my face. “Oh, no. Are you okay?” Her breath rushes out. “Oh my God, Colin, I’m sorry. I didn’t even think. This must be hard for you. Being in a cemetery like this, by a statue like this. Does it make you miss her terribly? Cathryn?”
Hearing my former wife’s name should hurt, I suppose—it always has before—but it doesn’t this time.
And I’m not sad. I’m grateful. Grateful for a second chance at love and grateful that I know without a doubt that Cathryn would be glad that I’ve found love again.
“I’ll always miss her. She was my first love, and she gave me Bea, but…” I reach out, taking Savannah’s hand again. “She’s happy for me. For us. I know she is. I can feel it.” I glance around the peaceful graveyard, struck by the feeling that we might not be alone here, but that any spirits lingering in this tidy patch of green mean us well. “There’s something magical about this town, isn’t there?”