Zach peered through the back window of the Uber. “Wow, she has way better taste in places to live than me.”

“It has nothing to do with taste,” his driver said. “It has everything to do with affordability.” He put the car in Park and looked over his shoulder at Zach. An Ethiopian immigrant, he had dark, dark skin, a long, thin face, and a warm smile. “And if she lives in this neighborhood, you might want to put a ring on her finger.”

Zach laughed. He’d figured out the ring part about forty-eight hours after she’d left Hawaii. As far as money went, she certainly had way more money than Zach did. So he was happy to discover that questionable rentals and nice rentals could be found so close together in DC, because he now lived only about two miles away. Hell of a lot better than almost five thousand miles. Though, he had to admit, his job and surfing prospects sucked. Majorly.

“One step at a time,” he murmured to himself, then told the driver, “Thanks, man.”

He stood on the sidewalk and looked up at the brownstone, a clean, sandy-colored stone building with arched windows and ornate decorative detail. It was…impressive. And he was feeling pretty puny at the moment. Especially when his brother worked as a big shot in the Capitol building at his back.

But, damn, it was fucking cold here. “DC in winter is not going to be a fun experience.”

Unless he could take Sophia sledding and teach her to throw snowballs. She was plenty old enough to get on a snowboard, and judging by her surfing ability, she’d probably be a killer snowboarder.

He had to stay positive.

The wrought iron gate barely reached his knees, and he opened it with a chuckle. “Must not have grown them tall back in the nineteenth century.”

As soon as he stood at the front door, Zach’s humor died and nerves took its place. He pulled in a deep breath and prepared to get hammered. It had only been a few weeks, but he hadn’t spoken with her since he’d said good-bye in Maui. She’d texted him only once—with her attorney’s information. She didn’t answer his calls during the day, and she wasn’t returning his voice mails. Either Abby or Sophia answered Tessa’s phone in the evening. Even when he asked Sophia if he could talk to Tessa, their daughter had recited the “she’s busy” script. When he emailed Tessa, he got polite responses that contained information only about Sophia’s activities, school schedule, and possible dates he could see his daughter. Something he had no doubt she’d have Abby facilitate if he didn’t take steps to change that.

So here he was, ready to get gut punched. Not altogether undeserved, but he still wasn’t looking forward to it. He was fully prepared to wait on her doorstep if she wasn’t home, but her firm said she wasn’t at work when he called, so he hoped… Well, he hoped she wasn’t having the receptionist lie to him too. If that was the case, Zach’s ass would go numb waiting on these concrete steps.

The front door was glass framed in wood. Beyond the glass, Zach saw a hallway on the right and a staircase on the left, leading up, but that was it.

“Here goes nothin’.” He lifted his hand to knock, but paused when he saw three mailboxes to his right—for units A, B, and C. Oh, shit. It was a brownstone housing three different apartments.

He’d memorized her address, but had forgotten about a unit number, and there were no names on the boxes. Crap. Now what? He pulled out his phone to check his phone for the email with that information when a man came down the set of interior stairs to exit.

Zach stood aside, said hello to the man, then asked, “I’m here for Tessa Drake?”

“And you are?” he asked, protective.

“I’m Sophia’s dad.”

His brows went up. “Really.” He stuck out his hand. “Well, put ’er here, man. She’s a great kid.”

They shook. “Yeah, well, that’s got more to do with Tessa than me.”

“Yeah. Haven’t seen you around before.”

He nodded. “That’s going to change. I just moved to DC.”

“Welcome, man. I’m Jeff. Top apartment C. Tessa’s in unit A, at the end of the hall.”

“Thanks.”

His mouth quirked in a confused grin, and he looked at Zach a little funny.

“What?” he asked.

He shook his head. “Just trying to figure out why in the hell you let such a good thing go.” Then he shrugged and put up his hands before trotting down the rest of the steps. “Not my business. Good luck.”

As Jeff walked down the street of fancy brownstones, Zach muttered, “Yeah. Still trying to figure that out myself.”

