Cecilia, eight years before

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Wind blew through her hair, messing up the painfully styled curls she’d spent way too much time perfecting, probably tangling it to hell and back, but the tease of the ocean air on her nape, her shoulders, her cheeks felt so damned good that she didn’t bother to fight it.

Instead, she lifted her chin and inhaled the salt-tinged breeze.

This place was home, more than anywhere else she had been in her life.

And she was leaving in two days.

A tear slipped down her cheek. She didn’t want to leave, but home—no, responsibilities were calling—and so she would go.

“Why are you crying, sweetheart?” Colin’s voice broke through her thoughts.

She shook her head, shrugged. “Vacation ending blues, I guess.”

He sank down onto the blanket next to her and pulled her into his arms. “No, I don’t think that’s it.”

He was right, but CeCe didn’t want to ruin their last night with tears. She didn’t want to leave and not just because Scotland was amazing or her life at home was going to be lonely without her friends or her parents. It wasn’t even because her parents couldn’t stomach to look at her after she’d defied their wishes, or because her backpack contained all of the possessions she’d been allowed to leave with—namely only the things she’d purchased with her own money.

She was destroyed because she didn’t want to leave Colin.

And when she got on the plane two days from then, it would be without a piece of her heart.

Without a huge, giant chunk of the emotional organ.

Yes, she was being fanciful.

But lying in the lap of a hot Scottish hero on the side of a cliff, wind whipping and sun setting around them called for some fancy.

“CeCe?” he asked.

“Shh.” Her fingers slid around the back of his neck, and she tugged until his mouth touched hers.

This kiss was like all the others they’d shared during their three weeks together—sweet and hot and dizzying. Heat flared up her spine, clouding her thoughts.

More. Yes. Like that.

But when she lay back on the blanket and pulled him closer, wanting his weight on top of her, pressing into her breasts, her thighs, Colin hesitated.

“Hey,” he murmured and gathered her against his chest. “I’ve brought you something.”

She pouted, drifting her fingers down to the hard length of him nudging her thigh. “I know.”

He chuckled, snagging her wandering hand. “Not that.” Then he ducked down slightly so that his eyes met hers. “I brought you this.” Colin opened her palm and dropped something inside.

Something metal and round.

Her eyes widened as she took in the antique necklace she’d admired over the last weeks from the shop in town. “How?” She shook her head, shocked that he’d been so perceptive when she’d been so careful about even looking at it after the gorgeous pendant had stolen her breath. It was too expensive, unnecessary when she needed to watch what she was spending.

This trip was about memories and not possessions.

Plus, she couldn’t exactly wear it while she was in the pool and since that was where she would be spending her foreseeable future . . .

She’d put it out of her mind.

Colin hadn’t apparently.

“How?” she asked again as he fastened it around her neck.

He looked a little embarrassed. “It’s nothing.” A shrug. “I saw you looking at it, and I wanted you to have it.”

“It’s too much,” she said, running her finger over the interwoven strands of silver and gold before smiling and pressing a kiss to his lips. “But I love it, and I’m not giving it back.”

“Good,” he murmured, brushing her hair off her forehead and nuzzling at the base of her jaw.

“Mmm, God I love when you do that,” she said, tilting her head and thrusting her fingers into his hair to keep him there.

And somehow she found herself pressed back against the blanket.

Not that she minded, especially with his mouth on her throat, her lips. His fingers traced her torso, running along the sides of her hips, her ribs, higher—a questioning touch that she answered for him by capturing both of his hands and placing them on her breasts.

They both groaned as he massaged them. Her nipples tightened, pressing against the fabric of her bra, teasing and yet not enough.

“Colin,” she moaned.

He pulled back. “I’m sorry, I should stop.”

“No,” she said, sitting up to tug off her shirt. “I wasn’t trying to stop you.” She unhooked her bra, tossed it to the side. “I wanted more.”

Cecilia bit her bottom lip, forcing her hands to remain at her sides as Colin stared at her.

And didn’t move.

For an eternity.

Her shoulders came up and she began to wrap her arm over her breasts self-consciously. She knew she didn’t have a ton to offer a man, being as her body was thin and athletic. But she’d thought boobs were boobs and that all straight guys were into them.

Or maybe she was making him uncomfortable and he wasn’t ready for this kind of intimacy. Or maybe—

“I’m sorry,” she said, scrambling for her T-shirt. The wind was cold against her skin now, even as embarrassment scalded her cheeks. “I didn’t mean to pressure you. I shouldn’t have—God. I didn’t even ask you for consent.”

Colin blinked, almost seeming to emerge from a trance. “Fuck, sweetheart. I wholeheartedly consent.” He shook his head, reaching for her. “With whatever you’re comfortable with, that is. It’s just . . . you’re so fucking beautiful I lost my head.”

Her embarrassment faded as his lips found hers, as he touched her gently, as he stroked her desire up to a dizzying level. He was so incredibly perfect and three certain words were desperate to pour from her mouth. But it was too soon. This was a summer romance without any staying power. Not something long-term, not when they lived an ocean apart. Not when her life wouldn’t be hers for the next four years.

Still, she could make a memory.

She could have her first time be with someone she had true feelings for.

And so instead of declaring what was in her heart, she grabbed Colin’s hands, bringing them back to her breasts. “I want it all,” she declared and kissed him with every bit of the passion that was filling her, making her tremble with desire. “I need you on me and inside me. I need your mouth pressed to mine, and I need you to make me forget that I’m leaving all of this behind in two days. I just need you, Colin.”

“Fuck, CeCe,” he said. “You’re so fucking perfect.” And then he returned her kiss, giving her everything she asked for and more.