An hour later, Kennedy sat in the backyard at Kyle’s posh house. Kyle had told her he would be more than happy to skip the concerts.

Now, Kennedy waited in the hot tub for Kyle, the bubbles frothing around her. The night was clear and barely warm, and the water felt like heaven.

Kyle had gotten it ready for her and then went in to change, telling her he would be a couple of minutes because Scar had called about fifty times, and he needed to let Scar know that everything was good between all of them.

So here she sat, on a perfect night. She looked around his yard. The pool was huge, and she suspected he had a couple of acres. There wasn’t much on the acreage, just a huge garage in the back and grass that went on forever. It was obvious the pool and hot tub were barely used.

Kennedy squealed. She felt a bit giddy, a bit overwhelmed, and a lot grateful she was here. She decided to torture her roommates a little bit. She got out and grabbed her phone from the chair next to the hot tub and took a selfie, then texted it to them with a hashtag #jacksonbaby.

Both of them texted back right away. Carrie said, No fair! Jenna said, Yay!

The sliding door opened just as she was sitting back down, and Kyle said, “Hey, how come I’m not in any of your selfies?”

Intrigued that he would want to be, she stood. “Get in and let’s take one.” The calm in her voice was definitely not reflected in the way she felt as she looked up at the very ripped, tanned, amazingly good-looking Kyle Bones. “Romance cover,” she muttered, turning back and sitting in the hot tub again.

Gingerly, Kyle eased himself in and settled at her side. “Man, that feels good.”

It still left her breathless that it was becoming more “natural” for him to be at her side. She tilted her phone up into the air and pointed it at them. They posed with smiles, and she snapped a picture. Before she knew it, Kyle was leaning in and kissing her cheek.

She giggled and almost dropped the phone. “Hey.”

Kyle was quick and fumbled with her for the phone. They caught it in a tangle of three hands.

She smiled at him. “You have superhero powers too.”

He pumped his eyebrows. “I keep those a secret. Don’t want to put your life in danger by making you a target for evil villains.”

She giggled again and found he was sliding over to kiss her. She closed her eyes and got lost in the softness of his lips. Tenderly, he put his hand behind her neck and pulled her closer. His other hand slipped into the water and rested on her waist. Letting herself fall into this man, she deepened the kiss.

He let out a breathless laugh and abruptly pulled back. “Okay, if we’re going to make sure we’re just kissing friends this weekend, we need to put some boundaries back in place.”

Every part of her was on fire, and she knew she was blushing. She let out a breath and got up to put her phone back on the chair and out of the water’s reach.

As she turned to slip back in, she felt his gaze before she saw him unabashedly checking her out. Their eyes met, and she wasn’t sure, but she pointed at him. “I think Kyle Bones, Navy SEAL, is blushing.”

With a laugh, he scooped up water and rinsed his face. “I’m sorry. Maybe we should get in the cold pool?” He scrambled to his feet and reached out to her. “Yes, that’s it. Let’s go jump in the pool and then back in the hot tub.”

She laughed at his excitement. “Really?”

Undeterred, he leaned down and wiggled his hand at her. “C’mon, Dawson. You promised me fun tonight, and we skipped the concert.”

She glared at him, but took his hand. “You’re the one that got into a fight with your ex-fiancée’s husband.”

He laughed and pulled her against him, then turned for the pool. “True. That was crazy, wasn’t it? Should we jump in together?”

Kennedy shivered. The night air was chilly. “Okay.”

Laughing, he said, “On three?”

Staring at this amazingly gorgeous guy who gazed back those beautiful green eyes, she knew that no matter what happened for the rest of the weekend, she would remember this moment. “Okay.”

He gripped her hand tighter. “One, two, three.” Then they were both jumping, flying.

She screamed as she hit the freezing cold water, but she came up laughing. “Oh my gosh!”

“Brrr!” he agreed, shaking his hair. “Who owns this place anyway? Can he not turn on the heater?”

She paddled toward the other side of the pool. “Quit being a wimp.”

A splash hit her. “Wimp?”

She laughed and kept swimming, but soon he was next to her. They reached the other side, and she gripped the concrete edge as he leaned in. They were kissably close, and a world of tension crackled between them, the kind of tension that just kept feeling like it got stronger and stronger.

Gently, she reached up with her missing hand and gently rested it on his face.

Tenderly, he took her arm and kissed it.

She blinked, and her throat tightened with all kinds of emotions. “Please don’t.”

“Why? It’s part of you and I want to kiss you.” Leaning in, he trailed kisses from her neck up her jawline. “Just like I want to kiss you here too.”

She swallowed. “I know this is exactly the wrong time to bring up my old boyfriend, but part of the thing I’ve worried about since we broke up was that he never really acknowledged I was missing a hand. Like, he never touched it.”

Kyle kept her arm in his hand and stared at it. “Does it hurt? Do you get phantom pains? Russell does sometimes.”

And this was what it was, she realized as she stared into Kyle’s eyes. This man was a man. A man who had been through war. A man who was kind and fun and tough. Even just being with him the past few days showed her the stark contrast between him and the idiot Evan. She shook her head, but tears were filling her eyes. “Is this what a prince does?”

He kissed her on the lips, slow and soft, then pulled back. “Yes. Very Prince Charming of me, if I do say so myself.”

She laughed. “Yes, I think so.”

He stared into her eyes and kept her arm in his hand, gently running his thumb over the smooth skin. “I have a confession.”

Intrigued, she cocked her head to the side. “Okay.”

“I think I might be falling in more than like with you.”

Her heart raced, but she didn’t know how to accept what he was telling her.

“Don’t say anything,” he said quickly. “Because you kind of have that look that you might be freaking out. So just—” He gently pressed his lips to her forehead. “—don’t say anything.”

It worked out fine that he didn’t want her to say anything, because she didn’t know how to feel. “Let’s get back in the hot tub. I’m freezing.”

“Okay,” Kyle said.

Kennedy carefully turned to the side of the pool and pulled herself out, and Kyle followed suit. As they walked to the hot tub, Kennedy bent to put her foot in on the first step, but her back foot slipped and she found herself falling and twisting her back ankle.

“No.” Kyle rushed to her side, holding her as she fell back.

Pain ripped through Kennedy’s ankle and up into her leg. She knew it was sprained. “Dang it.”

Kyle set her on the pavement. “Where does it hurt?”

“It’s my ankle.” She pointed to it, and unwanted tears filled her eyes. “I’ve done it before. I think it’s sprained.”

Placing tentative fingers on her ankle, Kyle wiggled the foot back and forth. “Yeah, it’s already swelling up.” Then he picked her up, holding her just like any prince would hold a princess in need of help.

“You don’t need to carry me.” Although she wouldn’t lie—being this close to Kyle, skin on skin, was doing crazy things to her.

He flashed her a grin. “Me caveman. Me carry hurt women.”

She laughed.

They got to the door, and he slid it open. “I’m going to take you up to your room and then give you privacy to get ready, but I’ll be back with ice for it.”

The silly thing, Kennedy thought, as she held on to this insanely strong guy as he carried her up the stairs, to her room, and into the bathroom, was that this was the exact thing some guy in a romance book would do.

Putting her down on the side of the tub, he asked, “Why are you smiling?”

Not wanting to tell him, but kind of wanting him to share the joke, she shrugged. “You really are the guy on the cover of the romance book, aren’t you?”

Looking offended, he took off out of the bathroom, hollering back. “I prefer Prince Charming, not a romance book.” He rolled his eyes. “Those guys are idiots in those books.”

She watched him go and thought Kyle Bones was no idiot.