“Did you say that?” Maddie smacked Mac’s shoulder with her free hand as she marched him off the beach.

“You might want to step up the discipline, too, bro,” Adam called after them. “Seems to be working out real well for you.”

“I’m going to kill you,” Maddie growled.

“Come on, baby,” Mac said, walking on tiptoes as she wrenched his arm even higher on his back. “It’s all in good fun.”

“Don’t you baby me.”

The poor bastard was in for it, but Slim had to give him credit. He was one funny son of a bitch who sure knew how to get himself into deep shit with his wife.

Chapter 29

The ride to the airport in the resort shuttle the next afternoon was the most torturous part of a torturous six days since she accepted his invitation to come to the wedding. An accident on the single-lane road had them sitting still for fifteen minutes. Slim was about to get out and start jogging through the thick humidity if that was what it took to be there when she came through the door from customs.

He didn’t want to miss a single second with her, even if that meant showing up sweaty and winded.

Before running became necessary, the shuttle began to move—far too slowly for his liking—going around the accident to continue on.

When they pulled up to the curb, Slim bolted from the van before the driver could come around to let him out. He jogged into the airport and straight to the reception area, where others milled around, waiting for family, friends, loved ones.

Erin was all three to him, Slim realized. One phone call at a time, one text, one FaceTime conversation and every blissful hour in her arms had made her essential to his future happiness. It all hinged on her. He didn’t want to be alone anymore, but that was only because not being alone meant being with her.

That made her different from anyone else he’d ever been with. He’d never considered changing his life for any other woman. He’d never even come close. Perhaps that was in part due to what he went through with his high school girlfriend, but it was more than that. It was Erin. She fit him in every way that mattered, and if the longest weeks of his life were any indication, living without her, even for a short time, was going to be nearly impossible.

After her flight was announced, he nearly lost his mind waiting for her to clear customs. And then there she was, wearing a gorgeous floral dress and a wide-brimmed hat. Her dark hair was long around her shoulders, her smile brightening when she saw him waiting for her.