To say that Shayla was in a daze by the time they parked at Oceanside would be like saying a Category Five hurricane was just a little breeze. She was overwhelmed that he’d taken her on a helicopter, and now they were going surfing.

He opened her door for her, and she grinned up at him, knowing she’d never felt this way for any other man she’d ever dated. Not that she’d dated that much, but Jason from back home felt like an amateurish boy compared to Scar. Wanting to see if he remembered the joke, she said, “Hey.”

His lips settled on hers, and he pulled her closer to him.

She laughed, guessing he’d gotten it.

As he placed his hands on her cheeks and trailed kisses down her jawbone and back to her lips, she knew she was gone. This man, everything about him felt breathtaking and invincible. Everything was excitement, and there was the way he took care of her. Not that she ever felt like she needed to be taken care of, but he made her feel cherished.

Her mother often said, “Your father cherishes me.” She’d thought it was kind of stupid, but at this moment, that’s exactly how she felt.

Scar pulled back. He searched her face and grinned, sending her stomach fluttering. She thought about how handsome he was with his blue eyes and his blond hair, which looked like it’d gotten blonder since they’d been together.

“You cannot not tell me what you are thinking.” He kept her locked in his arms.

Embarrassed, she tried to get out.

He wouldn’t let her. “No way.”

She sighed and quit fighting. The only place to look was those beautiful blue eyes. “It’s going to sound stupid.”

“I like stupid.”

It was funny, coming from this man who had been through war and had the scar to prove it. He seemed so sure of himself, yet he was holding her like he would hold something very valuable. She relented and reached up, gently tracing the scar on his face.

He relaxed his grip, closed his eyes, and groaned. “You cannot touch me like that, woman, and expect me not to kiss you again.”

She let him kiss her. This time it was light and sweet.

He kept her close. “Tell me what you’re thinking.”

“My mother has always said my father cherished her, treated her with kindness and love. I could see that he did. My brothers and I would tease that he went about doing nice things for my mom too much, leaving her little flowers in season on the table for her and cheesy things like that.”

Scar lifted his eyebrows.

“I was just feeling that same way about you a second ago. You open doors for me. You plan amazing things for me and kiss me like you mean it.” It was stupid, but it made her almost tear up to say this.

He squeezed her. “I do mean it.”

She blinked. “Exactly. You take me on helicopter rides, and you’re gonna teach me to surf—all so I can live my dreams.”

Holding her gaze for a second, he leaned down and kissed the tears forming in her eyes. “Shh, you’re just going to have to get used to it.”

This made her smile, and they held each other for a few more minutes.

Abruptly, he let her go, keeping her hand as he pulled the door shut. “Because I’m thinking I might have to relocate to San Diego.”

Her heart leapt. “What?” A million thoughts flitted through her mind. “What?” She jumped next to him as she walked.

He laughed. “It’s not final, but I’m thinking about it.” He tapped his head.

Elation swept through her. He could be here. He could do things with her all the time!

He laughed. “Focus, Kansas. Today we’re teaching you how to surf, and I’m all business.”

She got serious. “What about football? You clearly love it.”

He hesitated. Then he let out a breath and stopped walking.

She stopped with him. “You can’t give that up.”

A troubled expression darkened his face, and he looked toward the ocean. She could feel the conflict inside of him. “I love the game. I love everything about playing professionally.” He turned back to her. “But when I was a SEAL, it felt like more than a job, more than something I did for a living, it was a calling. It was something—” He broke off and rubbed a hand over his face. “I guess, it felt like God wanted me to do it.”

Chills washed over her, and she felt herself open up even more to him. He’d been directed by God.

“I was so dang confused when I took a bullet and got discharged, because it felt like God had given me mixed signals.” He put a hand over his chest and smiled at her. “Sounds funny, doesn’t it?”

She put her hand over his. “Not at all.”

He let out another breath. “What I have going on with the vets, it feels like maybe I was meant to do this the whole time.”

She could see this. She thought of seeing him interacting with the guys at the gym.

“I love the vets. I love the idea of ‘Sparring for Vets’ around the country, helping thousands of vets. You saw the other night at the gym—it doesn’t matter what problems any of us have. When we’re together, we feel better.” His brow furrowed. “I’ve been trying to figure out a way to spend more of my time doing what matters. And …” His lip quirked up. “Maybe there’s this girl who might be worth putting down roots for.”

Crazy, hyper energy pulsed through her. Would he come here for her? It was overwhelming, but was it right?

Gently tugging her, he went across the street to a surf shop and stopped, pulling her close to him and peering into her eyes. “Hey.”

This made her laugh. “Hey.”

They kissed again. So many thoughts whirled around her mind. She focused on the kiss, because the way he kissed her pulled her out of her confused thoughts. She was getting used to the feel of the softness of his lips and the smell of his cologne, but she wondered if she would ever be used to the pull this man had on her. Once again, her knees went weak, and she felt herself leaning into him.

In response, he held her closer.

Pulling back, she was breathless and laughing. “Focus, Lieutenant.”

He sighed. “Okay. So I was going to pull in a favor because I know the guy, so I could get by with him letting us use all the stuff for free. However, when I called him two days ago, he mentioned his wife is about to have a baby, so I need a pass on the spending money part right now. Because we need boards and wet suits, but I want to help the guy out.” When she started to protest, he put up a hand. “I have money, Kansas. I wish you would stop making this such an issue.”

It bothered her to have him spending what would probably be at least two hundred on this excursion.

“How about, in exchange, I’ll let you cook dinner tonight?”

She rolled her eyes. “With the food you bought me.”

He cocked an eyebrow. “The food was outside of this deal.”

Glaring at him, she sighed, thinking she could cook him a fantastic dinner with all the things in her pantry. “I’m not happy about this.”

