“You are an extraordinary woman, Lenore Calder,” he whispered.

I wrapped my arms around his neck, letting him steady me against the waves. Already on my tiptoes, I leaned in to place a gentle kiss on his lips. One of his hands came up from the water to cup to my face, kissing me back.

He pulled away, respecting my hesitation, knowing my family watched nearby. I was never a fan of PDA. With a quick glance back to the beach, I saw my mother smirking down at her book. Either she reached the romance in it, or she had been watching us in the water.

I wanted to duck beneath the waves and never come back up, realizing she’d seen everything.

“Stop worrying about it,” Stone said. “I don’t care who sees me kissing you.”

“She’s never going to leave me alone about it,” I groaned.

“She will if you tell her you were kissing your boyfriend.” His eyes locked on mine. I didn’t expect the words from his mouth, and I scrambled to form of a response.

“Boyfriend?” was all I was able to repeat back to him.

“I mean, only if you want,” he said. “I know Quantico is far, but there’s a place for you if you want to come.”

“I can’t,” I said before I could stop myself.

His face fell a bit, but he trained it back to neutral like the agent he was.

“I just got my life back here,” I said. “I just…I can’t right now.”

I fought back tears stinging my eyes, terrified of hurting Stone and torn that I couldn’t go with him.

“I understand,” he said. There was barely any emotion on his face. He ducked in and kissed my cheek. “Truly, it’s all right.”

We stayed in the water a little bit longer before rejoining my family. I couldn’t shake the awful feeling of turning Stone down.

“Mallory was telling us you haven’t been at your apartment lately,” my mother said, giving a knowing look to Stone.

“I fear that’s my fault,” Stone said, making her smile.

He left it at that, and I wanted to toss myself back in the ocean and disappear.

After his second of disappointment, Stone bounced right back to his normal self. He chatted with my family and continued to be an absolute know it all in the best way.

It hurt me more than he knew to say no, to let this be the way our last day of normal was spent. I hated every second of it, but I slapped on a smile. If not for myself, then for Stone. He had done everything to give me my life back; he deserved my full attention, even if I couldn’t give in to every last one of my desires.

* * *