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  Grady's smile dropped into question, then his lips rounded into an O. I motioned with a nod behind him, where Helene now stood in an ivory-colored gown, her shiny hair swept away from her face and lips bright red.

  “She's there?” he murmured.

  I nodded. “Good luck, brother.”

  Grady hesitated, gave me a nod, then turned. The photographer crouched down, then snapped a picture the moment Grady's face went slack and he registered Helene standing there. Her dress cascaded to the sand in a waterfall of white, brightening tanned skin and eyes that sparkled with tears.

  Grady's lips dropped open, his brow grew heavy, and his eyes began to shine. He lifted a hand to his eyes.

  “That's my wife,” he whispered.

  Helene beamed, one hand held out. A sparkling, diamond bracelet clasped her wrist.

  “That's your wife.” I shoved him toward her. “Now go get her, you Merry Idiot, before I take her away.”

  A text chimed on my phone half an hour later as I walked through the hotel foyer, my part of the wedding photos finished. One hour until the official ceremony, and I still had to finish my Best Man speech. That would come. I'd figure out something on the fly.

  I pulled my phone out of my pocket, then grinned as I read the message.

  Grady: Thanks, man. Good times. I'll never forget it.

  * * *

  Jayson: We always got your back. Always.

  * * *

  Grady: Merry Idiots forever.

  * * *

  Jayson: Forever.

  With a chuckle, I shoved the phone in my pocket and turned toward the bungalow. My thoughts moved to Dagny, then Victoria. A new eagerness to see her propelled me faster, and I gave into a slow jog. I just wanted to see Dagny. Let her know how I felt about her and what happened with Victoria. We had a little time before the ceremony, then lots of time after to get the third kiss out of the way.

  First, I'd broach the topic slowly. Talk about her day, see how she'd spent the time, compliment her dress for the ceremony. Then I'd tell her the way I felt. That I'd been an idiot and we'd lost so much time. Why hadn't I seen her? Why hadn't I noticed her in Pineville before now? I still didn't have a good answer, even though I'd been mulling it over in my head for days now.

  Once we discussed my idiotic ability to see what was right in front of me calmly and rationally like adults, then we'd get to the business of forgetting Victoria and discussing how much better life in Pineville would be with Dagny at my side. At least, that's how I wanted it to go.

  We'd see what she had to say about it.

  The waves welcomed me and my tangled thoughts as I turned down a sandy path that led to the bungalow.

  Halfway there, I skidded to a stop.

  Dagny stood a few steps away, frozen with one foot a few inches in the air, as if she were taking a step forward. Her eyes were wide and red-tinged. Her cheeks had a warm color over the tan skin. She wore an elegant black dress and carried a pair of creamy heels. Her hair tumbled around her shoulders instead of tucked away from her face with messy pens.

  In a word, she was exquisite.

  To my mind, not even Helene rivaled Dagny right now. My breath caught. For a moment, I thought I understood a little of Grady's emotion. His possessiveness. The way he chose Helene above all others without a moment of doubt or hesitation. Seeing Dagny there, looking so frightened, vulnerable, and uncertain left no doubt in my mind.

  For her, I'd do the exact same.

  Fear pooled in my stomach for a moment before I forced it to calm down.

  “Dagny?”

  She blinked several times, then swallowed.

  “Are you all right?” I asked.

  She nodded.

  I ventured a step closer, suddenly uncertain about myself. She had that doe-like wariness to her, like she'd dart away the moment I twitched in a way she didn't like. But why? Why had she been crying? What made her so upset? She attempted to hide the tear trails, but I could see the evidence in her open gaze.

  “I'm an idiot,” I blurted out. “I'm a total idiot.”

  The uncertainty in her expression dropped. “Wh-what?”

  In two steps, I stood in front of her and had her hands in mine. Her fingers were cold despite the perfect warmth of the day.

  “I'm an idiot.” I licked my lips and squeezed her fingers tighter. “All the years that you've been in Pineville and I've been totally oblivious. I—”

  “Stop.”

