Page 112 of Off the Wall

“Howdy.” She beams at me, and all the blood that’s been racing through my veins freezes. When Nori stills too, I can practically hear our hearts beating in tandem. The only other sound is the trickle of the courtyard fountain.

“You got my message,” I say.

“I did.”

“I meant every word.” I take her hands in mine. “I chooseyou, Nori Sinclair. And I want a relationship with you more than I’ve ever wanted anything in my life.”

“Me too.” Her voice is so soft, it’s almost a whisper. “I told everyone I choose myself, but that’s not true. I totally and completely choose you, Cash Briggs. One hundred percent you.”

I gather her in my arms and tenderly brush my lips against one corner of her mouth. She sighs, and we stand there, breathing into each other for a moment. Then I brush my lips against the other corner. Then the tip of her nose. Then her forehead. Her chin. Both her cheeks. Her eyelids. One at a time.

Finally, I bring my lips back to her mouth, pouring into her all the love and longing I’ve had stored in the depths of me. For my entire life, I’ve been waiting to find the right woman. Or for the right woman to find me. Theonlywoman for me.

And I want nothing more than to be her man.

When we finally come up for air, Nori’s breathless and kiss-drunk, and her full lips shine in the moonlight, inviting my mouth to get back to work. But then she sways, and I quickly steady her.

“Should we sit?” I suggest. “I feel like we should sit before one of us falls over.”

“Deal,” she says. “Especially since I’m the one of us. You got me all dizzy, Cash Briggs.”

I take her by the hand and lead her to the closest lounge chair. We drop down next to each other, and Nori sets her purse at the other end. “So.” I bob my head. “I guess this means you’re officially done with Swipe Rite.”

Her trill of laughter lights me up from the inside out. “I am. And for the record, Rex was a total gentleman. He kept his hands exactly where they needed to be.”

“Yeah.” I surrender to a chuckle. “I might’ve zoomed in on those posts from your date. More than once.”

“I was thinking about you the entire time.”

My heart tugs. “Me too.”

“And I know being long distance will be a challenge,” she says, “especially since I still have no idea if I’m going to take that job with Cottage and Coffee. But wherever I end up working, I’ll find a way to visit you in California. Plus you’ll want to come back here to see Tilly. And?—”

“Hey, there. Slow down, Nor.”

“Sorry if I’m going too fast,” she blurts. “I just want to make the most of the time we have before you move.”

“But what if I’m not?”

She gazes up at me and her lashes beat like butterfly wings. “Not what?”

“Moving.”

Her eyes are so pure and sweet, an ache builds inside me. How did I ever think I could survive without this woman? “Say that again, please,” she whispers.

“I’m not moving. I told Jason to give the LA territory to Alex.”

Nori exhales. “Your old partner?”

“Powell MedTech was more than happy to steal him back from Vortex. And Alex was always talking about going to California. Learning to surf. Dating a bunch of blondes. The kid’s a little caught up in the stereotypes. But he’s got all the time in the world to devote to the job. And he’s young. And single. And the thing is, I don’t want to be single any?—”

Nori lunges at me, raining little kisses all over my face. I let her crawl into my lap, weaving her hands in my hair, showing me beyond a shadow of a doubt I made the right choice.

Man, did I ever.

Unfortunately, our bodies still require oxygen. So eventuallyNori pulls back to fill her lungs with air, and her gaze shifts beyond my shoulder.

“Huh.” She tips her chin to indicate the pool. “Is that steam coming off the water?”

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