He took a deep breath, rubbed his hands down the thighs of his jeans, and started down the hall. “Okay, Zach,” he muttered to himself, “don’t fuck this up, man.”

At her door, he paused. He closed his eyes and flexed and clenched his hands as he tried to remember what the hell he was going to say to her. He’d planned it all out a dozen times, but suddenly, with his heart jumping and his stomach squeezing, he couldn’t remember a damn—

The door opened, surprising Zach. Tessa held a black garbage bag and took a step toward the hall, stopping suddenly with a squeak of surprise before falling back. Her hand flew to her chest, and her eyes were wide and round.

“Oh my God,” she breathed, dropping the hand at her chest. She focused on him, and a handful of emotions flashed across her face, ending in confusion. “Zach? What… Why… How… Is something wrong?”

Her hair was up in a messy bun, her face naked without a stitch of makeup. She wore a hoodie sweatshirt and torn jeans, and, God, she’d never looked more beautiful. Zach had an overwhelming urge to step forward and scoop her up in his arms, but she’d made herself perfectly clear when she’d left, so he stayed put.

“Not anymore.”

“What does that mean?”

He sighed. “Can I, um, come in?”

“Oh.” She looked down and stepped aside, holding the door open. “Of course.”

He stepped through the door and right into the living room. It was small, but the ceilings were high and the windows let in a lot of light. One wall had been dedicated to Sophia with bookshelves and toy bins. But when he turned his head to look around, all he saw were big brown boxes stacked everywhere.

“What…?” He frowned at her. “You’re moving?”

She tucked her hair behind one ear and crossed her arms. “Yeah.”

Jesus Christ. He’d scoured every rental in the area to get as close to her as he could afford. But he swallowed his frustration. “Guess that means you got your promotion, huh?”

She hesitated. “I did.”

He smiled. “Congratulations. You deserve it. So, um, closer to work, huh? Is that like a few blocks? A few miles?”

Her jaw shifted to the side. “Zach, why didn’t you tell me you were coming?” She unfolded her arms, lifting them before she let them drop again. “I could have pulled Sophia from school to see you.”

“Because I came to see you too. And I wanted to talk to you first. Alone.”

Her lips pressed into a firm line, and her gaze drifted away. “I want to talk to you too. I wasn’t quite ready, but since you’re here…” She gestured to the sofa and started that way. “Take off your coat.”

When she curled into the far corner, her stocking feet tucked under her, Zach slid out of his jacket and sat on the edge of the cushions. “Wow, it’s so good to see you. I’ve been watching the news on your veterans bill. It’s getting a lot of great press. Congratulations.”

“Thank you.” Her smile was weak, her voice soft.

He needed to clear the air between them. Needed to get the crap weighing on his heart out and find solid ground. So he heaved a sigh and dove in. “I need to apologize, Tessa. I handled the whole custody thing wrong. You’ve been amazing. Truly above reproach. You were right to put Sophia first. Her happiness and security should be our highest priority, and I realize stability is the best thing for her right now. I should have trusted you, and I’m sorry I didn’t listen to my gut on that. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about the lawyer.”

A little grin tipped her lips. “How long did you practice that?”

He huffed a laugh and rubbed his face with both hands, groaning, “Since the day you left.” He dropped his hands and gave her a smirk. “It’s come a long way, but I still forgot half of what I wanted to say.”

She laughed softly. “It’s really good to see you too.”

Hope sparked. That was good, right? “I’m sort of anxious to know where you’re moving. Is it another apartment like this? Or a building? It would be nice for Sophia to have a yard, but in a building, she’d have a pool, and, hell, they run everywhere anyway, right? They don’t need grass to do that.”

She was smiling. Better yet, she was giving him that look. The soft one. The one that told him she still cared. But he wasn’t sure how to span the distance between here and there. And he had to remind himself it would take time—if it happened at all. He hadn’t exactly given her a lot of reason to make that jump.

