“I heard that,” Tucker said.
“I don’t care.” Johnson winked at her.
“My girl!” Mama Porter shrieked and ran to her. She squeezed Maryn into her generous bosom and wouldn’t let go. “We’ve been so worried. Are you okay? We all missed you so much.” She finally let go and darted a glance at Tucker.
Maryn looked at Tucker as well. He smiled at them, his dark eyes glinting with delicious promise. She wanted to run her fingers through his hair and be alone with him until she got tired of him. No, she’d have a hard time getting tired of him.
“Well.” Mama Porter interrupted their glancing communication. “I’ll just go check on dinner while Tucker gives you a tour. You are staying for dinner?”
“I wouldn’t miss your cooking,” Maryn reassured her.
“Perfect.”
“Thank you.”
“No, thank you,” Johnson said. “She hasn’t cooked this much good food in weeks.” He winked at her then he and Braxton followed Mama Porter.
Maryn turned to Tucker. “It’s so good to see them all.”
“We all really missed you.”
Maryn held his gaze. “All of you?”
“Some of us more than others.”
She flushed with pleasure, too happy to respond to that. Tucker placed his hand on her lower back and escorted her through the formal rooms on the main floor and then onto a huge deck that overlooked a lush flower garden, trees, and the ocean beyond. The house was on a cliff, but had a staircase down to the beach. Maryn could definitely get used to living in a place like this. She stared at the view, inhaling the scent of plumeria and imagined running on the beach every morning and sitting on the huge patio overlooking the ocean at night. Most of all, she imagined it with Tucker by her side. She needed to slow down her imagination.
“It’s beautiful here,” she said. “I love the feeling in your houses.”
Tucker rested a hand on the window frame above her head, his body inches away from her side. “Even when you ran away in Island Park?”
Maryn turned to face him. He was so close she had to arch her head back to meet his gaze and she barely resisted wrapping her arms around his waist. “That was a stupid misunderstanding.”
Tucker studied her. “Forgive me for being scary?”
“Yes,” Maryn whispered. “But remember what we talked about, have you forgiven yourself?”
“For hurting you?” He traced his finger along her chin and across her lips. “That’s a tough one.”
Maryn trembled from his touch, but knew she had to talk to him about this. “I’m talking about the things you had to do in the Army.”
He didn’t move, but his body stiffened. “Since you left… I’ve tried to pray.”
“You have?”
“It’s definitely a struggle to put it behind me, but I have felt some peace.”
Maryn smiled up at him. “The forgiveness will come. You’re a good man, Tucker Shaffer.”
“Thanks.” He swallowed. “I wanted to know that you could forgive me. I’ve blamed myself for you getting hurt.”
“No.” She shook her head. “I forgave you the instant you turned into Superman and saved my life.”
He smirked at the Superman reference, rested his other hand next to her head, effectively framing her face, and scooted closer. His large body brushed against hers and Maryn caught a breath, her heart beating a staccato so sharp she wondered if he could feel it.
“I’m good at forgiving,” she told him, unable to keep her gaze from straying to his lips before going back to those chocolate fudge eyes that seemed to see into her. He was serious about life, but still made her feel light and happy. “I forgive everyone, kind of like an eel, it all just slides right off my slippery back.”
Tucker grinned and lowered his head closer to hers. “Good way to be.”