“Your bag is in your car?”

“Yeah. I was going to go back to the hotel tonight if—if you didn’t want me to stay over with you.”

He frowned for a minute, looking at me like I was crazy, then reached into his pocket and pulled out a key on a big keychain. “I rented the white one on the end…” He pointed. “Give me the keys to the car and I’ll go get your stuff.”

We traded keys and he kissed me again before heading up the hill to the parking lot.

Chapter Forty-Four

Adam

I jogged up that hill as quickly as I could once I left the sand. The parking lot was a ways away but I hoped that would give Emilia some time to settle in at the cottage while I grabbed her stuff. I was still pretty high from holding her on the beach, kissing her, feeling her body fall against me.

She felt more solid now, stronger. More like her old self but with essential changes that only made her more beautiful, mature, amazing. Or maybe she’d just always been that way and my time away from her had made me appreciate those things in her even more.

When I hit the parking lot, I saw that some of the wedding guests were still hanging out. The bride and groom had gone but Heath stood at his car, leaning up against it and talking to Connor. When he saw me, he immediately straightened, glancing behind me. He’d been waiting to see if Emilia was okay.

“Hey, man,” I said when he got closer.

“She’s okay? Where’s she at?”

I smiled. “She’s okay. She’s coming home with me.”

Heath grinned. “Good. That’s great to hear.”

I slapped my hand on his shoulder. “I know we’ve both been a pain in your ass for the last few months. But thanks for being a great friend.”

Heath looked a little taken aback. “No sweat, man…”

“Here. I want you to have something.” I reached into my pocket and held out my hand, pressing the keys into his.

He opened his hand, not understanding at first. These were the spare keys to the Porsche.

“Uh. Dude, you must be high,” he said with a laugh and then looked up into my face and saw that I was dead serious. “For real?” His jaw dropped.

“Yeah. Drop it by my service guy whenever you need it taken care of. I’ll cover it. But you better take good care of it or I’ll kick your ass.”

He held his hand out to me. “Adam, I can’t take this. That car is your most prized possession.”

I shook my head. “I love the car, not gonna lie. But you took good care of her when I couldn’t…and I love her a whole hell of a lot more than that car. Thank you.”

Heath paused for a moment, a confused frown transforming slowly into a goofy grin. “Well, then. You better take good care of her. Or I’ll kick your ass.”

I laughed. “I have no doubt about that.”

Giving Connor a wave, I walked over to the Tesla that Emilia had been using for the last few months and opened it up to get her things before turning and walking back down the hill.

Chapter Forty-Five

Mia

I trudged across the sand and let myself into the cottage. It wasn’t the luxury accommodations we’d had in Paris but the quaintness of the place—and its stellar location—was not lost on me. I took a minute to explore my simple surroundings. There was a bedroom with a double bed and a loft up above. The kitchen had a microwave and a fridge and one big old wood-burning stove that no longer functioned and had been apparently included for ambiance. The floors were simple beam wood. And the décor was beach-themed, complete with a painting incorporating bits of shimmering beach glass.

When Adam returned from the hike to the parking lot and back, my bag slung over his muscular arm, I was lying on the bed, paging through the picture book that had been sitting on the coffee table. It recounted a complete history of the Crystal Cove area from prehistoric times until the present. “Did you know that they used one of these cottages for a Japanese language school during the 1920s?”

He dumped my bag on the small bench at the end of the bed and watched me, smiling. “Really? Fascinating.” But I could tell what fascinated him was not the information I was giving him but what he saw on the bed before him. I smiled knowingly. His eyes had that unmistakable glow in them—that smolder. Swallowing, I batted my eyelashes at him.

I tapped on the cover of the book. “I can read you some more of this, if you like.”

He smiled, that dimple forming at the side of his mouth again. He was so good-looking it stole my breath. He reached up and loosened his tie without taking his eyes off of me. I had already kicked off my shoes but I closed the book and set it on the floor beside the bed. I leaned back and patted the bed beside me as he was unbuttoning the cuffs of his dress shirt.