She moved away from my touch. “You think I’m scared to be with another pilot? I wasn’t even with Will! We never got the damned chance, and look how that turned out! I’m not scared of what you do—I’m terrified. I’m paralyzed by anxiety attacks I can’t control, and they’re so bad that one of my best friends has to live with me until I get through a therapy program for it! The same friend who Skypes with her husband every day because he’s flying helicopters in the same fucking country that took the man I loved, and every breath I take is heavy with dread that those fucking uniforms are going to show up at the door for Sam! Is that what you want to hear?” Her voice pitched to a near-scream.

“Yes. I want to know how you feel, and I don’t care if it’s ugly.” I would take whatever she wanted to give me—whatever she was.

Her eyes narrowed. “How I feel about you isn’t ugly, and that’s the problem. I moved here so I could lick my wounds in peace, and you appeared, all gorgeous and smart and funny and so damned concerned about me. And you tell me you’re in the coast guard, and I figure oceanographers can’t get hurt in the coast guard, right?”

I opened my mouth, then shut it again, because anything I said would only dig me deeper into this hole I created, and right now it was the size of the Grand Canyon.

“And then you let me get close to you! And Finley! And suddenly, I’m waking up again, and I start looking forward to things like seeing you. And I feel happy when I’m around you! And I start to realize that when I’m with you, he isn’t with me, and as much as that fucks with my head, I accept it. You push me to start living again, and so I do, and then you take me up a lighthouse, and I kiss you and it’s just…” Her eyes closed as she shook her head, and when she opened them again, she was even angrier. “It’s the most incredible kiss I’ve ever had!”

“That’s not a bad thing. It was incredible for me, too. The best I’ve ever felt.” Hope brought my stomach back into place.

“You don’t get it. Will was the last person to kiss me! That was supposed to be the best, and then there you are, blowing my mind, and you have the nerve to make me want you!” Her outstretched hands moved with every word.

“Morgan, I want you, too. I’ve wanted you since I saw you on that beach, and I knew we’d end up here the moment you mocked my barbecue skills and ate that burger anyway. I. Want. You.”