“That’s a little bit of a long story.” She rested her elbow on the back of the sofa and leaned her head into her hand. “Why don’t you tell me about your stay first. How long will you be here?”

“Yeah…that.” He exhaled. Nodded. “This last few weeks has been… Screw it, I’m just going to say it. I’m here as long as you and Sophia are here. I can’t stand being without you. I keep finding myself turning to tell you something, and you’re not there. I look for your face in the crowd. Every time I hear a little kid laugh, my heart skips.” Her smile vanished. Her lips parted in surprise. Not the response he’d been dreaming of, but he pushed forward. “I don’t want to be without either of you, and I understand why you have to be here, so I’m here.”

She narrowed her eyes. “What do you mean as long as I’m here?”

He shrugged. “As long as you keep writing law and can’t live anywhere else. Hey, I don’t know if you hired movers yet, but I can totally save you some money and get you into your new place. I haven’t started looking for a job yet. Honestly, I don’t even know what I’m qualified to do around here, but my apartment is cheap, so I can float on savings for a few months.”

Her head tilted. “Your apartment?”

“Yeah, you know, an apartment. A place with four walls and a bed?”

“You rented an apartment?”

He shrugged. “Need a place to sleep. Seemed like a logical thing to do.”

“Don’t you have some cop school to go to? Don’t you have to learn to hold a gun and flash your badge and all that other cop stuff you do on the show?”

“Uh, nope.” He scratched at his temple with a huff of dry laughter. “I, um, didn’t take the part.”

Her eyes flew wide. “What? Why not?”

He shrugged, ignoring the sickening feeling he got every time he thought of this awkward new phase of his life—no job, no surfing. At least he had purpose. “I don’t want to be that far away from you. And I don’t want to miss any more of Sophia’s life than I absolutely have to. I didn’t absolutely have to take the part…so…here I am.”

“Are you saying you moved here?” she asked, her voice rose with panic. “Without telling me?”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” He sat back with alarms ringing in his head. “I’m not stalking you or anything. I mean, I’d really like to spend time with you, but I’m not going to force anything. And it would have been a little hard to tell you when you wouldn’t talk to me.”

Tears filled her eyes, and she lowered her head.

What in the fuck just happened? Jesus, he was screwing this up big-time. His hopes vanished, and his heart felt heavy again. “Look, we can have Abby run interference if you really don’t want to see me.” He pressed his hands to his thighs and stood, feeling like the biggest loser on the planet. “I’ll give you some space. Just call me when you’re ready to—”

“No, no.” She reached for his hand. “Don’t go.”

When he looked at her again, tears streaked her cheeks, and Zach’s heart broke. He pulled away. “I don’t want to hurt you or stress you out or scare you. You’ve dealt with enough already.” He started for the door. “Maybe, with time, we can find a way to be friends again. I’m not going anywhere—”

Her hand slapped against the door at his shoulder, keeping him from opening it. “Stop, Zach.”

She pressed her face against his bicep and closed her eyes. Then the front of her body leaned against the back of his—and stole his breath. The hunger that washed through him nearly buckled his knees. To keep from reaching for her, he pressed his eyes closed and tightened his hand around the doorknob.

“Zach…” Her voice was soft and a little breathless. “I’m not moving closer to work.”

“What?” Fear zinged over his ribs. He released the door and turned toward her. “Where are you going?”

She didn’t answer right away. Her pretty eyes scanned his face for long moments before she leaned into him. The feel of her warm, slim form pushed the air from his lungs, and Zach groaned.

“Don’t do that, baby,” he whispered. “I feel like I haven’t touched you in a fucking year.”

“I know.” Instead of moving away, she pushed up on her toes, slid her body along his, and kissed him.

Another sound ebbed from his throat—surprise, relief, hunger. He wrapped his arms around her so tight, he lifted her off the floor and kissed her back. Her mouth was soft and warm, but the current humming through him was created by the feel of her wanting him—with more than her body. He cradled her head and slanted his mouth over hers, hungry for the taste of her. She whimpered and opened, meeting his tongue with a passion equal to his own.

