She kept her hands flat against the shower wall as the water beat down upon them and he filled her to capacity. In all her wildest dreams, she never could’ve imagined Evan McCarthy and the joy he brought to her life. The reminder that he’d be leaving her brought tears to her eyes as he kept up the relentless pace.

He reached around her, rolled her clit between his fingers and did the same to her nipple. The combination set her off as it always did. He played her body with the same skill he played the guitar, and she was powerless to resist him.

“Grace,” he groaned as his hands returned to her hips to hold her still for his fierce thrusts. Still wedged inside her, he helped her to stand up straight and put his arms around her. “I love you so much.”

“I love you, too. Now what’s the good news?”

Laughing as he withdrew from her and turned her to face him, he kissed her. “I talked to Buddy. I told him the situation, and we agreed to six separate weeks on the road over the next year—none of them in January.”

Still a bit sex drunk, it took Grace a second to process what he’d said. “And that’s it? Only six weeks?”

“Only six weeks.”

When his words finally registered, the flood of relief reduced her to tears.

“Aw, baby, don’t cry. You know I hate when you cry.”

“Good tears,” she said, clinging to him. “I was so afraid of what was going to happen to us if you were gone all the time.”

“So was I. That wasn’t what I wanted, and I told him so.”

“You actually said ‘no, thank you’ to Buddy Longstreet.”

“I did. I want you more than I wanted what he was offering. It’s that simple.”

Of course that only made her cry harder.

“Gracie… You’re killing me here. I thought you’d be happy.”

“I’m so happy,” she said between sobs.

“You don’t look happy.”

“I’ve never been happier in my whole life.”

He put his arms around her and held her as tight as he possibly could. “Me neither, baby. Me neither.”

***

Jenny couldn’t believe what Maddie, Grace, Stephanie, Abby, Laura and Sydney had accomplished at the lighthouse in only an hour. The lawn was littered with chairs, a fire pit, lanterns and long tables covered with tablecloths that were anchored by white rocks they’d gathered from the beach below. The girls had their guys working just as hard, hauling coolers and ice and taking orders like the well-trained husbands, fiancés and boyfriends that they were.