Driving away from Oceanside late in the afternoon, Scar held Shayla’s hand. It was as pruney as his, and he couldn’t quit smiling. His cheek muscles would be sore the next day from all the smiling he’d done. How long had it been since that happened? He turned and saw her closing her eyes and leaning into the side of the car.

“Are you tired?” he asked, knowing that surfing took it out of you. Even he was tired, but he was more accustomed to working out all day.

“I’m exhausted, but that was incredible. Scar, thank you.”

She’d thanked him like a million times, and he wanted her to stop. He squeezed her hand. “No, thank you,” he said as he pulled onto the interstate and headed toward La Jolla. They were both starving. “It was just …” He trailed off, loving that he’d been able to be part of this. “I need to tell you that you may think I’m doing this for you, but woman, can’t you see that I love every minute of this?”

She turned to him, smiling. “Really?”

“Yeah, you’ve made me see this place through your eyes and it’s pretty awesome. I’d forgotten how awesome.”

She laughed and squeezed his hand.

Scar wanted to tell her he’d never felt this way about another woman. How could he say that? He knew she liked him. She was obviously attracted to him. But she was so young. He wasn’t going to ruin a chance to let her fall in love with him slowly. Which was funny, because he’d never in his life wanted to take the slow path. He’d found it with her, though. Right now, he wanted it all to last as long as it could. It still stunned him.

Seeing him take the La Jolla exit, she asked, “Where are we going?”

“I want to show you one more thing today.”

This set off a trigger, a halfway delirious laugh. “Scar, I won’t lie. I want to see whatever you want to show me, but I’m starving.”

He grinned. “So am I, and we’ll fix that.”

“No.” She pulled her hand away. “I want to cook.”

He reached and took it back.

“You promised.” She pouted adorably.

“You will. I’m a machine, I’ll be hungry in three hours, and it’s only four o’clock. So suck it up, Kansas. You have to spend the rest of the day with me and feed me later too.”

This made her smile. “Fine.”

Neither of them spoke as he wound through the streets heading to one of his favorite sushi restaurants. At least, it had been. He hoped it was still there. He smiled, thinking that it wasn’t an uncomfortable silence. Shayla looked around a little before she laid her head to the side and rested.

All he could think about were plans for the future. He felt like he really could give up the Titans.

His mind raced as he thought of the way he loved being the point person on the sparring program. Maybe he could head up the one here and go open more gyms around the country. It would take a bit of travel, but he could do it. Liking that they could be comfortable with silence, he finally pulled up to the restaurant. He was thrilled to see Shiku was still in business.

“Oh no,” she said, looking from the restaurant and back to him. “I’m sorry. I hate sushi.”

He frowned. “No.”

“I can’t. It’s disgusting.”

True to form, he didn’t accept no. He parked and said, “You try it. Then we’ll leave if you can’t eat it.”

She looked worried. “That’s a waste of money.”

“I don’t care.”

“Really, I don’t think it’s a good idea.” She insisted.

He went around and opened her door. “Kansas, I took you on a helicopter and surfing today. This is all I’m asking from you.”

She rolled her eyes. “Oh, another favor to you.”

He put his hand out. “Please.”

Taking his hand, she climbed out.

“Hey.”

She frowned at him and shook her head. “No.”

Dang, no kiss. He would take the win with the sushi.

He was grateful she would try new things. They walked in, and a hostess sat them.

“What would you like?” Scar asked after they’d sat and were staring at the menu.

“I have no idea.”

He loved that she was about to experience great food. “Do you care if I order a couple of things?”

“Nope.”

He ordered the California roll, the salmon roll, and four others.

After the server left, she looked around, looking skeptical. “This ain’t the farm.”

It made him laugh, and she smiled at him. Once again, he thought of how he liked just being with this woman. “Tell me about the farm,” he said, leaning forward.

She sighed. “Surprisingly, I’ve missed it since I’ve been here, but the past couple of years, it’s just been a lot of work.”

He tried to see this girl on a farm. “What did you do?”

“Everything. Tractor driving, mucking out stalls, feeding chickens, milking cows. All of it.”

She was tough. Farm work had taught her toughness. He thought about the cleat-chasing women he’d dated.

“What are you thinking about?” she asked.

Schooling his expression, he shook his head. No point in telling her that all he could think about was going to the farm and asking her father if he could marry her.

“Talk,” she said insistently.

Saved by the food, he thought as their server put the dishes on the table. Systematically, he put a bit of every roll onto both of their plates and showed her how to eat with chopsticks.

She stared blankly at the food.

Putting a bite of salmon roll into his mouth, he nodded at her.

Finally, she picked up some California roll and took a mini bite.

