“You looked sexy bent over the hood of the car,” I whisper against her ear as I pull her blouse out of the waistband of her pants and slowly undo the tiny buttons, my fingers lingering in the valley of her breasts. Following my lead, she works the four buttons of my button-fly jeans. Fuck zippers. They’re way too quick and easy. I like feeling her tug at the brass buttons impatiently to get to me.

I slip her blouse off her shoulders and throw it onto a nearby lawn chair. She shivers in the cool breeze, her nipples peak against the thin lace of her bra. I cover her mouth hungrily with mine as she grasps my cock, her palm pressing against the tip, her fingers stroking my hard shaft.

The clasp of her bra unhooks easily, and I slide my hands from her waist to caress her breasts. She moans against my mouth and tightens her fingers around me as I quickly unzip her pants and push them down to her ankles. Still caught in our kissing frenzy, we step out of our clothes and I scoop her up in my arms to carry her to the hot tub, and I lean over the edge to lower her into the steaming water. She comes to me as soon as I climb in next to her, immediately wrapping her arms around my neck and her legs around my waist. Our lips and bodies connect simultaneously, perfectly. My hands cup her ass cheeks, pulling her taut, wet body against mine as my cock sinks into her. Her soft moans and hums drive me totally wild. Every sound, every clench, every arch of her body fuels my fire for her, my mind abandoning any and every thought that isn’t Evie. All I want, all I need, all I think about is her.

Evie didn’t fill a void; she made a place in my life that never would have existed without her.

Under the star-filled sky, her thighs tighten around me, her fingers clench my shoulders urgently and, with a few deep thrusts, we’re coming together, our bodies shaking and shuddering in the steaming water.

I back her up to the bench in the water and set her down on it, kissing her lips softly as she reaches up to hug me close, her limbs still trembling. After-sex Evie is always a subdued, sleepy-eyed, slow kissing bundle of adorableness.

“I love you,” she whispers. “So, so, so, so much.”

My heart swells as I stroke her cheek. “That sounds like a lot.” I touch my lips to her damp forehead.

“It is.”

“I love you a lot too.”

After we’ve relaxed and stargazed, I help her into one of the thick gray robes we keep by the hot tub. I hold onto her hand as we go back inside the house, so she can’t run off and embark on one of her distraction projects.

“I’ll get us some more wine.” I retrieve the wine bottle and two new glasses from the kitchen while she curls up on the couch. I’m hoping the mix of wine, a steamy hot-tub, and orgasms relaxes her enough to open up and doesn’t backfire on me and send her into a ten-hour nap. Evie’s a lightweight when it comes to alcohol—she’s not a drinker—and I only recently convinced her that we can enjoy a bottle of wine occasionally without her worrying I’m going to fall back into my old habits. Alcohol and drugs were things I once used to escape my own head, but I have no reason to do that shit anymore.

My life is good.

“Thank you for all this,” she says when I sit on the couch next to her, pulling her legs over my lap.

“Things have been busy the past few weeks.” I run my hand under her robe and rest it on her thigh. “We need some us time to talk.”

She swallows hard. “Talk?”

With my other hand I grab hers and hold it up; the big diamond sparkles like a star, even in the dimness of the room.

“I gave you this for a reason. Remember?”

She smiles. “Of course I remember. It was one of the best days of my life.”

“Then let’s set a date for what’s supposed to be the day to blow away all other best days - one with a cake with little people on top. And a dog and a cat too, if you want.”

“Storm…”

My gut sinks with her fading smile. “Do you still want to marry me? What’s the problem, babe?”

I’ve gotten dozens of marriage proposals over the years. Most coming from fans that believed they were in love with me even though I’d never met them before. Some were random hookups that only lasted one night. I’ve even had men propose - good-looking ones with better hair than me and a lot of money. Now the one girl I actually want to marry and can’t imagine my life without is holding back, and I have no idea why.

“Of course I want to marry you. I want that more than anything in the world, Storm.”

“Then what’s got you all tweaked? Why aren’t you shoving invitations with swirly lettering in my face or turning into bridezilla?”

