Later that evening, as Scarlett spent time getting ready, she thought of how funny it had been when Walker had said he was sick and needed to stay back from the party. Brent had not been happy.

Scarlett had told them she would stay with him and make sure he was okay. Moments ago, she had watched all of them leave in a stretch limo.

Finishing the reapplication of makeup, she texted Walker. They just left.

He texted back. Casual. Shorts. Tennis shoes and T-shirt.

She didn’t think she was overly dressed in her jeans, but she slipped into shorts and put on tennis shoes. The last time she’d been on a motorcycle had been for a movie she’d done two years ago about a girl running from a stalker. Angst washed through her. Should she feel badly she’d skipped out on the party to be alone with Walker?

Honestly, she didn’t. Sure, it was Brent’s wedding, but they would have the whole day tomorrow, and she would have the rest of her life to go to “parties” at Charlene’s family’s home. She had already been to so many there she couldn’t count them.

The more important thing was that Walker had wanted to spend time with her. The man was handsome, fun, and turning out to be so different than she ever would have thought. This wasn’t real, she reminded herself. She was giving the man her house, for heaven’s sake.

He texted her again. Almost there. Pls don’t wear your tantalizing fruity smell if you don’t want me to kiss you.

A round of butterflies flitted through her, and she laughed harder. It was sexy to think about him thinking about what she smelled like.

Before she could respond, there was a knock at the door. She answered, feeling herself blushing a bit. Walker looked amazing in khaki shorts and a black T-shirt that stretched across his shoulders in all the right places. He took in a large sniff, then frowned. “You already put on the fruity smell, didn’t you?”

She laughed and grabbed her room key. “Control yourself, Kent.”

Cocking an eyebrow at her, he put his hand out. “We’ll see.” He pulled her out of the room and down the hall. “Uh, I hope you don’t mind we’re not going on a motorcycle.”

“Then where are we going?”

He laughed and tugged her down the hall. “Come on. I owe you a date, and the helicopter is waiting.”

The pilot climbed out of the helicopter and gave the keys to Walker. “You be careful with her.”

Walker grinned and moved to open the passenger side door for Scarlett. “You bet I will, Hank. Thanks again for helping me out.”

The pilot looked uncertain. “You promise you’ll get me Grant’s autograph when he comes here? And I’ll get to talk to him?”

Walker nodded. “You bet.”

Scarlett laughed as Walker ran to his side and hopped in, looking determined and happy. “You’re going to fly us?” she asked him.

He grunted. “Woman, I was born to fly!”

They were up on the coastline for a few moments, and he pointed out the whales.

“Oh my gosh! So cool!” Even though she was used to being on a helicopter, this felt different. Being with him made it feel new and fun. “Where are we going?” She turned and couldn’t stop her excitement. She’d been dreading this wedding so much, but now, with Walker here, it had turned into a grand adventure.

“Nope. Not telling you.”

“I thought you didn’t fly helicopters anymore.”

A smile washed over his face. “I don’t.”

She couldn’t help but laugh. “Yet here we are.”

“What can I say? A date with you has inspired me.”

Scarlett stared at him. Kent Walker was clearly in charge of the helicopter. It didn’t need to be said he was an alpha male, but the truth was he looked comfortable at the wheel.

He eyed her. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” she said rather quickly.

Lifting his chin, he grinned. “Checking me out, you just can’t stop.”

“Ugh! Your cockiness.” She smiled and glanced at the beautiful skyline. “Who knew a proposition would turn into inspiration?”

Sputtering out a laugh, he met her gaze. “Who knew?”

Fifteen minutes later, they landed in some random parking lot north of San Diego.

“What are we doing?” she asked.

As they climbed out, he gestured to a blue Corvette. “Gary hooked me up with a good car too.”

She could sense his energy, and she loved it.

He opened the door for her, and then he rushed around and got in.

She thought of how gentlemanly this guy was. It was rare among the guys she dated for them to open doors for her. It was something she and Kurt had fought about. Stupidly, she’d thought he should open the door for her, but he’d cried feminism.

They took off out of the parking lot, and he said, “I just have one question for you. Do you like Ferris wheels?”

“What?” Her mind fished for the last time she’d been on one—probably when she was really young, like twelve.

“Do you or not?”

“Ye-es?” she said tentatively.

“Good.”

Her eyes lit up as a huge Ferris wheel and a carnival loomed into view. “Oh my gosh, Mission Belmont Park?”

He smiled and parked, commanding her to wait while he got her door.

“I can pay,” she said, reaching for a fifty she always kept on her.

“Don’t take away my manhood, okay?”

She let out a light laugh. “I don’t think anything could take away your manhood.”

“Glad you think so.” He winked at her. “Like I said at the beach, I owe you a date, and I got an idea.”