“Hey,” he said, and waited.

She shook her head. “No.”

Gently, he reached out and touched the end of her nose. “You stay here, so you don’t have to witness the money spent, even though you should know I do cherish you, and I would, I will, continue to spend money on you.”

“Not for this deal,” she said, knowing it was futile.

He rolled his eyes. “Fine.”

“Fine.”

Letting go of her hand, he stepped into the surf shop.

She thought about how she’d just let him do whatever he wanted, and she wasn’t even really mad at him because he was kind, thinking about how his friend could use the money. Dang him!

* * *

Twenty minutes later, Shayla was wearing a wet suit and she and Scar were standing on Oceanside Beach. The waves rolled in and out enticingly. There were other surfers scattered along the shoreline. She noticed most of them were male, but there were a couple of women. Even though it was early, there were two families setting up umbrellas and kids running around.

The smell of hot dogs wafted through the air. Once in a while a homeless person would walk along the pier, carrying a backpack.

They both stood on the surfboards. Scar pointed to the board. “Put your dominant leg in back.”

Listening intently, she put her right leg in back.

“Now, transfer your weight to your back leg and kind of sit into it. Keep your stomach tight and use your core.” He pointed to the ocean. “The best thing about learning to surf at Oceanside is the waves crest closer to the shore. That’s why it’s the best for surfers, especially for beginners. In other places, like Coronado Beach or Hawaii, the surfing demands a lot of strength to get out far enough to catch a good wave. Here you can get up pretty easily.”

“Because I’m just a puny girl.” She said it sarcastically.

He grinned back at her. “I didn’t say that.”

She rolled her eyes.

“But … yeah.”

She laughed. “There’s the egomaniac I love.”

He froze. “You love?”

“It’s just a saying.” As she peered into his eyes, she wondered.

He held her gaze for a long moment before going back to teaching her. “Okay, the basics of getting up.” He dropped to a push-up position on the board. “Come down here.”

Taking a second to get down on her knees one at a time, she grimaced at him. “Show-off.”

He laughed as he straddled the board. “When you first climb onto your board you’re going to straddle it like so. Then you’ll kneel on the board. Then you’ll put your left leg out front and balance on your right knee—good.” He put his hands out. “Use your hands for balance, but remember that balance comes from your belly button. From contracting those muscles.”

She mimicked his stance and focused on her core. “Okay.”

“When I say ‘Up,’ you’ll go here.” He pushed himself up to the classic surfing position you always see in the movies or on television, and she followed suit. “Good.” His hands rested on her waist. “You get your hips to the side, but you look down the front of the board.”

It always amazed her that his touch could send fire through her.

For once, he was clearly not in that flirty mindset. He was in teaching mode. He pulled his hands away and looked at her stance. “Good. Now back to your straddle position and let’s go through the moves a couple of times so they are fresh when you’re in the water.”

They went through it ten times, until Shayla was mostly sure she had it down.

Finally, he said, with a smile on his face, “You ready for this, Kansas?”

“Yes!” she said, excitement bubbling inside her.

They picked up the boards. Hers was big and heavy, but she could handle it. They reached the water, lay on the boards, and started paddling out. It quickly became apparent that he was a much faster swimmer than she was.

Not too far out, he asked, “Would you care if I hooked you to me and pulled you out for a bit? You could do it, but it’ll just go faster this way, and it’s simple for me.”

“Fine.” Even though she didn’t want to accept too much help, she did want to get to the actual surfing part. “Okay.”

He nodded, moving in front of her. Once again, she admired his strength and power. He scooted back on his surfboard and connected the rubber sole of his rubber shoe to her board and then took off. Just like that, she felt like she was on a ride, he was gliding so smoothly through the water.

“Amazing,” she muttered.

“What’s that?”

Purposely, she said, “Hey.”

He chuckled. “You better mean that hey. Because I’ll collect when we’re out there.”

She laughed, loving the idea of him collecting here in this setting.

They stopped a bit further out and he pulled her into him, kissing her and holding both of the boards.

This man took her breath away.

Pulling back, he shook out his wet hair, looking glorious. “You ready, Kansas?”

“Yeah.”

“First, I’m going to get you going. Then I’ll come in after you.”

“Okay.”

“Straddle your board.”

She did as she was told.

“Okay, get on your knees and put your left foot forward.”

It was harder than it looked. She felt like a toddler walking for the first time.

He watched the waves. “Okay. This one. Get ready. Up!”

She obeyed his order and felt him give her a firm push her with the wave. She couldn’t believe it—she was doing it! Gliding on the water toward the shore, she thought of all the times she’d imagined it, and decided this blew her expectations away. The salt water sprayed in her face, the sun shone down on her, and she watched the kids laughing on the shore. She was surfing! The wave slowed, and she realized she didn’t know what to do, so she just fell into the water.

He was laughing when she emerged.

She turned to him, putting a fist into the air. “I did it!”

He punched the air as well. “Kansas!” he shouted.

She walked to the shore in triumph and exhaustion, relishing the sand between her toes. As she rested, she watched Scar straddle his board, noting how he paddled with the water and then popped up like he was born to do it. He didn’t just glide to shore; he did fancy swirls and a little turn, which impressed her and prompted her to cheer for him.

He met her eyes and put both fists up.

She mimicked him, laughing.

When he got closer, he got off the board easily, without the flopping thing she’d done, and motioned for her to come back. “Come on, Kansas! Don’t get out of the water, let’s go again!”

After a few waves, she felt like she was getting the hang of surfing. Scar had as much passion for it as he seemed to have for everything in life. Every time she went out, he pulled her toward him and said, “Hey.”

Every time, she said it back. They kissed as much as they surfed, and time seemed to stand still. She felt lost and found all at once.