Tom ran down the boardwalk the next morning, elation fueling him. Emily wanted him, he knew, but there was no way he could move to New York.

Focusing on his run, he relished the way his muscles yearned for the pounding exercise. He needed to run, every day. Usually, it was the only time his mind felt calm. Not this morning. As he got lost in the rhythm of the exercise, he thought about the first order of business: how would he get the fifteen grand Emily needed?

Unfortunately, he didn’t have that kind of money just lying around. He’d bought his house last year, and he was fixing it up. Plus, he had a boat. Boats should stand for “bring on another thousand.” Yep. That was pretty much the truth. He cursed himself for not having more in savings.

Sure, he had some pensions that he’d opted not to take yet, and he had a 401K. Maybe he could borrow from that. He could pretty much call any of his brothers and borrow it. Shoot, they’d give it to him. But he didn’t want to do that. He wouldn’t beg his brothers for money!

After an hour of hard running, he rushed back into the hotel, armed with a plan.

They met the photographer at the parasailing place around one o’clock. This time, after a couple of shots for the tour company, Tom turned to him. “Is that offer for the beach photo shoot still on the table?”

“Oh yeah.”

Emily started. She had an arm around Tom’s waist, but the kiss she’d been about to give him had been disrupted. “What are you talking about?”

The older gentleman gestured to the beach next to the dock.

Tom asked, “How much?”

Stan grinned. “Depends on how many poses and pictures.”

“How about enough for fifteen grand?”

“Sounds like my lucky day,” Stan said, laughing deliriously.

Tom waved toward the beach. “Let’s go on down there right now and get some Tom Kent naked chest pictures.”

“No, Tom. You don’t have to do this,” Emily said, looking horrified.

Tom smiled at her. “It’s just a couple of pics, Ems.” Taking her hand, he led her down to the beach. “It’ll pay for your mom. Then you don’t have to worry about the bonus.”

Her face turned red. “No, Tom.”

“You can’t change my mind.”

It took a good hour to do a couple of poses for Stan. He wanted Tom to flex, front and back. He wanted to snap one of Tom’s Army tattoo. He wanted Tom to stare off into the ocean and told him a few other poses the guys at Station 3 would never let him live down.

All in all, it didn’t feel that degrading.

Emily stood on the edges of the shoot. Wearing her red one-piece, a white wrap around her legs, her sunglasses, and her wide-brimmed white hat, she looked beautiful. All he could do was think about a life with her. There were just a few more details to figure out before she went back to New York.

They boarded the little boat that would take them to a bigger boat out on the ocean, and Emily gave him the silent treatment. Tom didn’t particularly mind. He felt amazing that he’d gotten the pictures over with. Stretching his arms, he leaned his head back and closed his eyes, loving the feel of the ocean water misting around him.

“I can’t believe you did that,” Emily said, keeping her distance from him.

He scooted to her and put an arm around her. “Yes, you can,” he whispered, kissing her cheek.

She yanked back as if he’d burned her, tugging off her sunglasses. “Listen here, Tom Kent. Don’t do that. Don’t kiss me when I’m trying to talk to you. It makes me forget what I want to say, and I didn’t want you to.”

He knew she was just getting heated up, but he would have none of it. He took off his sunglasses and put his hands on her face. “Good.” He kissed her again. “I like it when you forget everything except me.”

Emily’s anger slipped. She smiled, and they left the issue behind them with the wake of the boat.

Later that night, as they walked on the beach, Tom obsessed over how they would arrange to be together. “My flight leaves in the morning tomorrow; I’m heading to San Diego to be with Zane for Christmas. Why don’t you come with me?”

Emily stared at the skyline. “Dang, these sunsets are really the best.” She grinned and leaned against his side. “Maybe you’ll bring me back later.”

“I was actually thinking maybe next time we come, we go to the Big Island. I hear it’s nice.” He bent and lightly kissed her. “So you’ll change your ticket and spend Christmas with me in San Diego? My brothers will be so happy.”

“I have a helicopter ride planned for tomorrow.”

“You do?” Maybe she had mentioned it before. He wasn’t sure.

“Brett paid for it, but he said it was a parting gift to me.”

“Oh.” Tom’s excitement faltered.

Gently, she touched his face. “Would you want to change your ticket and stay with me?”

“Wait, let me get this right. We’d be in Hawaii together … on Christmas Eve.”

She shrugged. “If you want to come with me on the helicopter ride. I was kinda thinking we could start discussing our plans for the future.”

All thoughts of Brett flew out the window, and Tom said, “I’d like nothing better.”

“Perfect.”

“Ems,” he said, knowing he had to get this out. “So you’ll come to Park City, right?”

She grinned. “You didn’t do the naked chest shots for any other reason, did you?”

“At least we know I can make some fast cash.”

Out of the blue, she stiffened and looked around. “I’m feeling that feeling.” Her face paled.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“I don’t know.” She pointed to a house with large bushes. “Right there. There’s something.”

Despite his misgivings, Tom always did what needed to be done when there was trouble: he walked right into it. “Don’t worry.” He let her hand go and marched toward the bushes.

Behind the greenery crouched the dark-haired man from the wedding. The man stared back at them, then ran down the beach.

Tom sprinted after him, but the guy cut away into a side street and Tom ended up losing him.