CHAPTER 31

Avery sat cross-legged on the bed in Smuggler’s Cove in front of a Scrabble board, warming her hands around a mug of hot cocoa. Theo lay on his side across from her, staring intently at his tiles. It was the perfect end to a lovely day in Star Harbor, and as Theo pondered his next move, she took the time to reflect on everything that had happened over the last month.

Christmas and New Year’s had come and gone. For Avery, the holidays had been quiet and peaceful. She’d been spending more and more time with Theo, her friends, and her family. Now that the holiday season was over, the energy in Star Harbor was more subdued. The town was fairly isolated, and few tourists visited at this time of year, but there was still plenty to do. Kate had her weekly rummy game with Babs, and she’d started to spend more time with Luke, which absolutely thrilled Avery. Emma was busy at the library with her author series and a fresh winter reading challenge for Star Harbor Elementary. And Avery herself had some important decisions to make about her future.

Just after New Year’s, Theresa Vasquez had sent her a written offer for the social-worker position and she’d spent a few days shadowing one of the employees at the center. Spending time at FFCS had shown her what a difference a location could make. She loved working for Yvonne, but the frenetic energy of Boston always seemed to creep into the Recovery Center. The work at FFCS was just as intense, but somehow the staff made the environment seem more relaxed. Avery was beginning to think that she’d be much less likely to get burned out at FFCS over the long run, especially given the varied workload associated with the position she’d been offered. The chance to educate as well as to counsel was too good to pass up. Plus, working with Theresa would be fabulous. The woman simply exuded calm, positive energy. Avery had asked her for a few weeks to think about it, and during that time, she’d decided to take the job. She hadn’t told anyone yet. Not even Theo.

At that moment he was staring at his letters with deep concentration, his green eyes flicking back and forth between them and the board.

“You sure you’ve never played this game before?” he muttered.

Much to her surprise, she was actually holding her own against the master of words. “Once against my mom. We both quit after a few rounds.”

“Well, you’re doing pretty well for a novice. You’re beating me by ten points. I have to make every letter count.”

Avery chuckled. He was taking this so seriously. “I didn’t realize you were so into the game,” she said. “We should have played sooner. I would have seen this side to you before now.” Though that wasn’t exactly true. He’d been plenty serious over the past month. He was intent on plowing through as much of his manuscript as possible by the end of January, and he’d mentioned a few days ago that he was almost at the quarter-way mark.

He looked up, his intense gaze boring into her. “Oh, I’m serious, all right. Serious about making love to you all night long.”

“Oh?” she said casually, trying to stay calm. It was difficult. All he had to do was look at her like that and her pulse raced and her breathing quickened. It was unbelievable how sexually compatible they were. He anticipated her every desire, and she could read him just as well.

“I think we should forget the game and concentrate on much more important things,” he said suggestively.

Avery raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure you’re not just saying that because I’m winning?”

“Hardly. Want to see my next move?”

“Sure,” she said shrugging. “If you’d like to show me your tiles.”

His lips twitched as he flipped his tray of tiles around, revealing the word RUINATE. She stared. “Are you kidding me? Is that even a word?”

“You bet. It means ‘to ruin.’ ”

“No way.”

“Is that a challenge?” His eyes gleamed.

“No,” she said grudgingly. “I trust you.”

“Seven letters, baby. Guaranteed fifty-point bonus. And I’m putting it on the triple word score, so that gives me at least another twenty. We’ll have to calculate it.” He paused. “Unless you’d like to stop and call it a draw right now.”

“I’d be a fool not to.” She picked up the bag of tiles and shook it. “We each only have another turn or two, at most. Not a whole lot of opportunity for me to make up the difference. If I don’t let it end in a ‘draw’ now, you’ll win for sure.”

He grinned. “Yep. But I know a way we can both win.”

“Really?” she said, feigning ignorance. “How?”

With one strong arm he swept the whole board, tiles and all, off the bed. Before she could even gasp, he’d pushed her back onto the bed and covered her lips with his. When he finally let her come up for air, she laughed. “I’ll be trying to find those tiles all year.”

“I’ll find them all,” he said, kissing her neck. “It was worth it to see the look on your face. Now let’s get these clothes off.” Within moments they were both naked. Involuntarily, she shivered as his eyes raked her body. “God, you’re gorgeous.”

“And so are you,” she said, trailing a hand down his arm.

He groaned and wrapped his arms around her. “What am I going to do with you?”

“Exactly what you promised,” she said. “We ended our game in a draw, but I demand satisfaction.”

“That, I’m more than happy to give,” he growled, effortlessly capturing her mouth with his and kissing her senseless.