He waited. “C’mon, Kansas. You can do better than that.”

She chewed, then took another bite and flashed a smile. Success! “It’s good. What should I try next?”

He pointed at the salmon roll and laughed, falling deeper and deeper in love with this woman.

* * *

When Scar pulled up to her townhome around six-thirty, he could tell she was tired, but he didn’t want to leave.

She started to open the car door, but paused. “Not to be pushy, but are you opening my door or is this one of those times I can get the door for myself?”

“I’m opening the door.” Smiling, he got out and opened her door for her. “Hey.”

Grinning, she leaned into him. “Hey.”

His hands were on her waist, and he pulled her closer.

She giggled and pulled back. “This code word business is pretty tricky.”

He kissed her again and pulled back. “Top secret.”

With a laugh, she reached for her bag, and they walked hand in hand to her house.

They got to the door and he looked around, checking his phone. “I got a text a while back that new cameras have been installed.” He took her phone. “Let’s get the app downloaded.”

She opened the door and held it. “You’re coming, right?”

Happy that she expected him to come, he walked in with her. “I didn’t know if you wanted some time alone or something.”

For a second, she looked confused. “If you need time, you can—I mean, thank you for the helicopter ride and the surfing.” She smiled widely. “And for the sushi.”

Her cheeks turned red when he took her hand and pulled her into the crook of his arm. “I’m just going to get this all set up, but I’d love to hang out with you.”

She let his hand go and moved to the washer and dryer by the kitchen. “Okay, I’m going to do some laundry.”

He went to one of the barstools and sat, liking how normal all this felt, them being together.

It took longer than he wanted to get it all working properly. In the meantime, she washed dishes, cleaned up the living room, and changed her laundry. Without being blatant about it, he watched as she went about doing her tasks. The natural way she did what had to be done was such a stark contrast to the prima donnas he’d dated, the ones who were always hovering around with fake nails, fake lips, fake everything.

When she finished, she nuzzled up to his back, putting her chin on his shoulder and looking at what he was doing. “How’s it coming?”

He swiped at the buttons. “Good, almost got it.”

“I’m going to take a quick shower,” she said, moving to the stairs.

His hand jerked across the phone, and he struggled to keep his mind on the task at hand. “Okay.”

When the security system was finally working as expected, he still heard the shower running. Needing some air, he went to the porch. He stood there and watched the ocean, liking her view of the boardwalk—perfect for people watching.

He thought of the other things he’d seen on her San Diego bucket list. They could go surf again tomorrow if she was up for it. He’d enjoyed it a lot. They could go to Loma Point Lighthouse. Honestly, he’d thought all the tourists were stupid going there, but now he saw it with different eyes. Her eyes. Chills rushed through him again, and he thought about how much he was changing.

They could go to Sea World, which he had thought was even more stupid than Loma Point, but she hadn’t gone there yet. She couldn’t afford it. She didn’t take things for granted. Or they could bike ride around Mission Boardwalk. She would love that, and he would love seeing her on a bike again. Then they could go eat at the Deli at Dana Point. Those were the best sandwiches. It made him so happy to think about all the things they could do together.

The screen door creaked open. Turning, he saw her standing there in sweats and a T-shirt. Her hair was wet and slicked back. Dang, how did this girl get more and more beautiful?

Hesitating for a second, she seemed to be deciding something. She grinned. “Hey.”

Fire burned in him, and he laughed, opening his arms for her.

Their lips met, and he smelled the source of all the lemony smells. It must be her shampoo. Loving it, he detoured from her lips, kissing her cheek and getting to her neck, inhaling deeply.

Then they were making out on her front porch. The sound of rollerblades and children walking the boardwalk faded into the background.

She giggled as he kissed the spot under her ear on her neck, and loving her giggle, he kissed it again. She pulled away from him, searching his eyes.

He smiled down at her, feeling like his heart would burst. “You like the code word, but I think you might be using it when you don’t need to.”

She narrowed her eyes.

He realized he was an idiot, lecturing her about the code word. “Not that I’m complaining,” he said quickly, holding her tighter.

She laughed. “Fine, I’ll be more selective with it.”

“No.” He pulled her back to him, kissing her again. “I’m an idiot.”

She giggled some more and kissed him back.

He held her in his arms. “I have plans for tomorrow.”

“I’m so excited,” she gushed.

“Would you care if I grabbed a shower too?”

She nodded. “Are you going back to the hotel?”

“Yeah. Want to come?”

“I don’t need to. They caught the guy.”

Letting out a sigh, he said, “I hate leaving you.”

“You go. I’ll be fine.”

He didn’t want today to be over.

She squeezed his hand. “You’re coming back for your sandwich, right?”