and serious and full of so much emotion she didn’t know how to process it all. And then suddenly he smiled the most beautiful smile she’d ever seen. He took her hand, brought it to his mouth and brushed a kiss over her fingers before hauling her up against him.
“You ready for this?” His voice was rough, telling her how important this was. How important she was.
“For you?” she whispered against his jaw. “Always.”
Epilogue
#YouHadMeAtHello
Two months later . . .
Finn let out a long breath as he parked. Santa Cruz was south of San Francisco and thanks to traffic, it’d taken them over an hour to get here. He got out of the car and came around for Pru.
“Keep the blindfold on,” he said, as he’d been saying the entire drive.
Her fingers brushed over the makeshift blindfold—a silk handkerchief that they’d played with in bed the night before—and smiled. “I’m hoping we’re heading toward a big cake.”
“I told you to aim higher for your birthday.”
“Okay,” she said. “A nice dinner first and then a big cake.”
“Higher,” he said.
She let their bodies bump and she rubbed her hips suggestively to his. “Dinner, cake, and . . . that weekend away you promised me?” she asked hopefully.
“Getting warmer.” He gripped her hips, holding her close enough that she could feel exactly what she did to him.
She smiled warmly, sexily, gorgeous . . . his everything. “Can I peek yet?”
His gut tightened as he turned her so that she faced the small Santa Cruz beach cottage in front of them. “Okay,” he said. “You can look.”
Pru tore off the blindfold and blinked open her big eyes, which immediately widened as she gasped. She stared at the place in front of her and then turned her head and stared at him for a beat before swiveling back to the house. “Oh my God,” she breathed and put a hand to her chest. “This is—was—my parents’ house. Where I grew up.”
“I know,” he said quietly.
Pru stared at the tiny place like it was a sight for sore eyes, like it was Christmas and Easter and every other holiday all in one. “I haven’t been here in so long . . .” She looked at him again. “It’s ours for the weekend?”
He took both of her hands in his so that she faced him. “The owners had it in a beach rental program.” He slipped a key into her right hand.
“You rented it for me?” she breathed.
“Yes.” He paused. “Except I didn’t rent it. I bought it. It’s in your name now, Pru.”
Her mouth fell open. “What?”
“The owners live on the other side of the country. They instructed the management program to sell it if the opportunity arose.” His heart was pounding and he hoped like hell he’d done the right thing here, that she would take it in the spirit he intended. “The opportunity arose.”
Looking shaky, she took the few steps and unlocked the front door. Then she stepped inside. He followed, slowly, wanting to give her time if she needed it.
The place was furnished. Shabby beach chic. Tiny kitchen, two tiny bedrooms, one bathroom. He already knew this from his previous visit to scope everything out, but he followed as Pru walked through, quiet, eyes shuttered.
The postage-stamp-size living room made up for its tininess with the view of the Pacific Ocean about three hundred feet down a grassy bluff.
Pru walked to the floor-to-ceiling windows and looked out.
Finn waited, willing to give her all the time she needed. He was prepared for her to be mad at him for overstepping, but when she turned to him, her eyes didn’t hold temper.
They held emotion, overfilling, spilling down her cheeks.
“Pru.” He stepped toward her but she held up a hand.
“Finn, I can’t accept this. We’re just dating, it’s not right—”
“Yeah, about that just dating thing.” He tugged her into him—where he liked her best. Cupping her jaw, he tilted her face to his. “I don’t want to just date anymore.”
She blinked. “You bought me a house and now you’re dumping me?”
“I bought you a house and now I’m asking you to take us to the next level.”
She just stared into his eyes in shock and he realized something with his own shock. “You expected me to change my mind about you,” he said.
She shook her head. “More that I’m afraid to want more from you. I don’t want to be greedy.”
Finn cupped her face, keeping her chin tilted so that she had to look at him. He needed