Her eyes lower, and a tear slips out of the corner of her eye. That tiny glistening tear is a twenty-foot, neon-red warning sign in my head.

Grabbing her chin, I gently lift her face. “Talk to me, baby. You can tell me anything that’s on your mind. You know that.”

My voice might sound confident but, inside, I’m freaking the fuck out with worry about her. I’m not going to let her slip into an anxiety-ridden state of depression. I won’t let her sabotage what should be the happiest time of her life - of our life.

I’ve been there and done that and have the T-shirt and the fucking scars to prove it.

“I’m worried,” she says as she wipes the tear from her cheek.

“That’s obvious, and you have to tell me why. Are you having doubts about me or us?”

She shakes her head. “No…I mean, sometimes things are a little crazy with you traveling and the social media stuff is frustrating, but I know we’re okay as a couple.”

“Then what is it?”

“It’s…I don’t have anyone to come to the wedding.” Her voice cracks on the words. “I only have Amy—and I love her—but I don’t have any family or any other friends that aren’t part of your family.”

“Hey, my family is your family, Evie.”

“I know, and I love them all so much. It just makes me sad, not having my mom here to plan it with, or having my father here to walk me down the aisle. Even though I was in high school when they died, there were a few times when they talked about me getting married someday. My mom wanted me to wear her pearl and diamond earrings.” She sniffles and smiles weakly. “And my father wanted a live band that could play and sing some Sinatra songs for him and my mom to dance to. And he always said he was going to have a long talk with my future husband before he gave his blessing…and now we’ll never know what he wanted to say.” The trembling of her lower lip cracks my heart, and all I can do is pull her into my arms and hold her close to me.

“You can still wear your mom’s special earrings. And I think I know what your dad would have said to me.” I press my lips to the top of her head. “He would have told me to love you, and take care of you, and be patient with you, and never hurt you. He would have told me I better always treat you like a princess. And I will. Always. He would have told me to kiss you every night and every morning. And he probably would have told me to cut my hair and get a real job.”

She laughs and sobs at the same time and snuggles against my shoulder. “I think you’re right. I can picture him saying those things.”

“I know you miss them, Evie. If there were a way to bring them back for you, I would do it in a heartbeat. But I’m sure they’re watching over you, and they wouldn’t want to see you sad about your wedding. They’d want you to be happy.”

“You’re right.”

“My father can’t wait to walk you down the aisle. He brings it up every time I talk to him. And you know my mom and Gram are itching to start planning and get all involved and spend as much money as possible. Look at Talon and Asia…Asia doesn’t have any family either, and she married a stranger in a roomful of even more strangers. I love you. My family loves you. You got this, babe.”

A big sigh escapes her, and I can feel the tension leaving her as her body relaxes against me. “You’re right. I’m sorry. I think I’m feeling a little lost and lonely and overwhelmed. Sometimes things just hit me hard, and I miss my parents even more.”

“It’s okay. I want you to talk to me when you feel like that. Don’t shut me out. You know I can’t deal with that. It makes me mental.”

“I know. You like to be all up in my head,” she says teasingly, twirling a lock of my hair around her finger.

“Actually, I like to be all up in your everything.”

She giggles when I pull her closer and kiss her neck, and it’s music to my ears. She’ll never know how much seeing her sad or worried destroys me inside and how it opens doors for ghosts of the past to creep out. I never want her to see that side of me.

Releasing her, I pour some wine into our glasses and hand one to her. “Why don’t we go in the bedroom and play bad cop arrests the naughty driver, and tomorrow we’ll pick a wedding date?”

She almost spits out her wine as she giggles some more. “Do you have handcuffs, Officer Storm?”

“You’re about to find out.”

This is what I love and need so much—how she’s always willing to happily play along with any of my moods.

Chapter Three

I’m sitting on the floor in the living room of the cabin, with my laptop and a big printed calendar in front of me, trying to find a date that fits Storm’s schedule and also his mother’s. She is now going to be my boss and my mother-in-law. Thankfully, she and I have a great relationship and are able to keep our work and personal lives separate, or this could have disaster written all over it.