  Her firm command, without stutter, startled me into silence. For the space of a breath, we just stared at each other. My heart did a somersault. Oh, no. Had I read this situation totally wrong? I took my shot and now everything was going to plummet downhill from here. My mouth opened, then closed. I didn't know what to say.

  “I n-need to g-g-get this out f-first. I n-need to b-be b-brave. B-before you . . . b-before you say all the r-r-right things.”

  My confusion deepened. “What?”

  “I l-l-love you.”

  My heart dropped all the way to my feet. Astonished, I stood there and stared at her. I love you wasn't a trite expression from someone like her. She pulled away, fingers fidgeting, her teeth worrying her bottom lip. But she didn't look away from me. Nor did she hide her soulful intensity.

  “I've a-a-always l-loved you,” she continued. “Ever s-since my first d-day as a f-f-freshman in high school, when I s-saw you walking down the hallway with the other M-m-merry Idiots. I f-felt you in my soul, and then I spent the r-rest of my life building up a p-picture in my head of who I thought you w-would be. Of . . . how your k-k-kiss would f-f-feel. The heat of your hand in m-mine.”

  Her fingers closed together, and she grimaced a little. When she closed her eyes and drew in a deep breath, I wanted to ask her to breathe for me. Because I couldn't. The enormity of what she said was almost impossible to comprehend.

  No way.

  How had I missed this too?

  A stupid, lopsided smile crossed my face.

  “Really?”

  Her painful expression deepened into a grimace. “R-really,” she whispered. “I-I've never b-been able to g-g-get you out of my h-head.”

  My mind raced through the few blatant memories that I had back in Pineville. Mostly of her at work, every now and then out and about her life. Quiet. Shy. Calm. But her gaze had been attentive, which I'd always dismissed as nervousness from my law enforcement uniform.

  Maybe it had been something else.

  “All those nights at the Diner?” I asked quietly.

  “Y-yes.”

  “The coffee shop?”

  She recoiled a little, her voice a calm whisper. “Yes.”

  “You felt something for me all this time?”

  Astonishment stained my voice, and I wished I could take it back because Dagny paused, her jaw tight. As if it made her more uncomfortable for me to be so shocked. How could I not be? Words failed me, and I cast around uselessly for something to say.

  Something like determination built up in her eyes before she tilted her head back, lifted her chin, and said, “Y-yes, J-jayson Hernandez. I-I've always c-cared about you. C-couldn't g-g-get you out of my head. A-and that's the full truth. S-s-so you have it. I w-want you a-and a part of me always w-will.”

  I took another step toward her, but she didn't seem to notice. She barreled into whatever she'd come to say next.

  “If you w-want Victoria, th-that's . . .” She swallowed, as if she couldn't get the words out. Seconds later, they spewed out like a volcanic eruption. “Th-that's your i-idiot choice. B-but I couldn't l-let you d-do it without knowing that I . . . th-that I loved you.”

  Her eyes turned stormy, and I wondered if she recalled our kiss on the hot sand and cool surf, just like me. If she remembered the warmth of having someone at her side, the way I felt. The way I couldn't wait to learn everything there was to know about her.

  My hand reached up to brush the skin of her face with the back of my knuckles. Her eyes fluttered closed.

 
; “Why do you think I want Victoria?”

  With a guilty little look, she said, “You k-kissed her outside the el-levator.”

  I recoiled. “Were you there?”

  “N-not exactly,” she muttered wryly.

  My brow furrowed. How could she possibly know that? I dismissed it with a little shake of my head. Details could come later. For now, I needed to ground into whatever we had unfolding right now.

  “I had to know.” I shrugged. “When I kissed you in the ocean the other day, something . . . it was so different. Victoria's kiss was cold and forced and hard and it didn't make me feel anything. But I had to know that I was over her.”

  “Are you?”

  “Yes.” I laughed. “I'm not even sure there was anything there to begin with.”

  Her head tilted down as she seemed to consider that, betraying a fan of dark eyelashes against her skin. I put a bent finger under her chin and lifted her head. Her eyes closed.

  “Dagny?”