Leaning against the door, he set her on her feet and brushed her hair back with both hands. “I’ve fucking missed you. So bad.”

She offered a teary-eyed nod and pulled his head down to kiss him again. In less than a minute, Zach was hard. His whole body ached for her. His heart pounded, thrilled at reconnecting. Then her hands slipped under his shirt and moved over his back.

Zach clenched his teeth. “Oh God, Tessa.” He mirrored her movement, pushing her sweatshirt out of the way to feel her skin, and it was everything he remembered—soft and smooth and warm. Intoxicating. He barely kept himself from pulling her clothes off. “How long do we have? Where’s Sophia?”

Before she could answer, a door closed in the distance and footsteps sounded in the hall, along with their daughter’s voice singing, “Baby Beluga and the deep blue sea, you swim so wild and swim so free…”

Joy exploded through Zach’s heart. He laughed and dropped his head back against the door. “That’s so fucking beautiful.”

But it also meant Abby was here. Zach pushed aside his urgent need for Tessa as she stepped back, smiling. “Get ready.”

He wasn’t sure if that was a good warning or a bad warning, but he moved away from the door so Tessa could open it.

“Oh Ba-by Beluga…” Tessa sang as she leaned into the hall, her voice joining Sophia’s, “is the water warm? Is your mama home with you, so ha-ppy…”

“Mommy, look what I drawed.”

Pleasure-pain cascaded through Zach’s heart, and he flattened his hand against his chest, overflowing with joy.

“Oooo, pretty. I have a surprise for you too.”

Zach tensed, unsure how Sophia would react to seeing him so suddenly.

“What?” her gleeful voice echoed in the hall.

“Come see.”

Tessa stepped aside, and Sophia bounced into the room, looking around. Her gaze stopped and held on Zach an extended moment.

“Hey, baby.” Zach dropped into a crouch. “Remember me?”

The shock on his daughter’s face instantly transitioned to joy, and she ran at him full force, screaming, “Daddy!”

Zach caught her and stood, doubling his arms around her and burying his face in her hair. She smelled like bubbles and powder and Sophia, and her warm little body spilled with unconditional love, pushing tears to Zach’s eyes. “Oh, man, baby,” he choked out. “I’ve missed you so much.”

“I missed you too.” She pulled back with her eyes sparkling, her baby teeth flashing, and held up her drawing. “Look what I drawed, Daddy.”

Zach’s chest was so full, it felt like it would crack. He blinked the wetness from his eyes to look at the drawing she held out. “Oh, wow.”

“This is me, you, Mommy, and Abby.” The four stick figures were lined up along squiggly blue lines. She pointed to a stick figure lying in the clouds. “And this is Corinne.”

Regret flashed in his veins, but he told her, “That’s beautiful.”

She pointed out a few more things on the page, but Zach couldn’t take his eyes off her utterly perfect face.

“These are our surfboards,” she said. “These are fish.” She tapped the paper again. “And that’s our new house.”

Zach pried his gaze off Sophia to look at the picture again with a new zing of uncertainty. “New house?” Her image of the house was drawn on the blue squiggles. He chuckled and asked, “Is that a houseboat?”

“No,” she said with a you-silly tone. “A house on the beach. Near you.”

His gaze jumped to Tessa. Abby stood nearby, twirling the lanyard to her keys around her hand, but all Zach could think about was Tessa’s “I’m not moving closer to work.”

“What is she talking about?” he asked.

Tessa drew a breath to speak, but Sophia beat her to it. “I’m talking ’bout moving with you.”

Zach’s arms tightened around her while he held Tessa’s gaze. “Tessa?”

“I’m going to run to the store,” Abby said. “Text me if you think of something you want me to pick up.”

