“So are you going to be my dad?” August had never looked so serious. Gone was the boy. Instead, I was crouched beside a warrior.
A warrior who’d spend his entire life looking out for his mother.
From now on, he’d have company on the battlefield.
“I’d like to be your dad. If that’s okay with you.”
He looked to the sand beneath his bare feet. He squished some between his toes, then he looked over to where Clara was seated on a large blanket.
She caught his gaze and waved with one hand while the other held her phone to an ear. When we’d gotten to the beach, I’d taken August to the water while she’d called to check in with Aria.
Clara looked magnificent under the sun and on the sand. She was wearing a simple teal bikini, sexy and tempting as hell. When she’d walked out of the bedroom this morning wearing it and a sheer coverup, I’d almost lost my damn head.
It had been two days since Temecula, and I’d done exactly as I’d promised.
I hadn’t gone slow.
I hadn’t held back.
We’d returned to Elyria and there’d been no hotel. I’d brought Clara to my home and set her and August up in the guest bedroom.
She snuck into my room after he fell asleep each night and we spent the midnight hours exploring each other’s bodies. With her by my side, I’d slept better than I had in years. So much so that when my alarm had gone off at five this morning, I’d been totally dead to the world.
If she thought I was sleeping without her again, she was dreaming.
During the day and when August was in the room, I pulled Clara in for a hug. For a kiss. Gus had been watching. Closely. Clara had sat him down for a one-on-one, but it hadn’t erased all of the wariness in his gaze.
We just needed time. Thankfully, we had it.
Clara had called Aria on the way back to Elyria and told her about us. There hadn’t been a lot of surprise in Aria’s voice. Just a smile as she’d talked to us both on speaker.
I wondered about you two back then.
Then Aria had laughed and handed the phone to Brody.
The great thing about a boss slash brother-in-law who owned a private plane was that Clara had no pressure to rush home to Arizona. Which was good because we had some details to figure out first.
“I don’t have a dad,” August whispered.
There was such longing in his voice I nearly toppled over on my ass. Kids his age started to know what made them different. For August, it was that other kids had two parents. Clara was the best mother in the world, but her days of walking alone were over.
“You do now.” I put my hand on his shoulder and the smile that played on his mouth stole my heart. “I’m going to need your help.”
“With what?”
I winked. “We need to find two sticks.”
The light in his eyes was so much like Clara’s that when I stood, I couldn’t help but drop a kiss to the top of his head.
When I glanced over, Clara was watching with a hand pressed to her heart.
I waved and mouthed, “I love you.”
She blew me a kiss and went back to her call.
Then August and I went exploring for our sticks. By the time we were done with our job, I went to Clara, leaving Gus to splash on the surf with his promise not to go past his knees.
“Hi.” I collapsed on the blanket beside her and kissed her shoulder.
“Hi.” She leaned into me. “What were you guys doing?”
“Just playing,” I lied. “How’s Aria?”
“Good. She asked me if I was moving here.”
“Do you want to move here?” I took her hand and laced our fingers together.
“I don’t know.” She sighed. “I love Welcome. But I like it here too and your job is here.”
“My job is flexible, baby. How’s the real estate market in Welcome?”
“Probably not as exciting as it is in California.” She ran her fingers through my hair. “You’d move? Really?”
“I got an email from that developer in Temecula this morning.”
She sat up straighter. “And?”
“Sold. Half a million bucks, which is more than the land is worth, but he thinks there’s value in the parts. So I figure that sale plus the equity I have in my house here should be plenty to set us up wherever you want to live.”
“I have a house but it’s on Brody and Aria’s property. I love them both, but I want our own space.”
“Same here.” I wanted a home we chose together, where we could raise Gus and any other kids who came along.
“Do I have to decide today?”
“Yes.”
She looked at me, startled for a moment, until she realized I was teasing and burst out laughing.
My God, she was beautiful when she laughed. I lunged for her, tackling her to the towel and pinning her down with a leg. Then I took her hands, raising them above her head so she was completely at my mercy. “I love you.”
“I have an idea.”
“What’s that?”
“Let’s go to your place. Give August his Nintendo and we can take a shower.”
I swelled instantly, pressing the bulge against her hip. “Good idea.”
She lifted her head, her lips seeking mine, but as fast as I’d pinned her, I was on my feet, bringing her with me.
“Can’t leave yet.”
“Why?”
I put two fingers to my lips and whistled.
August heard it, his head snapping up from where he’d been beside the water. Then he tore off, running for the spot where we’d prepared our surprise.
“Come on.” I took Clara’s hand, threading our fingers together, and willed my heart not to explode.
We caught up to August, who stood proudly by our creation.
“What’s—” Clara’s breath hitched when she saw the words we’d written in the sand. From the towel, she had been too far away to read them, but not so far that others on the beach might have ruined them.
I stepped in front of her and dropped to a knee. Then I fished the ring Lou had given me out of my shorts pocket and slid it onto her finger. “Marry me.”
The words etched in the sand said the same.
Clara wouldn’t have been the woman she was if her gaze hadn’t shifted away from mine to August.
Behind me, August had a beaming smile on his face as he nodded.
“Yes.” She crashed to her knees and framed my face with her hands.
I kissed her, lingering long enough to elicit an eww from August. Then I tackled Clara to the sand, getting her good and dirty as she laughed, before carrying her into the ocean and dunking us both in the water.
Needed to justify that shower.
Later that night, after we’d celebrated and decided that I had yet another move to make—we were starting our next chapter in Welcome—I found Clara at the living room window, staring at the Cadillac in the driveway.
“I’ll always be grateful for that car,” she whispered, then raised her hand to look at the ring. “This was his wife’s, right?”
“Yeah. That was Hope’s ring.”
“Hope.” She leaned into my chest as I wrapped her in my arms. “I like that name.”