As he rushed through the assorted booths of carnival game players and roller coaster rides, she had to laugh and tell him to slow down.

Suddenly, he stopped and gave her a sweeping look, making her bump into him. “Are you okay?” he asked.

“I’m fine.” Truthfully, she was a bit out of breath.

Reaching out, he put a hand on her head. “No fever.”

She batted his hand away. “Why would you do that?”

The soldier look slipped onto his face. “No reason, I just thought you might be out of breath because you’re getting sick and this morning you were tired.”

Scarlett bristled. She hated people treating her like she was sick. “I’m fine.” She gestured ahead of them. “Let’s go.”

He started again, this time at a slower pace, and it wasn’t long until they stopped at the Ferris wheel. Gently, he took her hand. “But I’m also being your doting fiancé.”

Nervous angst wove through her, and she fought the urge to kiss him. His kisses had tantalized her ever since the stage at the auction. To resist, she looked away.

He stepped into her path. “You want to kiss me. Admit it!”

Denial was her friend. She shook her head. “Pshaw, we’ve kissed way too much already.”

He grunted. “Really?”

It was annoying, really, how sexy the man was. “Stop flirting with me,” she said.

A smile played at his lips, but his eyes turned serious. “Is that what you really want?”

Fortunately, they moved to the front of the line, so she didn’t have to answer.

As they got on, Walker slipped the kid a hundred-dollar bill and said to him, “Can you give us some extra time?” The kid nodded.

Both of them were quiet while they waited for the Ferris wheel to finish filling. When the music started and they took off, Scarlett’s heart soared. As she turned to look at him and he took her hand, it felt real. More real than any date she’d been on in a long time. Not that she dated much, but this was different.

“What are you thinking, green eyes?”

This amused her. “Green eyes? I thought the song was brown eyes.”

He shrugged. “I don’t know about any song. All I know is that I haven’t been able to quit thinking about those eyes.”

“At least it’s not the eyebrows.”

He chortled. “True.”

The pier and dock and crowd and lights all rushed into their view as they rose into the sky. It dawned on her. “You just like being in the sky, don’t you?”

Walker was quiet for a moment. Then he said, “My mom said a few important things to me before she passed. One of them was, ‘Don’t forget how happy Ferris wheels make you.’”

She realized this moment, this Ferris wheel, meant something deep to him, and he was sharing it with her.

Walker met her eyes. Tonight, the ice blue was gone. Instead, the color looked deep, like the dark ocean waters. Walker Kent wasn’t a media stunt. He wasn’t the kind of man the papers made him out to be. Tentatively, trying to handle him with care, she squeezed his hand.

He looked down at their hands and then back to her. His blond hair was messed and hanging into his eyes, but his usual tough-guy mask was missing.

“Tell me more about your mom,” she said softly.

Not moving his hand, he looked out over the beach and pier as they cycled into another revolution. “She—” He broke off, and she could tell he was trying to be strong. “When I was little, I used to love the fair. We didn’t have a lot of money, and we didn’t go on big family vacations every summer or anything, but we would go to the fair, no matter where we lived, no matter how poor we were. When the fair arrived in town, the Kent brothers were there.” He smiled at her, an unguarded, brilliant smile.

She felt everything in this moment. The complete joy of being with this man—this man who didn’t use pretenses, who wasn’t Hollywood.

“One year—” He broke off, laughing. “—we went, and I was obsessed with the Ferris wheel.” He flashed her a wicked smile. “It is that whole love-being-up-in-the-air thing.”

“That led to the helicopter pilot thing. Got it.”

Surprising her, he turned to her and put his arm around her, and she cuddled into him. “So, I went on that Ferris wheel, I don’t know, like a million times.” He grinned ever wider. “I mowed lawns that summer, and I spent, like, fifty bucks, which was big money.”

She tried to imagine a twelve-year-old Walker Kent.

His face turned contemplative. “My mama, she was everything to us.”

She thought of her own mother, and a tear went down her cheek. “She sounds amazing.”

“She thought after my wife died, I didn’t allow enough happiness in my life.”

It hit her in the center of her chest. This man wasn’t broody and mysterious. He was hurt. Gently, she put her hand on his cheek.

They stared into each other’s eyes. He froze, like he was waiting for her to respond.

Her words were measured and soft when she said, “Thank you for letting me share your happiness.” She leaned in and gently, ever so softly, brushed her lips to his.

He pulled back and searched her eyes, grinning. “Dang, woman, you can’t quit kissing me.”

She let out a light laugh.

He leaned back in. “Good, I can’t quit kissing you either.”

The kiss deepened, and she felt herself get lost. Lost in this moment, in this man, in how wonderful it felt to be doing something fun and not focusing on all the bad things that had happened.

Pulling back, he searched her eyes. “So why don’t you tell me what those pills are about?”