A burly security agent stopped Dex at the checkpoint, and she had a bad moment when she thought the uniformed officer wasn't going to let him through. She dropped her carry-on bag, intending to rush to his side. But then Dex flashed her the most heartfelt smile and held up a boarding pass.
He'd bought a ticket for her flight.
He hadn't just come after her, he'd planned to chase her all the way home.
"I hope you realize you have to name your firstborn after me," Rachel murmured as Dex finally swept into Emma's space and gathered her up in a fierce hug.
And then there was no more talking as she clung to him, breathing in his wonderful, settling salty scent that she couldn't have ever exorcised from her brain. She saw that now. She would have gone home, and the ghost of James Riley would have followed her around incessantly.
He murmured her name into her hair and pulled back to search her face, his arms still wrapped so tightly around her torso she could hardly breathe. But who needed air?
"I couldn't let you leave without saying a few things," he said earnestly. "Then if you still want to get on your flight, I won't stop you."
"You'll just come with me?" The paper boarding pass was still clutched in his hand, crinkling against her sundress.
He shook his head, his smile slipping. "The ticket is just window dressing so I could get through the gate. That's part of the speech I had rehearsed. Explaining how I can't live in a place like Boston again. It's selfish of me to have come here with the sole purpose of begging you not to leave."
Her chest filled so fast she saw stars. "You want me to stay?"
He nodded, his eyes on hers, so intense and full of hope. "I shouldn't. I can't promise you much. My business is still so new, and I work seventy hours a week sometimes. But I want to come home to you at the end of it and know that you'll always be there."
"Okay."
He blinked. "Just like that? I didn't even get to the part where I had all these bargains I was going to offer you."
She let her own smile bloom as one tear worked its way loose. "What, like you were going to give me my choice of which side of the bed I wanted?"
"Sure." But then he cupped her face and drew it upward, and his touch zinged through her as he spoke. "But that's not the kind of bargain I meant. I don't know what's going to happen. I can't promise I'll get it right even after ten tries. But Emma, I can't do this without you. Somehow in the middle of all of this, I fell for you. I shouldn't have. But that doesn't make it any less real."
As she had only recently had a bit of a similar revelation, she nodded as a few more tears slipped out. "Same goes."
In one of the most romantic moves Emma had ever experienced, Dex kissed away the tears. "So that's the bargain. Stay and give me a chance. In return, I'll do whatever it takes to make sure you're happy. Whatever it takes to show you how I feel about you. Every day."
"Oh, James." She slid her own hands up to encompass his jaw, drawing him forward so she could touch her forehead to his. "The thing is, you make me happy. As long as you don't ever take your hand away from my back as I'm jumping into the water, that's the only thing I need."
"I promise." And then he kissed her for real, and she slid into it, wrapping James Riley around her like a blanket.
When he lifted his lips, he murmured, "I wasn't kidding about not having much to offer. We've got some rough times ahead with Aqueous Adventures. Sure you want to stick around for a guy who can't buy you all the things you deserve?"
"Sure you want a girl with no means of employment to stick around?" She chuckled. "This was supposed to be a vacation, not the start of a new life. I have nothing but myself and a suitcase."
"I'll take it. We'll find something for you to do." He smiled ruefully. "You're not a lawyer by any chance, are you? Other than you staying, that would be about the best news I could get today. I'd even be happy if you knew a lawyer."
"I do." Emma smiled as his eyebrows shot up. "And you do too."
Rachel waved. "You rang?"
"You're a lawyer?" Dex asked, his shock evident, but then Emma had never mentioned it. Had never even thought of a reason to bring it up.
"Born and bred," Rachel admitted. "My whole family. Trust me, I was looking for a good excuse to get out from under the oppression of being a junior partner in a firm where my older brothers were always going to get the best cases."
"You're staying too," Dex announced decisively. "I hope."
"I was planning on it." Rachel picked up her carry-on. "Though I was kind of thinking I'd do nothing for a while. I'm guessing that's not going to happen."
Dex shook his head. "Not if you're willing to take on a pro-bono case for some guys who need a boatload of help fighting a much better-funded corporation. And it'll be a while until we can repay you."
"Is one of them Evan?" Rachel nearly licked her lips as Dex smiled. "Because that would certainly sway my decision."
"How about if we talk about it later?" Emma suggested. "I'd like to go home."
The crystal-blue waters of the Caribbean ocean would be her view for the rest of her life. It settled over her with a peaceful sense of belonging.
"Just out of curiosity, where would that be?" Dex asked.
She didn't have to think twice. "Wherever you are, James Riley. For as long as you'll have me."
And that's when Emma took her first deep, cleansing breath as she broke the surface of her new life. It felt so good to finally be free.
Sunrise was Dex's favorite moment of the day. Emma liked to sleep with the blinds open, and since their bedroom faced east, the first rays of dawn filtered through the window to highlight all the reasons why his life was a miracle he didn't deserve.
But was holding on to at all costs. Because this woman in his bed, with her long blond hair all over her pillow and his too, had quickly become more vital to him than oxygen. Almost more vital than the ocean.
Her eyes blinked open, and she smiled slowly. "Hey, sailor. You better stop looking at me like that or today will, once again, not be the day I find a job."
What, like it was his fault they'd spent all day in bed yesterday after Charlie had given him a rare day off? She was the one who'd gotten all handsy and naked and then taken him along for the ride.
"Looking at you like what?" he shot back defensively, because he had a feeling his heart was all over his face and he still didn't know how to express the way he felt about her without sounding like a moron. "I have a surprise for you, and I was waiting for your lazy butt to wake up."
She sat up, the covers dropping away from her gorgeous body to reveal the tiny little tank top she'd shrugged on last night despite his best efforts to strip it off and keep it off. "A surprise?"
Glee radiated from her eyes, and he wished the surprise had a little more oomph. At least enough to match the expectation written all over her expression. But he had to make do with what he had. "Get dressed. I want to show you something."
Dressed meant a bikini and a knee-length sarong. Emma had slid right into his world as if she'd always been there, adopting an island mentality instantly, where flip-flops and wet hair were a welcome constant.
For his part, he'd slid into her. Emma made everything right. He couldn't explain it, didn't want to.
She followed him to the kitchen of the small bungalow that she cheerfully shared with Evan. Not once had she complained about the tiny bathroom, rattletrap pipes or surly company-his or Evan's. Eventually they planned to find a different arrangement, but for now it was working.
Rachel had volunteered to move in with Evan if Dex happened to be worried about leaving the poor guy on his own. Dex still didn't know if she'd been serious. For the time being, she was rooming with Anna, one of the girls who worked in the resort kitchen, but he wouldn't put it past Rachel to end up Evan's roommate before the man knew what hit him.
Since she was deep into learning the Bahamian legal system so she could take out Jared Anderson, Dex kept his mouth shut. Hell, if she found a way to stop ReefCo from buying Ilhota Rosa, Dex would gift wrap Evan and deliver him to her personally.
The cool sand lining the water at the edge of Town hadn't been trampled by the many feet of Dex's neighbors yet, lending to the feeling of the two of them being the only people in the world at that particular moment. Which was fine with him. He took Emma's hand and led her out into the water until they were both ankle deep, surf rushing around their legs. To her credit, she didn't even question it.
"I like the surprise so far," she murmured. "You in the water is my favorite."