Page 92 of Against The Tide

“No,” Jo tells him sharply. “This is where The Hope has always been, and it’s where it will stay until I’m gone. It’s where he would want her to be, in our small cove.”

“Wait, you own this?” Gesturing around me at the small rocky beach, I take a moment to process her words as Rhett nods in reply before walking ahead of us again.

“Duke loved the ocean, and this was his happy place. It’s secluded and hidden away enough that it was a break from everyday life.” The longing etched on her face as she takes a long pull of the briny air makes my heart melt. “It’s where we scattered his ashes, and when I go, it’s where I want to be too.”

Something about the way she says that makes my stomach knot. It’s as though she expects it to be someday very soon. Then she pats my hand in that way that tells me she’s trying to pacify me somehow.

“You still have a lot of life left in you,” I say as Rhett helps her onto the boat.

“I keep telling her that, but of course, she won’t listen,” he retorts, taking my hand and tugging me into him.

Without a second thought, my arms wrap around him, and I roll up onto the tips of my toes to kiss him. He doesn’t hesitate to kiss me back, peppering my lips until I’m giggling like a schoolgirl, and although it’s not a super-sunny or warm day, it feels a thousand time brighter than the peak of summer.

“You know, last time we were here you kissed me too. I’m beginning to think we should come here every damn day. Rain or shine.”

“I kiss you every damn day.” My chuckle is muffled by his soft, relentless kisses as I keep my eye screwed shut to luxuriate on the feel of his skin on mine.

“Hmm…”

“I do!” Pulling back to look at him, I find him watching me. Something he does a lot—watch me as we kiss. “I kiss you every chance I get, Dr. Reynolds.”

“Well, I want more.”

God, I can’t get enough of the way he looks at me and how my heart fills with so much joy and hope that it could burst. I can’t get enough of him in any way. The more time we spend together, the more I want. The more I feel. The more I love in ways that I never knew were possible.

“More of what?” Teasing, I start for the front of the boat where Jo is sitting with Iris on the deck with their legs dangling over the edge.

Before I make it any farther than a few steps, he tugs me back to him by my elbow, making me spin before he wraps his arms around my waist and holds me flush to him again. With a serious look, he searches my face while my heart thrums in overdrive.

Thump, thump, thump.

Booming in my chest until the lull of the waves is drowned out by its echoes in my ears.

Thump, thump, thump.

He’s all I see. Relucent green eyes beaming nothing but love and affection. Unmeasurable happiness that radiates through me until my toes curl in my sandals. That one stubborn, golden lock falls in front of his eyes, and when I brush it back, he captures my hand, lacing his fingers with mine as he hums a soft tune that I know is completely made up because it’s too beautiful to already exist. It’s solely ours, like this place was solely Jo’s and Duke’s. Just as he is all mine and I am entirely and irrevocably his.

Holding me to him, Rhett sways me around, never relenting his hold on me. Not for a single second. Not the shortest breath. His arm coils tighter around my waist as we come to a slow stop, and he says, “Everything.”

“Everything?” I’m momentarily baffled by his remark and completely dazzled by him.

“I want more of everything with you.”

“Everything,” I murmur in reply, ghosting the tip of my nose over the sharp line of his jaw and sighing at the feel of his short stubble barely scratching over my skin.

“But for now, I’ll settle for all your kisses and smiles.” Lowering to kiss me, he adds, “All your heart and soul.”

“What else is there?”

“Everything,” Rhett whispers into my mouth, followed by another couple of mumbles that I can’t make out, but my skin breaks out in gooseflesh at the taste of them. “Everything,” he repeats, nipping my lip subtly as he tickles my side.

That’s my one weak spot, and since he found it a couple of weeks ago, he keeps going for it until I’m laughing so hard it hurts.

“Stop,” I choke on a gasp for air as he continues. “Everything.”

Rhett doesn’t stop until I’m limp in his arms, and he hoists me up his body, carrying me to the front of the boat where we sit enjoying the last of the summer sun and the cool breeze. And while I rest my head on his shoulder, pulling Iris onto my lap for a cuddle, he keeps humming away with his arm around my shoulder and his fingers combing through Iris’s hair.

This is so much more than I ever imagined we would have. This right here. This moment is everything I’ve ever wanted, and yet, I know there’s more that I never dreamed of.