She smiled and shook her head as if she thought he was full of it.

Forgetting all his resolve, he reached for her. “I missed you today.”

Looking up at him, she ran her tongue over her lips, and he went hard as stone. “I missed you, too.”

Tugging gently to bring her even closer, he watched her eyes go wide when she encountered proof of his arousal. He bent his head to kiss her softly. Her lips tasted like strawberries, and even though he hadn’t intended to linger—hell, he hadn’t intended to touch her—he couldn’t help but run his tongue over her plump bottom lip to get a better taste. “Mmm,” he said.

With her arms encircling his neck, her mouth opened under his, encouraging him to take more, and Luke was lost. Nothing else could compare to the way he felt when he was with her, and as he kissed her, it became clear to him that there was absolutely nothing he wouldn’t do to feel this way every day for the rest of his life.

“Syd,” he said, his lips still resting against hers.

Her fingers combed through his hair, sending desire rippling through him like a live wire. “Hmm?”

“Dinner.” He kissed her again, softly, gently.

“Oh. Right.” She let her arms drop from his shoulders but continued to stare at him with a befuddled expression that made his blood boil.

It took all the fortitude he possessed not to scoop her up, carry her inside and take what he wanted more than anything, what he knew she’d willingly give. Only the thought of what he might see in her expressive eyes afterward stopped him from acting on the urge. He couldn’t bear to see regret or guilt or anything other than the pure joy he would feel, so rather than scoop her up, he opened the passenger door to his truck and ushered her inside.

“It smells so clean in here.”

“It’s always like that,” he said with a grin.

She laughed, and just like that, his mood lightened.

He got in the driver’s side, and before he could buckle in, she reached for his hand. “Thanks for cleaning your truck for me.”

“No problem. It needed it anyway.”

After he put on his seat belt, he took her hand again, linking their fingers as he drove them the long way around the island.

“Where are you taking me?”

“To the Lobster House with a sunset thrown in.”

“Oh, yummy. My favorite.”

“I know.”

Over winding roads, he drove to the northernmost point on the island, where a lighthouse stood watch and the sun flirted with the horizon.

“Best spot on the island to watch the sunset,” Syd said, taking it all in.

“I love it here.”

“I remember that.”