Page 33 of Must Love Fallen Angels

“How do you always know when I’m thinking about saying something?”

“You get restless.”

“Ah.I have a tell.I didn’t realize that.”

“So what’s on your mind?”

“The future.”

He took a drink of coffee and set the mug in the sand, pressing down to make sure it stayed upright.Then he twisted slightly in the seat so he could look at her.“You have my undivided attention, Tessa.What about the future?Are you worried about Evan coming back?”

“Heck no,” she said with a laugh.“He definitely had the crap scared out of him.I’m thinking aboutourfuture.You and me.The cottage, our jobs.Kind of everything.Because I don’t know if you realized it, but I’ve only been in town a week.And while we’ve talked about our relationship being permanent because we’re soulmates, we’ve never really talked about the odds and ends that go along with it.”

“You said Sable Cove feels like home, and so does the cottage.”

“Because of you.”

He smiled.She always said the right thing.He wasn’t sure how she could make him feel so warm and loved with just a few words, but she did it so easily.“Did you think when you came to Sable Cove that it might just be temporary?”

“I never really thought past coming here, honestly.I didn’t know if I’d like the town or be able to find a job before my savings ran out.Then I met you, and here we are just a dang week later, talking about forever.”She put her mug in the sand and shifted in the seat to face him as he had done to her, then she rested her hand on his forearm.“You’re so special to me.I feel rooted to Sable Cove, and I don’t want to leave.I want to build a life with you, have a family, put down real roots.”Her gaze turned shy, and she bit the corner of her bottom lip.“If you want that, too.”

“I do,” he said earnestly.“I carried a lot of guilt for so long because of my choices.Now I see that they brought me to the place where I would meet you, my soulmate.I wouldn’t change a thing about the past because it brought us together.”He leaned over and kissed her, inhaling her sweet scent mixed with the salty ocean air.“We can buy the cottage and make some renovations to enlarge it, add a bedroom or two if you’d like, or we can look at other homes in town.”

“I like the cottage.I like how it’s private, and with the windows open, I can fall asleep with the ocean sounds.It’s magical.”

“I can pack up my place and move in, and we can go chat with the owner and see if he’d like to sell to us.”

She nodded, her eyes shining with happiness.

Venice had never really planned for the future before.When he fell, he’d had lofty plans about his life afterward, and they’d been utterly smashed and left him floundering.He’d never made plans again, just living day by day and not having much hope for anything.Because hope had led him to heartbreak before, and he didn’t want to keep hurting himself.

But with Tessa, he had real, sweet hope for the future.She’d seen him as a man first, and also as a supernatural protector, and she cared about him.He wasn’t a novelty; he was her soulmate.And that was the best feeling in the world.

His phone buzzed, and he saw Brody’s name on the screen.

Swiping to answer, he said, “I’m off for the weekend, you know.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Brody said with a chuckle.“Delaney said the coven needs to replenish their magical stock, and even though it’s your time off, I thought you might like to bring Tessa to the overlook so she can see the magical part of your friends’ lives.”

“Hold on, let me ask,” he said.He pulled the phone away and told Tessa about the coven’s plans to restock their magical supplies that night.Because they were outside of the protections around the adoption center, they always asked Brody to come along to stand guard, and Venice had often joined in.He was sure that Zay would be there as well, since his mate was a witch.

“Oh, that sounds so neat, I’d love to,” Tessa said.

He lifted the phone to his ear.“We’ll be there.What time?”

“Six.We’ll meet you at the overlook, and then we can grab a late dinner.”

“Sounds good.See you then.”

He ended the call and told Tessa about the coven.Delaney, Kinsley, and Hadlee were the only coven members, but they had a witch friend named Mother Gibson who helped out when the coven needed a fourth Corner for big spells.

“It sounds so fun,” she said.“I’ve never seen anything magical before.”

“I’ve seen the witches do some pretty incredible things.They’re very protective of each other and the town, and now that you and I are mates, that means they’ve got your back too.”

“That’s so sweet.”

They both picked up their mugs and returned to their sunrise watching, talking about the future in that dreamy way couples do.Planning, hoping, sharing.