“They’re so intimate.”

“I don’t care. Not if it means you get the recognition you deserve. Making you happy means more to me than you realize. I’d do anything for you.” He smoothed her hair. The emotion and power in his eyes was almost intimidating. Almost. It was also heartwarming and what she’d been looking for all her life.

Her fingers found purchase in the sides of his shirt. Through the fine material, the heat of his skin worked through her. The stinging pressure behind her eyes finally eased. “How about we make a deal?” Her smile worked all the way up from the tips of her toes to her head, easing the tension she hadn’t even realized she’d had.

“Anything,” he agreed automatically. “Anything so long as I get to keep you.”

But she put the tips of her fingers over his mouth. “I’ll promise to talk even when I think I’ll upset you, if you’ll promise to talk calmly with me before you run off at the mouth.”

“Deal. I’m still so sorry, Avalon. Hurting you was the last thing I wanted.” His fingertips trailed up the insides of her forearms. The rush of power she got off his earnest expression made her feel like she was in charge of the world. “Does this mean I get to kiss you now?”

She laughed and hooked her arms around his neck. With shoulders that wide, he’d never let her down. Not if she made sure of it. “Yes, you may.”

But he took her mouth before the words had even hit the sand. A long, slow kiss that wound all the way down her body—and swept her away. She let her eyes drift shut, let herself go. Tanner was the man she’d never realized she was looking for. And they’d rescue each other, if they needed to.

But as she locked her wrists behind his neck and gave a little hop, Tanner grabbed her hips. He was her rock and her reassurance and her excitement, all in one. Her skirt rose scandalously high as he hitched her legs around his waist, as if he’d automatically known what she’d wanted. To be close to him. To be with him. To be his.

Like she would make him hers.

Epilogue

A sign installation should have been a no-big-deal kind of thing.

After all, Tanner had traveled the globe. He’d surfed fifty-foot waves in Punta de Lobos, Chile. Once he’d found himself less than fifteen feet from a great white shark. He’d had a huge career that meant people from all over the world admired him.

It’s not like there hadn’t been the Wright name on the building before. This was only a modification, not something brand-spanking-new.

And yet there he was, standing across the street, watching as the workmen adjusted the framework for the sign. He kept his thumbs looped through the back of his belt because that way no one would see them shake.

Christ, he was a big pansy.

But when Avalon ducked out of the storefront, then glanced up and down the street briefly before weaving behind the lone car, Tanner knew what was really going on.

He’d needed his girl at his side.

She looked absolutely amazing. Her hair had grown out a little bit, long enough that her ponytail trailed over her shoulder and the ends coiled on the topmost curve of her breast. The white shorts she wore showed off legs tanned by her most recent outing to the South Maldives, where she’d been on a shoot for SURFING. As their newest stringer, she didn’t always get the choice gigs, but that one had been pretty good. Tanner would have gone with her, since he still grabbed the opportunity to make a few shots now and then, except he’d had too much to arrange for the school.

After all, it’d be opening in a matter of weeks.

He held out an arm to her and she tucked herself in along his hip. She fit perfectly with the soft sweep of her thigh along his. “I’m so glad I didn’t miss it.”

This day had been more than six months in the making, but kind of dreamlike at the same time. Tanner hadn’t been ready to put up the sign yet, though he’d bought his mom out months ago. There’d been too much else to get going. Admissions and standards and the fine-tuning of what exactly he wanted out of the experience.

He’d have the chance to still surf and shape the future at the same time. Not that that didn’t make him sound a bit egotistical. But whatever, it was the truth. The truth that Avalon had helped him find. He had a bit of an ego problem sometimes, yeah. Wouldn’t have had the balls to go after a World Championship without one.

But the trick would be guiding the kids under him. Not turning them into miniature Tanners. He didn’t get to dictate terms to the people around him anymore. And that was a damned good thing.

He rubbed up and down Avalon’s slender arm, but he wasn’t sure whom he was comforting.

Of course she caught on to his nerves. She spread her hand over his stomach, giving him a pat. “Breathe. It’ll be okay.”

Even her presence was enough to make him feel like he could rule the world. Tucking a couple fingers under her chin, he turned her face up to him. The kiss he skated over her lips was more promise than anything else. The rest could wait ’til they were alone.

Except his feelings. Those didn’t seem to want to wait anymore. “I love you, Avalon.”

The green of her eyes flashed brighter. She gave a cheeky grin. “You mean it?”

“I do,” he answered, just like he did every time they played this game. He kissed her again, this time because he couldn’t help himself. “You’re everything to me. I’ll never let you down. Because you’re my heart.”

Her smile could lead him around by the soul. He’d have to make sure she realized that. If ever there was a woman who ought to know her own power, it was his Avalon.

She combed her fingers through his hair, pushing it back. Her touch worked through him in happy waves. “I love you too.”

“Good.” He grinned at her and took another kiss because she was his girl and that made everything right in the world.

“Oh!” she gasped as she pulled her mouth away from his. “You’re going to miss it.”

Tanner was of the opinion that everything worth having was in his arms at that very moment, but he looked anyway. Just in time to see the sign snapped into place. Sage had designed the simple black and white with a clean blue graphic of a single wave as a favor to her brother. Even the name was simple. Wright School.

Wrapping his arms around Avalon, he tucked her head under his chin. “Thank you,” he said.

She startled a little bit. “But . . . why? This is all your thing.”

He shook his head. Explaining himself was still difficult sometimes. But Avalon was worth trying for. “I know none of this would be the same without you.”

She smiled and turned back toward the storefront. “Good. I’m glad you know that.”

He laughed. The part of his woman that gave herself up to smooth things over seemed to be long gone.

And he was damned glad of it.