When Abby closed the door, Tessa crossed her arms. “You’re not the only one who’s been soul-searching. I have some apologizing of my own to do. You’ve been amazing—from the way you opened a new part of me our first night to the way you’ve fought for Sophia. I should have trusted you, and I’m sorry I couldn’t see past the fear in the moment.” She moved toward them and closed her fingers around Sophia’s free hand. “Sophia and I have decided we should live closer to her daddy.”

Zach’s stomach clenched, and he waited for more with as much caution as his spinning mind and speeding heart could manage.

Her hand left Sophia’s and wound around his waist. “Once I got back here, and the bill passed, I had room in my brain to think more clearly. I realized that my fears and frustrations were coming from work and the past, not you.”

He slid a hand over Tessa’s hair and pulled her close, kissing her forehead.

“So, Sophia and I decided to move closer to you. It’s not Hawaii, but I just accepted a new job in Los Angeles.”

Zach closed his eyes on a whispered “Oh my God.” He turned his head and kissed Sophia’s neck, making her giggle. “What kind? When do you start?” he asked Tessa, suddenly on cloud nine. “Where are you going to live?”

“It’s contract law, which is similar to what I’ve been doing here, but with fewer headaches. I start work in two weeks, but the ‘where’ is still a little up in the air. They’re putting us in corporate housing until we find something we like.”

“Holy…” He caught “shit” before it came out and wrapped his free arm around Tessa, dragging her close so he could hug them both. “I can’t think of anything…appropriate…to say.”

Tessa laughed and laid her cheek against his chest. “Nothing necessary. This says it all.”

Oh no. This didn’t begin to say it all.

“We’ll have plenty of time to talk more once she’s asleep,” he told Tessa, “but I do have one thing that can’t wait anymore.” He hadn’t thought this moment would come for a long time. But when the time was right, it was right.

He stepped back and lowered to one knee, making Sophia giggle. He settled her on his bent thigh while he dug in his pocket. Once the metal touched his fingers, he took Tessa’s hand with the other. And kissed it. “I don’t want to live without you. You and Sophia fill places in my heart that I didn’t even realize were vacant.” He lifted the ring. “I love you, Tessa. So much. Will you marry me?”

“Mommy, look! It’s so pretty.”

Tessa pulled in a sharp breath, her gaze moving to the ring. “Oh my God. You came with that?”

“I’ve had it in my pocket for a couple of weeks.” He tipped his head side to side. “You know, checking out how it feels. Trying it on my pinkie a few times. Got it stuck once. That was a little terrifying.”

Tessa laughed and pressed her fingers to her lips. She sighed a troubled “Zach…”

“I’m not doing this for Sophia.” He’d known she’d waver over this. “I love her.” He kissed her for punctuation, making her laugh. Then told Tessa, “And I’ll always be part of her life, no matter what happens with you and me. But I also love you, Tessa, apart from Sophia. And I want to know you’ll always be part of my life too.”

“What’s marry?” Sophia interrupted. “Why is Mommy crying?”

He grinned at Tessa. “Better answer before she answers for you.”

She burst out laughing and covered her mouth with a shaking hand. Tears streamed down her face. When she dropped her hand, she managed a weak “Yes.” Then she laughed again and repeated her answer. “Yes. I want to marry you.”

Zach’s heart broke open with joy.

Tessa sipped a breath and leaned in to kiss him. When she pulled back, she looked directly into his eyes and whispered a breathy “I love you, so much.”

Oh, yeah. This was most definitely what he’d been looking for his whole life. He pressed his lips to hers, infusing all his love into the kiss. Almost forgot he was still holding Sophia, until she smacked a kiss against his cheek. “I love you, Daddy.” Then her mother’s. “I love you, Mommy.”

Tessa laughed. “We love you too.” She brushed her hand across his cheek and let her fingers slide into his hair. “It’s getting long. I like it.” She met his eyes again, with a furrow between her brows. “Is there any way you can get the part back?”

He twisted his lips in consideration. “I don’t know, but honestly, I don’t care. As long as I have you and this little princess”—he tickled Sophia and pulled Tessa close again, his heart soaring—“I have everything I need.”