TYLER STOOD NEAR THE STAGE, which had been set up beside the patriotically decorated gazebo in the backyard of Batherton Mansion.
Though he was grateful to Aiden and Sloan for providing the venue, and the citizens of Palmer’s Island for electing him and helping him secure his family legacy, he didn’t see the one face he longed to among the celebratory crowd.
She wasn’t coming.
Sloan had left earlier to find Andrea and make sure she came to the victory party, but obviously she hadn’t been successful.
He’d wanted to share this with her, the first introduction of him as sheriff to his hometown. She was the only one who’d truly understand how much the victory meant to him and how seriously he took the welfare and future of his fellow islanders to heart.
Hundreds of people milled around the yard and through the house, arguing about other elections around the state, agreeing about the wildlife preservation decree that had been passed.
He watched them huddle in groups, enjoying the food and drinks his generous friends had provided. They passed by in patriotic clothes, or—at least in the case of Jerry Mescle—stood to the side and watched the proceedings with a gimlet eye. The press, it seemed, would always be there, fair or foul, peace or controversy.
Even Lester was having a good time. He’d somehow connected with the historical film society and was showing off his trademark bullwhip.
Tyler was proud, hopeful and…miserable. How was he supposed to make his dreams come true like this?
As his parents approached, he straightened his shoulders. “We’re so proud of you,” his mother said, kissing his cheek.
“Thanks, Mama.” He hugged her, then leaned into his father as he wrapped his arm around his shoulders. “Where’s Grandad?”
His father grinned. “He got waylaid by Lester. Something about physics and bullwhips. We slipped away.”
Tyler found the energy to smile. “Smart move.”
“You’ll make a great sheriff, son,” his father said. “Maybe even better than Dad.”
As Andrea suggested, Tyler had told his parents and grandfather about the failed mission and the true reason for his retirement. They’d been sympathetic and understanding, as he should have expected them to be all along.
Tyler met his father’s gaze. “Thanks. Though I guess you know your support hasn’t stopped Grandad or Sheriff Caldwell from giving me advice every fifteen seconds.”
His mother patted his cheek. “They’ll let you do things your own way.” Her eyes, identical to his, turned fierce. “Or they’ll hear from me.”
His family would stand by him, no matter what. He only wished Andrea could do the same. Where was she?
As his parents drifted back to the party and more islanders approached to congratulate him, he could listen with only half his attention. The rest was focusing on Plan B. If Andrea wasn’t coming to him, he’d have to find a way to escape his own victory celebration and find her. He had no idea how he was going to convince her his love was real and forever, but there had to be a way.
Was the ring box in his jacket pocket too bold and too fast, or just right?
“Don’t worry, Sheriff,” Aidan said as he approached, pressing a glass of whiskey in his hands. “Sloan will come through.”
“I’m not so sure,” Tyler returned. He gratefully sipped the smoky whiskey. “Not that I don’t have faith in Sloan. I just can’t seem to reach Andrea.”
“You guys have moved pretty fast.”
“And that’s bad?”
“No, it’s just that Andrea’s not much for impulsiveness.”
With the times they’d acted out her fantasies fresh in his mind, Tyler could argue that point but decided not to. He knew what Aidan was trying to say—she wasn’t naturally impulsive. So she was pretending with him?
That didn’t bode well for his plans.
“She’s got some crazy idea that my feelings for her won’t last,” Tyler admitted. “She doesn’t take me seriously.”
Aidan’s knowing gaze cut to his. “Where did she get that idea?”
“Probably because I’ve never been serious about a woman before. But things have changed. I’ve changed.”
“That happens when the right woman storms into your life.”
Tyler glanced at his friend. “Did Sloan storm?”
“Oh, yeah.”
“But then she fell into your arms and that was that.”
Aidan, who nobody could accuse of being the jovial type, laughed. “Not exactly.” He clapped Tyler on the shoulder. “Don’t give up. You’ll—”
“Excellent whiskey, Aidan,” Carr Hamilton said, joining them and raising his glass. “I may have to switch brands.”
Tyler stiffened. Though Andrea had assured him there was nothing personal between her and the suave attorney, he couldn’t seem to get past his resentment of the guy.
“Congratulations, Sheriff,” Hamilton said, toasting him.
Tyler nodded. “Thanks.”
