Summer of Love by Marie Ferrarella (easy to read books for adults list .TXT) 📕

Okay, so he looked superhot in that uniform, but not in the way she’d meant it.

“So what changed your mind this time?”

She had to know he hadn’t just come back on a whim. That he was here for the long haul this time.

“That’s a complicated question. I’ve never been truly terrified of anything—not even my father. But you scare me, Jess. The fear that I might not be good enough for you because of my past. Larry’s death just seemed to echo that fear. It took a wise young woman to set me straight.”

She frowned, until something clicked. “Chelsea.”

He nodded. “Yes. She challenged me to come back and face my fears. So here I am. This is my battleground, and I’m not going to retreat. Not this time. Unless you tell me to.”

He was handing her the power. Just like the last time they made love. Only this time it wasn’t a game, and she had to be very sure of her heart. Trust that he wasn’t going to leave, this time. That he wasn’t going to take off like Larry and do something crazy, instead of sitting down and talking out their problems.

Did she trust him?

Yes. If he had the guts to face his fears, then she owed it to herself—and him—to do the same.

“Well, I guess we’re at an impasse, then,” she said in as serious a voice as she could manage, when all she wanted to do was throw herself into his arms and kiss him until neither of them could breathe. “Because I’m not going to tell you to leave. And you’re evidently not going to leave on your own.”

His eyes clouded for a second, but he stood firm. “No, I’m not.”

“Then you’ll just have to stay.” She thought of something. “Wait. What about your transfer?”

“It hasn’t been officially approved, it was still in the works, but they let me move early. My current contract is almost up, so I can resign my commission—go into private practice—if that tilts the odds in my favor. We wouldn’t have to move. Ever. We could stay right here in Richmond.”

This time she did throw herself at him, wrapping her arms around his neck. “Those odds were already tilted once I saw you standing here. I love you, too, Clint, no matter what you decide to do. You do so much good for people like Chelsea. And if the paperwork on your transfer goes through before you can cancel it, I’m coming with you.”

He grabbed her up and held her tight—so tight that she felt the air rush from her lungs. She didn’t care.

She loved this man. More than she ever had.

Leaning down, he caught her mouth in a kiss that held a wealth of love and longing. “There’s only one thing I want to do right now.”

She laughed. “Really? Can it wait until I’ve had something to eat?”

“It could, but …” He withdrew and reached inside the jacket of his uniform, pulling out a small jeweler’s box.

Her hands went over her mouth, afraid the sun and heat were still playing tricks on her. “Clint?”

He snapped the box open to reveal a ring. Small and twinkling and perfect. “It was my grandmother’s. Mom gave it to me before I went into the service. She said I might need it one day. She was right.” He smiled. “I’d get down on one knee, but I’m afraid I’d be seared permanently to the pavement if I did. Damn, I’m screwing this all up. I should have waited to ask you to marry me until dinner, when we could have champagne, or until I had the ring resized—”

“No. This is the perfect place. The perfect ring. And you’re the perfect man for me.” Tears gathered in her eyes. “And I accept your proposal, Colonel Clinton Marks.”

He kissed her again. Then Jessi unhooked the chain from her necklace and let him slide the slender ring onto it, where it dangled in the hollow of her collarbone. Fingering it while heat waves danced over the black tar surface of the parking lot, she blinked. “Where’s your car?”

“Someone offered me a lift.”

She could guess who that might be. “Chelsea again?”

“Yes.”

“So you’ve been standing in the parking lot for over an hour?”

“Not quite. I had a little help tracking your movements.”

Ahh … so that’s why Chelsea’s text—asking her to let her know the second she got off work—had been waiting for her when she’d switched her phone back on.

She clicked the button to unlock her car. “I guess we should put her out of her misery, then.”

“Already done. I told her if you weren’t home in an hour to assume we were out celebrating somewhere.”

“Oh? You were that sure of yourself, were you?”

He grinned. “You have no idea what I’ve been through over the past month. I wasn’t sure of anything, least of all myself.”

“So what kind of celebration were you thinking of?”

He slid into the passenger seat and waited for her to join him. “I was thinking of something small and private.”

“Interesting.” Her pulse rate sped up, despite her earlier words about eating something. “So whose turn is it to be in charge this time?”

He eased his fingers deep into her hair and turned her face toward him. “How about if from now on we make sure it’s an equal partnership?”

“Yes,” she breathed as he leaned down to kiss her again, allowing her senses to begin that familiar climb. “That’s the perfect solution.”

EPILOGUE

“DO YOU, JESSICA MARIE RILEY, take Clinton Shane Marks to be your lawfully wedded husband?”

Clint faced Jessi as she said the words that would legally bind her to him. Only they were already bound by cords much stronger than anything the minister could say.

Jessi had convinced him that the broken frame didn’t represent what he’d done to her life all those years ago. Instead, it symbolized a breaking free from the mistakes of the past in order to