  “J-just s-say it,” she whispered. “W-whatever you're g-going to say.”

  I leaned closer, until my face was a breath from hers. She hadn't opened her eyes, but her breath hitched. She held it, her heart pounding so hard I could see it at her graceful collarbone.

  “I don't want Victoria,” I murmured. My fingers slid into her hair. A tear dropped out of her eye and I swiped it with my thumb. “I want you. That's what I came to tell you. That I've been an idiot all this time. The perfect woman was at my fingertips, but I never saw it.”

  I caught her sob with a kiss.

  Her warm, gentle lips met mine. She threw her arms around me with a cry, then melted into my touch. I kissed her breathless. I kissed her until my chest burned with the force of my heart. I kissed her until everything inside me was about to explode.

  Before I could say a word, she buried her face in my neck with a little cry. I crushed her too much, stunned by the feeling of her body pressed to mine.

  19

  Dagny

  The wedding moved past me in a gentle blur.

  Jayson held onto my hand as he gently led me onto a sparkling dance floor in the middle of the hotel atrium. Other couples quietly swayed around us to a violin-led slow song. The room had been dimmed for the father-daughter dance, during which Anthony Dunkin appeared unwell, and pale, and left the room as soon as it finished. Once the ceremony had completed, Jayson had taken my hand again and wouldn’t let it go.

  Meanwhile, my brain operated with bright, flashing lights.

  JAYSON HERNANDEZ LIKES YOU.

  JAYSON HERNANDEZ LIKES YOU.

  His many, stolen kisses lingered on my lips like a secret breath. Even the way he held me close, his arms wrapped around my body so possessively, sent my heart into another flutter. I could hardly comprehend what he had said to me. What I said back. The gumption it required of me to lay it all out there after yeras of adoration. To put my heart on the line and watch it chug away, into someone else's hands.

  Jayson's hands.

  Almost a decade existed between the awestruck freshman that fell hard for Jayson Hernandez and who I was now, but the giddy joy of young love had seized me all over again. Only this time, it was better. More complete and loaded with time and experience.

  “Dag?” he murmured.

  I tipped my head back to look at him. He studied me, as if trying to make sense of all this, and my lips split in a wide grin. The tip of his fingers touched my cheek, and a slow smile filled with adoration followed. He looked at me the way I’d always looked at him. My brain nearly split in half with the attempt to comprehend.

  Jayson. Hernandez. Liked. Me.

  He pushed a strand of hair out of my face. “Thank you for coming with me.”

  “Th-thank you f-for inviting m-me.”

  “You know it was my pleasure.”

  We whirled in a dizzying circle, and I laughed as I clung to him. A shout across the room caught my attention. We glanced up to see a worker from the hotel escorting what appeared to be a bouncer across the room, toward a sloppy-drunk Victoria. She clung to her wine glass and growled as they approached. They spoke quietly and pointed toward the door, but she resisted with a firm shake of her head. Then reached back and grabbed the table to stabilize herself.

  “B-b-bit too much to d-drink,” I murmured, although I couldn’t deny a thrill. Finally, I wasn’t the one wallowing in sadness over Jayson Hernandez. While I felt a pang of sadness for her—even commiseration, because I knew how it felt when Jayson didn’t know I existed—I couldn’t help my relief.

  This time, I had the one I wanted.

  “She has a lot to be sad about,” Jayson said, then whisked me away into the dance again.

  When the dance ended, he cupped a hand around my cheek and pulled me into a sweet kiss, then let me go when a wolf whistle came from behind us. Bastian and Vik approached, their neckties loosened and shirts untucked. Jayson drew me into his side, an arm around my shoulders, as if the other two would start a tug-of-war.

  Bastian winked at me.

  “Finally!” Vikram rolled his eyes so hard his head tilted back. “Has he finally figured out how hot you are?”

  Jayson growled. Vik laughed and held up his hands in a gesture of surrender. My cheeks brightened in a blush as Vik laughed it off.

  “Calm down, calm down. I'm not making any moves. It's just been obvious for a while that the two of you would be a great fit. Dagny was always checking you out.” He sent me a mischievous grin and Jayson muttered something unintelligible under his breath.

