“What’s wrong?” Fiona asked after she set her purse down on the kitchen counter.

I’d been sitting at the table, staring out the window for an hour in total disbelief. Never in a million years did I think I’d be debating going back to Florida. “Nothing, baby. Come here and give me a kiss.” I held out an arm, waiting for her to come to me.

She walked slowly, staring at me cautiously with every step. “I can tell something is off. Just tell me. Did I do something wrong, love?”

I smiled, slowly shaking my head as I curled her into my side. “Fiona,” I said, brushing my nose against the tiny patch of skin on her arm, “I can never be mad at you.”

She ran her fingers through my hair, slowly raking her fingernails against my scalp. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost, Sam.”

I pulled her closer, wrapping both of my arms around her waist and resting my head against her stomach as she stood between my legs. “Thomas called.”

“Oh.” Her body stiffened slightly in my arms and her hand stilled. “What did he want?”

Mindlessly, I stroked the smooth skin of her back after I slid my hands underneath her shirt. “He offered me a job.”

“And?”

“And, what?”

“What did you say?”

“Nothing, Fi. I told him I couldn’t, and he told me to think it over and get back to him.” I nuzzled her stomach, inhaling her scent and letting it soothe me. Fiona had become my place of calm in the last year. When life seemed to be going haywire, only she could bring me back to center and wash away any panic I felt.

Slowly, her hand began to work through my hair in long, broad strokes. “Do you miss it?”

I looked up at her in confusion. “Miss what?”

“The guys. I know you were close to them.”

Even though it was hard to admit, I did miss them. Often they were tools, but it was almost like being the little brother. I had grown used to them harassing me. Getting a call from Thomas was like an invitation back into the family. No matter what shit went down between us or with his sister, he still wanted me around. “I miss them sometimes, yeah.”

“Do you want to say yes?”

I didn’t know how to answer the question. Would she think that all I wanted was to be near Izzy again? Fiona knew my history, the love I’d had for Izzy Gallo, and how that led me to her. But hopefully over the last year I had showed her how much I loved only her. “A small part of me does.”

She smiled and moved to sit in my lap. She wrapped her arm around my neck and began to stroke my shoulder. “If you want to go back, I’ll go with you.”

My eyebrows shot up and I was completely caught off guard by her words. “You would?”

She nodded quickly. “As long as I’m with you, I don’t care where we are.”

“Fiona, you can’t mean that.” I held her face in my hand and stared into her eyes, studying her. “I know how much you love New Orleans.”

“I do, but I want you to be happy too.”

“I am happy here.” It wasn’t a lie. I was happy in New Orleans—more because I was with Fiona than at my surroundings. But living in New Orleans and visiting as a tourist were two very different things.

“Listen,” she said softly, pushing her face into the palm of my hand. “I don’t have any family here besides you. But you, you have a family in Florida that you’ve left behind.”

“I could never ask you to leave your job.”

Her small fingers brushed against my five-o’clock shadow. “You didn’t ask; I’m offering.”

My thumb stroked her cheek, touching the edge of her mouth. “It’s a big step, and I like our life.”

“We can make a life anywhere, Sam.”

I leaned in, placed my lips on hers, and kissed her gently. “As long as you’re with me, I’m a happy man,” I said against her mouth.

“I think we should do it.”

I pulled back and held her face in my hands. “You do?”

She nodded. Her smile touched the tips of my thumbs. “Yes.” She turned, straddling me fully and pushing her lips against mine.

I breathed her in, wrapping my arms around her and holding her tightly. This was the thing I loved about Fiona. She never had demands of me, nor did I of her. Things were just easy with us.

If she was willing to go with me back to Florida, I was more than ready to go home. My family had missed me, and with my parents growing older each day, I felt like I should be there for them.

It was time to go back to my life and stop running away from the past.