Page 73 of A Beach House Beginning

He appeared reluctant but finally opened the door further. She walked into the apartment, so different now than it had been when Rosa lived here. It was comfortable and clean, though fairly utilitarian and sparsely decorated. Rosa had taken all her personal things when she moved out to marry Wyatt.

Now that she was here, she didn’t know where to start. Doubt began to creep back in but she firmly pushed it away and faced him.

“When my husband died, I told myself I was done with love. I didn’t need or want the vulnerability and pain that went hand in hand with it. Then everything happened with Aaron, which only reinforced that relationships were far too messy.”

She let out a breath and realized her hands were shaking. She curled them into fists and hoped he didn’t notice.

“I told myself I was happy on my own. I had Addie and my students. A life here in Cannon Beach. I didn’t need anything else.”

She met his gaze but couldn’t read anything in his features that looked as if they had been carved from a block of wood.

“And then you moved in and...everything changed. You kissed me. You made me feel cherished. You reminded me that I’m still a woman. A woman who...who apparently can still fall in love.”

He gazed at her, still expressionless except for his eyes, which suddenly blazed with emotion.

“Are you?”

“In love? Yes. I’m afraid so. I didn’t want to be, but you rode into my life and changed everything.”

The last word barely emerged when he crossed the space between them in a blink, pulled her tightly into his arms and kissed her with a humbling mix of ferocity and tenderness.

“Oh, Jenna,” he said against her mouth a long moment later. “I love you. I think I have from the moment I moved in, when you were terrified of me.”

“Not you,” she assured him, kissing the corner of his mouth, arms around him as tightly as she could manage. “It was never you. It was the image of who I thought you were.”

“An ex-con.”

“A big, intimidating man who rode a motorcycle and had tattoos.”

“I’m still that guy,” he pointed out.

“No. You’re so much more.” She kissed him again, loving the feel of his arms around her and the knowledge that she was exactly where she wanted to be. Where she needed to be.

Where she belonged.

“You’re so much more,” she repeated. “You’re a loving father. A loyal friend. A man willing to drop everything to come to the rescue of a fourteen-pound puppy.”

She paused and kissed him again, her mouth slow and lingering. “And you’re the man I love with all my heart.”

He gave a low sound, picked her up as if she weighed nothing and carried her to the sofa.

“You are the most amazing woman I’ve ever known,” he said, his voice low and rough. “We both know I don’t deserve you, but I don’t care. I swear to you, Jenna, that I will spend the rest of my life trying to be the man you need.”

His mouth brushed hers with a tenderness and care that made her eyes burn.

“You already are,” she whispered.

She loved this man deeply. This was right between them.

No. Better than right. It was perfect.

A Mother’s Hope

Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

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