  “You s-survived,” I said to Vikram.

  He grimaced. “Just seeing the altar made me want to vomit. Standing next to it is a bit too close for comfort.”

  Bastian whistled low. “Too close for comfort.”

  “W-w-where’s your c-computer?” I asked, and realized this was one of only a few times that I saw him without it. An adorable little blush appeared on his cheeks.

  “Excuse us,” Jayson said before he could reply. “But I have a sunset to watch with my girl. We’ll be back”

  Jayson squeezed my shoulder, then led me out of the atrium and into the cool, fresh air outside. The sun had almost disappeared into a watery horizon, leaving ripples of color on a calm ocean. Wordless, he led me farther down the beach until we stood with our feet in the gentle surf. Water played at our ankles with a gentle hiss.

  “P-p-perfect,” I whispered.

  The shifting colors of the sunset, and the star-studded sky that followed, sent my heart into a little twist of disbelief. The gentle breeze cooled my skin as we stood there, close to each other in the quiet roar of the surf.

  “Just like you,” he murmured.

  He pressed a lingering kiss to my cheek. Behind us, the wedding party collectively laughed as the dancing shifted into a brighter song. Jayson had already finished a hilarious and historic Best Man speech. Most participants were warmed with champagne and wine. A buffet dinner would be served soon, and the night’s festivities would continue uninterrupted. Meanwhile, my pattering heart held onto every moment as the most cherished memory.

  Goodbye, Anthony Dunkin, I thought. He didn't deserve my hope. Nor did he deserve Helene, Alison, or the accolades of his peers. But most importantly, he didn't deserve me—and he'd never have me. That honor was reserved for people like Jayson, who earned it through his compassion, care, and openness.

  This was the perfect ending to the old Dagny. To my old hopes, dreams, and life. No more clinging to a man that didn’t want me in his life. Now I had Jayson Hernandez, and I had a wide open horizon at my feet.

  The best new beginning.

  The stars thickened overhead. A brisk wind shuffled by. Jayson held me closer, talking quietly about things that didn’t matter, but the rumble of his voice in my ear was like a song. I sank into him, grateful that the dream had come true. Even though I'd just closed a big door, a brighter future awaited.

  And I couldn't wait to see what it would bring.

  20
<
br />   Dagny

  Serafina: Isn’t it great when Prince Charming finally comes?

  Her text put a huge smile on my face.

  * * *

  Dagny: Definitely.

  * * *

  Serafina: Just wait. It gets better every day.

  The tinkle of a closing door filled the Frolicking Moose.

  I glanced up, then grinned a second before a warm pair of thick arms wrapped all the way around me. Hernandez swallowed me into my favorite bear hug. The force of it slammed my back into the closest wall, but he cradled the jarring motion with his hands. Then he pushed the hair out of my eyes with one hand and kissed the breath out of me. Before I could give as good as I got, he nuzzled my neck, then sighed. His weight sagged against me like a bag of sand.

  I set my hands on his back, grateful to feel his warm, reassuring heat against mine. “Bad day?” I asked against the rough skin of his neck. Happiness streaked through me as I drew in a deep breath from his shirt. Even though he’d just gotten off a shift, he still smelled like that spicy mix of outdoors that I loved.

  “No.”

  “T-tired?”

  “Not really.”

  “N-need a little love?”

  He growled into the hollow of my neck. “From you? Always.” He leaned back, eyes bright. “Oh, abuela wants me to ask when you're going to be back. She's making her favorite tamales for you.”

  “T-tomorrow?”

  He shook his head. “Not soon enough. She wants you tonight.”

  “I was j-just there l-last n-night!”

  He shrugged. “Abuela gets what she wants.”

  “I-I'll be th-there.”

  “She likes you better than me,” he mumbled.

  Laughing, I pulled away and shot him a you-better-behave glare as a customer approached the store from outside. He stayed behind the counter as two college-aged men strode inside. He moved a little closer and cast a stern gaze on them.