She touched his face, her eyes tearing up. “This is why I had no doubts about doing this tonight. I can’t even imagine being with anyone else but you.”

Vince sat down next to her on the bed, and she quickly climbed on his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck.

“No one else ever?” he asked staring deep into her beautiful eyes.

“Ever.”

Tracing her lips with the tip of his finger, Vince allowed the beauty of her words to sink in. “I own these, forever?”

She took his hand and placed it to her soft still naked chest. “You own me body and soul, Vincent. There will never be anyone else for me, ever.”

He’d known it from the first day he met her. There was something special about Rose. She was the positive to his negative. Not only did he not want to be with anyone else ever again he couldn’t even imagine being away from her now. All he ever thought about when he was home was the next time he’d get to be with her. Now she was saying to him the very thing he’d been feeling all this time, only he hadn’t been able to put it into words like she had.

He choked back the emotion before kissing her again then pulling away to stare deep in her eyes. “You own me, Rosie, body and soul, now and forever.”

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Rose

Having lost an entire month and with Vincent putting extra time in at the restaurant to save up for a car, summer was flying by. Rose was already busy with soccer training for her college team, so they weren’t spending as much time together in the restaurant as they’d originally thought they would. Vincent had already talked to Sal and his uncle about being able to stay out here even after the summer was over.

Unlike Rose who’d accepted a soccer scholarship to the University of San Diego, Vincent would be attending community college. But he was excited about it, and that excited Rose. He’d even looked into getting certified in firearms training and had already gone down to the college to find out what classes were needed and how long it might take.

His fascination with guns made Rose nervous, but at least he was looking to do something good with it: make a career out of it. He told Rose that once he got certified, he could look into getting into training at the local firing range. A lot of the trainers at the firing range he frequented so often back home did private training on the side, and they weren’t cheap. He said he could make a business out of it. Vincent played it down, but Rose could see how excited it made him that Sal had agreed it wasn’t a bad idea.

“I thought he might shoot it down. You know a lot of people have this thing about guns, but he said with as much passion as I have about firearms, I’d be sure to be successful. He said the most successful people in the world were the ones doing what they loved for a living. He even said he’d be willing to help me get the business going once I got there.”

“Really? He said that?”

Vincent beamed, nodding. “Sal puts up a pretty good hard-ass act, but my dad’s right. He just means well. Family is everything to him and his brothers.” The gleam in Vincent’s eyes was one Rose only saw when he spoke of how much she meant to him. It was full of pride, and there was no hiding the sincerity in those eyes. “He said he’s proud of me, Rose, and he said he’s always believed in me.” Vincent laughed. “It shocked the hell out of me; let me tell you.” Vince went serious suddenly. “You know I always had the feeling he looked down on not just me but my family for not being,” he shrugged and looked away for a moment then looked back at her, “I don’t know, as refined as him and his family I guess…maybe even resented having people like us in his family. But since I’ve gotten closer to him and all of my cousins, I realize I couldn’t have been more wrong.”

The beautiful smile was back again, and Rose couldn’t help smiling with him. “Okay,” he laughed, “so Sal is a little more type A than your average type-A person.” Rose nodded with a laugh, agreeing wholeheartedly. “But he’s a good guy. I’ve seen the way he talks to all his brothers and his sister, even Romero. He’s just looking out for those he cares about. And family is who he cares about most. He even said he always knew I’d come around and straighten my shit out.”

Rose saw not only the pride he was feeling at that moment but the excitement he felt about his future—their future. She was excited too not just because he was excited about this future he spoke so eagerly about but because Sal was also agreeing to let him stay here and continue to work for him. Things couldn’t be working out more perfectly.

Then later one evening, he brought up something that took Rose by surprise.

“I wanna us to get our own place.”

Silenced by this out of nowhere announcement, Rose wasn’t sure she’d even heard him right. “What?”

“Well, not until after I get certified and get a job. I wanna make sure that I can handle paying rent and all the bills, but wouldn’t that be cool? If I’m gonna be living in La Jolla full time and seeing you every day, why not go home together every night?”

A little surprised by how excited the very thought made her, Rose brought her hands to her mouth to try and hide the huge smile. “That would be incredibly cool.”

She immediately regretted how fast she jumped for joy because she saw the look of fear in eyes. “Rose, I’m talking later—way later.”

She snuffed the smile, feeling embarrassed. “I know. I didn’t think you meant—”