After hobnobbing with Emily’s boss and getting leered at again by Alice, Tom and Emily finally left. It didn’t seem like Emily wanted to talk, so Tom just took her hand and walked around the hotel property toward the pools. He was glad she didn’t pull away. Part of him felt bad for being so intense, but what could he say? Why had she allowed herself to be in that kind of relationship?

Most of the crowds were gone, and only a few parents and kids were still swimming. They stopped next to the artificial waterfall. Tom stared at their joined hands. He didn’t want to let hers go. That thought made him feel vulnerable, but he knew the truth.

The truth was that he still loved her. It was undeniable when he’d sat and held back her hair as she was throwing up. Which he knew was disgusting, but that was just it. Helping her didn’t disgust him at all.

“Thank you. You …” She shook her head, and he saw tears mist in her eyes. “You really saved me today.”

“I told you to quit thanking me.” But dang, how come he liked hearing those words from her so much? He shrugged. “You know, I kinda like helping you. What did you used to say about me?”

She let out a light laugh. “You have a bit of hero complex when it comes to people you love.”

Yes, she used to get crazy about it, telling him she could pay for stuff and hating when he doted all over her. “You hated that so bad,” he whispered, peering into her green eyes and reaching up and touching her hair. It was still smooth and silky. He pulled it up to his nose and inhaled.

Batting him away, she laughed. “You’re crazy.”

Tom put a hand around her waist. His heart hammered in his chest. “Am I? Do you feel this, Ems? Do you?”

The way she breathed rapidly told him she felt it all. All the attraction. Everything.

With a surge of dismay, he thought about what she’d said yesterday. “I never wanted that night to be something you regretted. I’m sorry about that.”

She blinked. “It’s … I can’t really blame you, can I? I’m the one to blame.”

Every part of him wanted this woman. Just like then. No. Even more now. So much more, because he’d been without her for so long. He’d forgotten how much he needed her. “I’ve been mad as all get out at you and so sad, but I never regretted anything about you, Ems. Never.”

Tears spilled from her eyes. “Tom, I’m sor—”

All apologies stopped when he pressed his lips to hers. She melted into him. Just as she always had. Exactly how he liked her. Putting her hands on his face, she pulled him into her.

He loved it. So much. It was a rush because he was falling, just like jumping off the cliffs all those years ago. Just like when he’d gone skydiving, or when he went too fast on his motorcycle. This was Emily to him—pure adrenaline.

His lips moved against hers as they had before, when make-out sessions had been a daily thing. Slipping her hands around his neck, she ran her hands through his hair. Every part of him was on fire, and he could feel her fire matching his own.

Pulling back a bit, he laughed against her lips. “It’s still there, Ems. It’s still there.”

The air thickened between them, and he couldn’t stop himself. He kept his voice low. “Em, I used to dream of this. I used to dream of us somehow getting back together. I used to think about how our life would have been and what it would be like to come home to you.” He let out a breath and knew this made him more vulnerable, but he didn’t care right now. Maybe he wanted to be vulnerable with her again. “I actually bought a house last year in a town outside of Park City, a rural town called Heber. I bought—”

“You bought our house?”

It was insane what her words did to him. He laughed but also felt tears emerging. He nodded. “Well, the house is on five acres.”

“A house to restore?”

“Oh yeah. It’s in process. Grant’s there right now, and he thought I was kidding about how much construction it needs, but …”

“But we would paint a blue room and a pink one.” Her tears matched his.

Chills rushed over him. “Yes. I don’t have the horses yet—”

“We have to learn to ride first anyway,” she said, sniffing and looking like she would crumble to pieces.

He laughed and held her closer, running a hand down her hair. “Exactly. The best part is the wraparound porch. It’s falling apart at the moment, but it’s there.”

“Does it have a white swing chair on the porch?”

“Not yet.” He could see her swinging in it. With him. Maybe holding a baby. “It could.”

She held his gaze and swallowed. Abruptly, she took a step away. He wanted to pull her back, but she held a hand up. “Oh, whew.” She wiped beneath her eyes. “I don’t know what …” She shook her head, looking confused. “Tom, this is crazy.”

Desire washed over him. Unbelievably, the woman he loved was standing in the moonlight with him, holding his hand, and they were remembering all the perfect dreams together.

“What are you thinking, Tom?” she asked softly.

He sighed. “It’s not crazy, Ems. It’s not.”

She looked unconvinced.

“It’s been ten years. For so much time, I stood in the desert, guarding the helos at night. Yeah, I worked on them too. Turns out if you can work on a motorcycle, you can fix a helicopter.”

She smiled.

Part of him didn’t want to admit to this, but he couldn’t stop. “I would think about those times, hanging out in my garage. You there, us talking about our life together.” After everything he’d done in his life, those simple moments were still the best memories he had.

“I have thought of it, too.”

Tom knew how dangerous hope could be. Hope could keep men fighting a war they couldn’t win. Was he fighting that war right now? He cradled her hand in both of his and turned it so he could see the blue topaz ring from her grandmother. “Isn’t it funny I even know that your grandmother gave you this ring?”

Letting out a light sigh, she smiled. “It is funny.”

Tom grinned. “She was a good lady.”

“Yes, she was. So—” She swallowed. “—so is my mother.”

Hesitating, Tom knew her mother was a complicated topic for her, and he didn’t want to say what he was thinking. Neither of them spoke for a while.

Tom decided to go straight to the root of what he knew had taken Emily away from him. “Emily, you can’t worry about being strong all the time. You can’t let all those insecurities about someone leaving you keep us apart.”

Slowly, Emily pulled her hand away. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Your father left you. Left your mother, and it broke your mother. You admitted you couldn’t have me leave, even just to be in the military, but Ems—” He reached for her again. “—I’m not in the military now. I won’t leave you. I wouldn’t—”

Before he could finish, she cut him off. “Trina told me.”

“What?”

“That you went to visit my mother in the care center the last time you were in Greeley.”

His mind flashed to his spur-of-the-moment decision to see her. “So what?”

“So what? That’s not …I mean, why wouldn’t you see me when I came to Salt Lake last summer? I know you saw my Facebook message. It said ‘read.’” Her eyes narrowed, and he felt like he had found himself smack in the middle of the Spanish Inquisition.

“What?” He stepped back, unprepared for this turn in the conversation.

“Why didn’t you answer that message I sent you on Facebook?”

“You mean the one that told me you and your boyfriend were in town and wanted to have dinner?”

She threw up her hands. “Yeah.”

Tom couldn’t believe this, couldn’t believe her. He shook his head, turned on his heel, and stalked away from her. “Ya know what? I can’t do this.” He paused, then swung back. “I’ll pick you up tomorrow at seven sharp. We’ll finish this deal and be done.”