Page 120 of Chasing You

I take her glass from her hands, carefully placing it on the coffee table before scooting even closer to her, taking her hands in mine. “Didn’t I tell you that I’m not going anywhere?”

She just shakes her head, almost in wonder. “You applied for a job here?”

I reach up, tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear, letting my fingers fall through the curls. “I didn’t buy a house here just for the holidays, baby.”

She blinks over and over, as if trying to make sure that she’s not dreaming. “But what about your parents? What about your job with Everglades? You just made captain.”

I shake my head. “It doesn’t matter. None of it matters.” I almost laugh, saying the words out loud is cathartic. “This place made me realize that,youmade me realize that. I want to live a full life, a colorful life. I want to have a place that I can call home, a place I can come back to at the end of the day that isn’t all white walls and crispy linens. A woman who I cherish more than anything else in my life, and people around me who truly care about me, who care about my happiness,” I say. “How could I ever give all of this up?”

Her eyes are glassy as she shrugs. “I don’t know.”

“The answer is that I can’t. I’ve done it once before, and I nevereverwant to do it again.”

Marina lets out a small hiccup before crawling into my lap and wrapping herself around me. I don’t waste a second before hugging her tightly against me. I can feel her heart beating against mine, it’s rapid while mine is steady—I think because this feels more right than anything before.

This feels like more than just a hug, more than just a touch. It feels like the moment where everything else falls away. Every single wall left between us, every worry or hesitation. It feels like when you finally figure out where two puzzle pieces fit together,and they connect so perfectly you question how you didn’t see it earlier.

She sniffles as she half laughs, half cries over my shoulder. I just smile over hers. “I haven’t even got the job yet.”

This time, she lets out a true laugh, one paired with a wide if not wobbly grin as she pulls out of my arms. But she doesn’t go far, still tucked up next to me. “You better charm their pants off, hotshot. Because now that I’ve got you back, I don’t plan on letting you go.”

“That’s the plan.”

epilogue

MARINA

PRESENT

“I did not just seeyou about to order sushi,” I say as I walk through the doors to Rosemary Cottage. “You can not be serious.”

May slams her laptop shut as soon as she hears my voice, hiding the evidence, but I’ve already seen it.

“May!” Rafael scolds her from his spot in the kitchen where he’s got a new apron on. One that reads‘best daddy ever’ written across the front.

My eyes narrow as I take in his new attire. He must catch the look in my eyes because he points his wooden spoon at me. “Do not judge me. I’m being forced to wear this right now.”

“Naw,” I tip my head, “did your innocent pregnant wife threaten you?”

“Innocent my ass,” he mutters, turning his attention back to his cooking.

I just smile before finding a place next to May on the couch. “And how are you, Mama?”

“Cravingsushiii,” she whines.

I just grin as she sinks back into the couch. “Rafael can make you sushi, can’t he?”

May just pulls a face that says I just put my foot in my mouth, and when I peer over to the kitchen, Rafael pins me with a deadly glare. “I’m already making her my deconstructed lemon meringue because she was craving that.”

“But don’t forget the freeze-dried raspberries!” she adds.

“Oh, I won’t forget them, baby. Not after I drove all the way to Sorrento to get the brand that you wanted.”

I just roll my lips into my mouth, holding back a snicker at their arguing, because as much as Rafael will grumble about it, he’d do anything to keep May happy.

She just blows him a kiss from her spot on the couch. “I love you.”

“Love you too,” Rafael mutters.

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