“I hear our girl is going to London. I guess you’ll now be free to check out all the other female delights the island has to offer.”
Tyler clenched his jaw. “By our girl, you certainly can’t mean Andrea. She belongs to me.”
To his surprise, Hamilton smiled. “Finn’s right. You do love her.”
“You bet I do, and if you come within ten feet of—”
“Hold on.” Hamilton lifted his hands in peace. “Andrea is my friend. I don’t know you very well. I’m just looking out for her best interests.”
“Then that’s me,” Tyler said firmly.
Hamilton glanced around. “And yet she doesn’t seem to be here by your side.”
Tyler’s shoulders slumped as he stepped back. No point in taking his frustration out on somebody else. “We’re kind of having a problem.”
“She doesn’t take him seriously,” Aidan offered.
Hamilton nodded. “Ah.”
“You’ve been there, I guess?” Tyler asked.
“No, not really.”
“Love’ll get you, too,” Tyler warned. “Just wait.”
Hamilton looked a bit wistful. “It hasn’t so far.”
“Gentlemen…” Aidan extended his hand toward the back door. “I think this discussion calls for more whiskey and the privacy of the library.”
“Sloan told me to wait here,” Tyler said. “She wants to introduce me to the crowd.”
“Don’t worry,” Aidan said. “She’ll know where to—” He stopped as his attention caught on something in the direction of the house.
Sloan was exiting the back door. And just behind her, in a red sundress that glowed beneath the spotlights, was Andrea.
Tyler’s heart slammed into his chest.
“That’s my Sloan,” Aidan murmured.
As the women headed straight toward them, Tyler had a moment to regret the setting. Much as he appreciated the party, the things he needed to say were best told without an audience.
Once she reached the group, Sloan planted her hand on her shapely hip, fanning her face with the other. “All these beautiful men in one place. I think I need something cold to drink.” Looping one arm each around Aidan and Carr, she led them off.
Andrea’s amused gaze followed them for a second, then she focused on Tyler. His breath caught at the brightness in her pale green eyes. “Can we talk somewhere private?”
His pulse picked up speed and hope surged through his body. He reached for her hand, pulling her closer. “The gazebo is a little crowded right now.”
Smiling, she said, “I know a place that isn’t.”
She led him around a group of palm trees to a side door, then up the back stairs from the kitchen, the same ones they’d taken the night of the costume ball.
When he recognized where they were headed, he knew everything was going to be okay. Perfect, even.
As soon as he closed the door of the blue bedroom behind them, she threw her arms around his neck and kissed him. Her mouth was hungry, persuasive, needy, and he reveled in every touch and breath. There’d been moments in the last few days that he wondered if he’d ever touch her again.
Those fears fell away, replaced by a love so strong and sure he wondered how his heart had ever beat on its own before.
She leaned back and met his gaze. “I’ve been an idiot.”
“I’ve been an idiot,” he returned.
They shared another smile before he led her to the bed, pulling her down to sit beside him. “Ladies first,” he invited.
She kept a hold on his hand and her gaze focused intently on his. “I’m sorry about Saturday, the things I said, the way I said them. I’d been unfairly blaming you for the past. I felt like you forced me to protect my heart after you broke it.”
“I’m sor—”
She laid her finger over his lips. “You did nothing wrong.” She drew her hand down his chest, resting it at his waist. “Actually, I’m glad we didn’t get together then. I didn’t really love you. I loved a fantasy. I used the facts I knew about you—your sisters’ names, what you ate for lunch, your football stats—and drew up the perfect man in my mind. I didn’t really know you.
“I didn’t know about your loyalty to your family and your unit, or the pressure you felt to live up to being a hero.” She slid her hand across his thigh. “I didn’t know how the people you work with both respect and genuinely like you or about the scar on your knee. Or how considerate you are, remembering Finn likes his coffee sweet. I didn’t know you’d never care about who I was, but who I am.” Tears in her eyes, she pressed her lips gently to his. “Now I know you. And I know you belong with me, because no one will ever love you more than I do.”
Incredibly moved, he crushed her against his chest. “You’re all I’ll ever need, the only woman I’ll ever love. And Saturday was my fault, too. I compared loving you to liking the same TV shows. I didn’t exactly come up with a romantic idea.” Sliding his hand into his pants pocket, he let go of her long enough to drop to one knee in front of her. “I’m hoping to do better this time.”