She’d never grow tired of this. Wild and passionate, yet gentle and caring when he needed to be, Theo was everything she could have hoped for in a lover and partner. She gladly gave herself up to the sensation of being loved by him.

The instant before he entered her, her heart was about to leap out of her chest and every nerve ending in her body screamed with excitement. Then he pushed fully inside her, and for that one long moment, her world was complete. And when he began to move, everything came apart again until she begged for the relief that only he could give.

He was relentless in the way he gave her pleasure, but he never gave her more than she could take. With the ultimate finesse, he took her higher until she could bear no more. With the flick of a finger and a long, slow thrust, he sent her flying over the edge, and he was right there with her, shuddering as he, too, took his release.

Afterward, they lounged next to each other in bed as the last twinges of pleasure ebbed from their bodies. Theo gathered her up, one arm under her neck and another around her waist—his favorite position for holding her close.

“I love you, Avery,” he whispered.

Avery just smiled and snuggled in deeper next to him. “I love you, too.”

Avery woke up early on Sunday morning. Letting out a little yawn, she stretched and opened her eyes. A gorgeous, shirtless, dark-haired man reclined a mere foot away, writing in a notepad as he leaned against the headboard of the bed. His eyes were focused on the paper and his lips were pursed in concentration. Tousled hair fell over his forehead and he was wearing his glasses. She’d never seen anything sexier.

“Mmm,” she said sleepily, rolling onto her side to admire Theo’s bare chest from a better vantage point. “What time is it?”

“A bit before seven,” he said, running a hand through her hair and smoothing it down her back. And you know what day it is?”

“No, what?” she asked, thinking there must be something she’d forgotten to do for one of the guests.

His lips twitched slightly. “February first.”

“Okay, so?”

“So I’m still here.”

Sleepily, she smiled at him. “Yes, you are. And I’m glad.” Touching his leg under the warm covers, she squeezed gently. “I thought for sure you’d be out of here as soon as January thirty-first hit,” she said, half in jest.

He set the notepad on the bedside table and gently pushed her shoulder until she was on her side again. “I have a lot more work to do on my manuscript, but I’m on the right path. I think Star Harbor has worked its magic.”

“Congratulations. But it’s not all Star Harbor. You have to give me a little credit at least. After all, I’m the one who let you have a room at the Inn so you could get some work done,” she teased.

Instead of responding, he simply gazed at her, briefly, intently. Then he turned, reaching underneath his pillow and taking out a small box.

All of a sudden, her heart stopped. “Theo—”

He opened the box. Nestled inside was a perfect diamond solitaire ring. “Avery Eleanor Newbridge, would you do me the honor of being my wife?”

Too stunned to even speak, her gaze snapped between the ring and his face. He was serious. Utterly serious.

“B-but we haven’t known each other—”

“For that long. I know,” he said. “But I know enough to know that you’re the one.”

She blinked. “I’ve—”

“Been seeing that shrink in Boston. I know. It’s good for you. You have some issues to work out. So do I, but we’re doing it together.”

Avery took a deep breath. “Theo, I—”

“Got the job at FFCS; yes, I know that, too. If you choose to take it, great. If not, we can head back to Boston. You’ll still be close to your family and I’ll be close to mine.”

A dull roar began to sound in her ears as heat suffused her body. The Star Harbor gossip mill at work, once again. Everyone knew about the job. Maybe the whole town knew that Theo was proposing to her right now. A fresh flush crept over her face.

“No one knows about this,” he said, reading her mind. “Not even my brothers, but I’m sure they won’t be surprised.”

She let out the breath she’d unconsciously been holding. “I … yes.”

His voice dropped. “You’ll marry me?”

“Yes,” she said simply. It was the easiest decision she’d ever made. Theo knew her better than she did herself. He knew exactly what she needed. Not only was he good for her, he was good to her, encouraging her to follow her dreams and insisting that he’d be there by her side while she did so.

An enormous grin broke out on his face and he let out a whoop that surely could be heard on the first floor. He slid the ring onto her finger and kissed her passionately.

“And Theo, I’m taking the job. We can stay here if you want.”

“All I want is for you to stay with me,” he said firmly. “It doesn’t matter where we are, as long as we’re together.”

Later, bundled up against the cold, Theo and Avery made their way to the Bishop farmhouse, where Emma, James, Lexie, and Theo’s brothers were enjoying a lazy Sunday brunch together. Kate had gone over to Luke’s place for some quiet time alone.

Avery was happy to be with her sister and Lexie, and it was almost comical how ridiculous they looked—three small women surrounded by five enormous men in the Bishops’ kitchen.

Strangely, she’d known these men for such a short time, but she felt at home with them. At home, and safe. Especially with Theo.

Emma had squealed when she saw Avery’s ring, and everyone was extremely excited for them.

