“It sounds fun.” And it had been a long time since she’d simply had fun. She smiled, feeling her chest grow lighter with each passing second.

Impulsively she squeezed his hand.

“I love that you’re smiling again,” he said. “You’re beautiful when you smile. I want you to be happy, Kell. I’ll do whatever it takes to make you happy.”

With that statement, she felt some of her hurt and anger recede. For the first time she began to believe that maybe they could get beyond the past and forge ahead.

He seemed so sincere. Whatever he thought of her in the past, he seemed willing to push aside those feelings and start over. Why would he go to such lengths if he didn’t care about her?

“I want this to work,” she said earnestly. And for the first time she really believed wholeheartedly that she did. That they could find their way back to each other seemed an impossible dream. It would take forgiveness and sacrifice, but she wanted it more than anything.

* * *

“Let me see your feet,” Ryan said as he lowered himself onto the couch next to her.

He reached down, took her feet and maneuvered them until they rested on his lap. He examined them with the precision of a physician, testing for swelling. Then he settled into a gentle massage until she all but wilted in pleasure.

“They’re looking better. The swelling’s down quite a bit.” He paused for a moment, his hands still moving over her arches, and stared at her. “You look better, Kell.”

“Thanks. I think,” she said in amusement.

His expression grew serious. “You looked tired and worn down when I found you in Houston.”

“I was,” she admitted. “But I’d rather not talk about it.”

“Yet another thing that’s off-limits?”

She shrugged. “Nothing good can come of it.”

“I worried I kept you on your feet too much this evening,” he said as he continued to rub. “But I enjoyed dancing with you on the beach. It was an excuse to hold you.”

She smiled and leaned back, allowing the pleasure of his touch to wash through her body. “I feel fine. Really. Not so tired anymore. I have more energy now than I’ve had since early in my pregnancy. Being on my feet all the time eventually wore me down.”

He went silent and he looked brooding, his expression intense. He massaged her soles and then worked up to her toes.

He seemed to battle whether or not he wanted to speak, but finally he locked his gaze with hers and said, “Why didn’t you cash the check, Kelly? I gave it to you so you’d be provided for. No matter what you did, how angry I was or how things were between us, I intended you to be cared for. Do you have any idea what it did to me to find you working in that god-awful place and living in a dive, barely making it? Hell, you didn’t even have food in your apartment.”