A smile lit his face like the rising sun. “Oh, baby. You’ll never run out of chances with me.”

She knew she was staring up at him with stars in her eyes. “This is not how this day was supposed to go.”

“How was it supposed to go?”

“I . . . forgot.”

The kiss that he gave her was soft and sweet, and beautifully emotional—his closeness, his warmth, his breath. She wanted to melt into his embrace and stay there for the rest of her life. After a moment she didn’t want to end, she pulled back.

“You’re jet-lagged.”

“I’m jet-lagged.”

“Swaying on your feet. I can feel it.”

“Then we’d better lie down,” he said.

“I thought you’d never ask.”

“This is you, jet-lagged?” Camille asked, rolling over in bed and tucking her elbow under her cheek to look at him. She loved his chest—the muscular landscape of it, the whorls of hair, the cadence of his breathing.

“I was. I am. But I rallied.”

Oh boy, did he ever. He’d rallied all over her.

“I’m going to need to spend the night, though. No way I can drive all the way back to . . .” He stopped. “I don’t have anywhere to go. I left my teaching post. I’m homeless. Guess I’ll just find a place right in Bethany Bay.”

She felt a flutter of nervousness. “Finn, I’m not sure you’ve thought this through. How do you know you’ll like it here?”

“Oh, let’s see. There’s a beach. Surfing.”

“Not in the winter. It’s nasty in the winter.”

“A quaint town with a library, at least two bars, and a fisherman’s pub. A hot girlfriend.”

“I have a teenager.”

“I know. She’s awesome, like her mom. And when she’s not being so awesome—”

“Which is a lot of the time, when it comes to teenagers.”

“We’ll deal. You’ll have to trust me on this.”

“My mother and sisters.”

“Can’t wait to meet them. They’re going to love me.”

“How do you know that?”

He brushed a lock of her hair from her neck and kissed her there. “Because I love you. I’ll treat you right, Camille. Swear. I’ll make you so happy they’ll lay flowers at my feet. Beer in my fridge.”

She still couldn’t believe this was happening. “I have exes in town. Guys I used to date. You know, trying to move on.”

“I have a theory about that. You were trying not to move on. That’s why none of those others worked out. Until me. I’m your move-on guy.”

She laughed softly, feeling ridiculously happy. “Still, you’re going to bump into them. It might be awkward.”

“I can do awkward. Hell, you’ve seen me do awkward.” He propped himself up on one elbow and gazed down into her face. “Camille Adams, I love you more than anything else I’ve ever loved in this world. And when you left, I realized I almost missed out on something special because I hadn’t figured out how to put us together.” He brushed the sweetest of kisses over her brow, her lips. “There’s good news.”