“Another Grayson takes the plunge,” Cole had said, after things settled down. “Don’t joke,” Theo said, narrowing his eyes behind his glasses. “Or you’re gonna be next.”

Cole snorted. “Not likely. Val here’s the man to watch.” Then he popped a whole chocolate chip cookie into his mouth and chewed heartily. Lexie had baked up a storm—more cookies and cakes than Avery had seen at the LMK over Christmas.

Val just smiled a secret smile. “Congratulations to both of you.”

“Thanks, bro,” Theo said.

“So is that guy who grabbed Avery still at Barnstable County lockup?” Jimmy asked.

“No,” Cole said. “The man—Matt Riley’s his name—was indicted on federal drug charges, so the Feds transferred him. Apparently, the book he wanted so badly was a ledger the drug runners were using to detail the times, dates, and places of all the drug runs they were making.”

“But you didn’t have it,” Jimmy stated.

“No,” Avery said, shaking her head. “Wanda mentioned a book to me, and I told Cole, but we never found it. It turns out that it was in my room at Kate’s house the whole time.”

Cole coughed into his hand. “During the scuffle that I had with Avery’s old client, Wanda MacGreeley, it must have gotten pushed under the bed. We didn’t realize it was there until after Avery got attacked and we did another sweep.”

“What matters is that you weren’t hurt and that we ended up recovering the ledger after a second search,” Val interjected.

“Yes,” Cole said. “Quite a few major drug players were listed in the book, too. It’s pretty valuable information, and we got lucky that Ms. MacGreeley grabbed it when she stole the drugs. Riley flipped pretty fast when we laid out the charges. We’ll probably be able to take down more bad guys than we thought, thanks to his testimony. And the ledger, of course.”

Avery nodded. The whole incident had been so surreal, it felt like a bad dream. She didn’t think about it much anymore, and it didn’t haunt her the way Mia’s death had. For that, she was grateful. “I had no idea what was really going on.”

Theo gave her a kiss. “Good thing.”

“Yes,” Cole piped in. “In a strange way, your ignorance saved you. You were able to stall him long enough for Theo to reach you.”

“I just wish he’d realized I truly had no idea where the book was. Then he wouldn’t even have bothered.”

“Operations like this typically tie up all loose ends. Even if the guy believed you, he probably had been ordered to kill you,” Val said.

“Can’t believe I missed all the excitement,” Seb said. “Too bad I was in New York. I could’ve helped take him down.”

“What about Wanda?” Emma asked encouragingly, trying to change the subject. “How’s she doing?”

“Better,” Avery said. “Her boyfriend came to visit. He’s been good for her and he’s going to support her efforts to get clean. I think he’s glad about the baby, too. I know better now than to try to predict whether someone’s going to make it or not,” she said, thinking of Mia, “but I think Wanda has a real chance at FFCS. And, speaking of FFCS, I’ve decided that I’m taking a job there.”

Emma’s eyes widened. “Really, Avie? That is such great news.” She came over to give her a hug. “I’m so happy you’re staying!”

“I am, too,” Lexie called out over her shoulder. “Seb, flip this pancake for me, okay?” She handed him her spatula and rushed to Avery’s side. “So glad you’re staying,” she said, giving her a hug. Lexie’s curls bounced across Avery’s face, tickling her nose. “And that you’re marrying Theo. Now we have more than the keys to connect us.”

Avery smiled at her. “Cameron’s uncle is convinced they’re part of a set. Maybe a part of that legend. It’s strange, but wonderful.”

“We’ll have to find a place of our own,” Theo said when Lexie had returned to the stovetop. “I can’t live at the Inn forever.”

Avery poked him in his side. “I told you it’d be less expensive to rent an apartment if you were staying in Star Harbor indefinitely.”

“But then I wouldn’t have had the pleasure of getting to know you,” he retorted, giving her waist a squeeze. “C’mere. I have to show you something.” Theo pulled her up effortlessly. While everyone else in the kitchen was chatting, he led her into a small room by the side entrance to the house.

He pressed her up against a wall and captured her lips with his. “I just needed to get you alone. I’ve been dying to do this.”

Avery laughed. “We’ve only been here for an hour. And we haven’t even eaten brunch yet.”

“An hour without touching you would feel like a lifetime,” he said, skimming a hand up her side.

“You’re insatiable,” she said, grinning.

“For you, Avie. Only for you.”

Just then, a gust of wind blew under the door and swirled around her. Avery shivered and was immediately heated by Theo’s embrace. Their lips met, and she reveled in the feel of his strong, hard body. The ring was warm on her finger.

With clarity, she knew that they’d have the rest of their lives to spend learning and growing together. And that no matter how cold it got outside, she’d always have Theodore Grayson to keep her warm.