Kyle stood on the shore, watching Kennedy surf that wave, and every part of him wanted one thing: her. He’d only been gone a month, but it felt like a lifetime. After getting to know her so intensely that weekend, he’d already had a vision of what a life with her could be like.

And he was ready for it. Even if it meant slowing down and staying in one spot for a bit, even if it meant facing the things that he’d been holding on to for so long and letting them go.

As Kennedy approached the shoreline, he saw the exact moment she realized it was him. He knew because she kind of froze. She managed to surf in, though, and then hopped off.

He walked toward the beach, still wearing his swimsuit. He’d taken his shoes off but kept his T-shirt on, knowing she wouldn’t appreciate it if he took it off. Which was refreshing to him. The woman really wasn’t about superficial things.

She picked up the surfboard.

“Have you started a rehab program for the ankle?” he said, feeling like an idiot because he had a thousand things he wanted to say to her, but he didn’t know where to start. When she didn’t respond, nervousness pulsed through him. “Look, I need to talk to you.”

She let out a breath. “Really? Because I think you might want to talk to Cassidy.”

At the sound of her name, Kyle wanted to curse, but he didn’t. He raked a hand through his hair. “Kennedy, I’ve tried to call and text.”

She lifted and lowered her shoulder. “I’ve been busy.”

He had been thinking about her since she’d left, yearning to have her in his arms and hold her. Yearning to be held by her. Now, she was so close that all he wanted was to take her into his arms. But she clearly wasn’t ready for that.

She crossed her arms. “Plus, aren’t you supposed to be working?”

Hating the anger rolling off of her, he shoved his hands into his pockets so he would quit wanting to reach for her. “I’ve decided something.”

“You have?” she said, and a little smile played at her lips. “Always so certain, aren’t you?”

“See, that’s the thing. I don’t feel certain at all around you. In fact, since I met you that day on the beach, I’ve been on a roller coaster.” He threw his hands up. “And I never feel that way.”

“You’ve been on a roller coaster?” She looked doubtful.

He was already doing this all wrong. “Kennedy, will you listen to me? I realized I’m not a prince. Certainly not this idea of Prince Charming we’ve discussed. I’m a wreck.” He blinked. “I know saying Cassidy’s name isn’t the issue. I’ve been pondering and …”

“You’ve been talking to Russell,” she said softly.

“Yes, I’ve been doing that too. And I’ve realized that what you said was true. I hadn’t let go of this idea of Cassidy. I didn’t understand why, and now I do.”

Rubbing her hand across her forehead, she looked tired. “Kyle, I just don’t think we’re a good idea.”

Kyle took her hand. “You’re the first woman I’ve opened up to since Cassidy. You’re the first woman I’ve wanted to build a life with. But I don’t think of you as Cassidy. That’s the furthest there is from the truth. You see, I don’t think I really ever thought of Cassidy, the real Cassidy, as the Cassidy in my head.”

“I don’t understand.” She tried to pull her hand back. “And you’ve said Cassidy way too much.”

He scrambled for the words to explain. “I’m sorry. I’ve just had this idea of what she and I were together. See, I met her, and we fell in love. Then I was deployed, and I got captured. We were away from each other for a long time. Now, I realize when I got back it wasn’t just that she’d hooked up with an old boyfriend and fallen back in love. It was … we weren’t real. Not the real that I’d built up in my head. When we didn’t work out, it was easy for me to put up walls. It was easy for me not to let women in. The strange thing was, when I met you, I wanted to let you in. For the first time since that relationship, I wanted to know someone, spend time with them.” He chuckled ruefully. “And, as you’ve mentioned, I was a bit stalkerish about it.”

The side of her lip turned up. “Very stalkerish.”

He saw his opening in her defenses and laughed, feeling encouraged that she was relaxing a bit. Reaching out, he gently moved a piece of hair out of her face. “Cassidy, I’m not the movie type of Prince Charming, but all I can see is this dream of a future with you.” He blinked. “Look, I just want to be dancing to our song and not have you leave me right when it’s at the good part.” The side of his lip tugged up.

Warmth filled her and her eyes misted up. “You do?”

“I do.”

Kennedy blinked, then shook her head. “Why?”

Wanting to get this right, he sucked in a breath and let it out slowly. “Because you’re good. Because you call me on my cockiness. You help others. You work hard for the things you want. You have gone through a lot of pain, and you’ve done a helluva job coming out of it.”

After a long moment of thought, she looked away and blinked. “I lost the shop. I lost my dream.” She shrugged. “I mean, I can still teach lessons, but I lost—”

“I bought it,” he said simply.

“What?” Jerking her head back to him, she focused on his eyes. “What?”

“Russell told me what was going on, and I bought it.”

“But—”

“I thought it was about time I stayed somewhere. And what can I say? I liked the idea of funding something that matters.”

She blinked. “Really?”

“All I know is that there’s this surf girl I would really like to run it. Also, maybe I could do a better job of proposing to her this time …”

Her eyes fluttered, and she said nothing. That was encouraging, in a way. At least she hadn’t cut him off or left already.

He reached for her hand. “Maybe this time I could tell her that for the first time in a long time, I see a future with someone. That I want to be better for someone. That I want to live up to this idea of this—what did you call it? Knight in shining armor kind of thing?”

Kennedy silenced him by throwing herself at him and pressing her lips to his.

Laughing through the kiss, he felt the spark, the delight, the excitement.

They kissed, and she melted into him and the world felt right again.

Pulling back, he pushed her hair out of her face.

Tears washed down her cheeks. “I won’t leave you again in the middle of our song, okay?”

His eyes fluttered. “Really?”

She kissed him, again.

“That means you’ll marry me, right?” He muttered through her lips on his.

She laughed and pulled back, loving this man, loving the future she could see with him, loving….this moment. “I’ll marry you.”

He let out a whoop and picked her up, twirling her around.

Staring down at his warm, chocolate eyes she knew…she would never let him go.