Her gaze darted from him to the box he held out. Her eyes widened. “You really are serious.”
“Very,” he said as he flipped open the box and pulled out the diamond solitaire. “Marry me.”
“Oh, wow. I…”
“You need some time to think about it?”
“No. No way.” She held out her left hand. “I mean, no, I don’t need to think about it but, yes about—”
He kissed her and slid the ring on her finger at the same time.
“It’s beautiful,” she whispered against his cheek, then paused, her sharp brain obviously aligning the details. “And it fits.”
“Finn helped pick it out.”
“Finn? How long have you had this?”
“Since Saturday afternoon.” He pressed her onto the mattress. “I arrested Roger, then went straight to the jeweler.”
She cupped his jaw. “You were that sure of me?”
“No. But I wasn’t giving up until I had you.”
She smiled. “Mission accomplished.”
He began unbuttoning her dress. “My most important case.” He pressed his lips to the pulse beating rapidly at the base of her throat. “I’ve missed you.”
She wrapped her arms and legs around him. “I got ready thinking of you, and the moment you might undress me later.”
Trailing his lips down her chest, he inhaled her familiar citrus scent. “I’m always happy to serve.”
That was when he knew she meant she’d literally dressed for him.
The bra was a screaming red that matched her sundress, the panties blue with white stars. If his constituents could see her campaign strategy, he would have won unanimously.
However, he wasn’t sharing.
She belonged to him, forever. Every inch of her smooth skin and curvy body would be explored and cherished. Every smart comment from her mouth would draw a smile from his own. Every moment of fidelity and support would be returned a hundredfold.
When their bodies were one, he knew their hearts were as well, drawing a whole new element of intimacy he hadn’t expected. Their hands linked, their fingers intertwined as he rocked against her hips, and the moment her neck arched and she closed her eyes while her climax broke and his followed, he knew completeness for the first time in his life.
Wherever he’d gone, whatever had come before, had led him here, to her, to this woman who’d love him with her whole heart, just as he’d devote himself to her.
He tried to catch his breath as he rolled onto his back beside her. “Oh, wow is exactly right.”
She wrapped her right hand around his arm, holding her left above them, studying the ring, which glinted in the glare of the spotlight coming through the window. “It’s perfect,” she said in a dreamy voice he’d rarely heard from his practical math whiz. “I especially like the sterling silver setting.”
Weakly turning his head, he kissed her shoulder. “I thought you might appreciate the significance.”
“I do.” She sighed. “I guess we should go back to the party.”
That innate responsibility was his girl.
He thought of Aidan, the way he knew Sloan’s determination would bring Andrea as she’d promised. He was starting to understand the woman he’d spend his life with in the same way.
He shifted onto his side, then he drew the tip of his finger down the center of her bare body. “We didn’t before.”
“But this party’s in your honor.”
“Good point. What about London?”
Startled, she looked at him. “I’m supposed to leave the day after tomorrow.”
“Do you want to go?”
“No.”
“You were just running from me.”
“I did have a job.”
“Uh-huh.”
She waved that away with a flip of her hand. “I’ll canc—” She stopped, a smile breaking across her beautiful face. “Come with me.”
“What?”
Naked, she leaped to her feet. She grabbed her clothes from the floor and started putting them on. “You’ve got a passport, don’t you?”
“Sure, but—”
“You don’t take office until January, right?”
“Well, yeah.”
Impulsive and practical. Could a woman be both? His certainly was.
The more he considered the idea—three weeks in London with Andrea—the more he knew it was right. After all the tension and anxious days, they could enjoy simply being together. “I’m due for a vacation after solving the biggest crime spree on the island in a decade.”
“Exactly.”
They dressed in a frenzied haste, then darted out of the room and down the hall. He was already thinking of the people he needed to call about his spontaneous trip when he remembered. “Sloan.”
“She can’t come,” Andrea said as they moved down the stairs.
“No, I mean I promised to let her introduce me onstage.”
Andrea stopped. “Now?”
“Tonight anyway.”
Andrea took his hand and led him out the side door. “I guess these are the things I have to expect if I’m going to be the wife of a public figure.”
He jerked her against him for a quick kiss. “Have I told you how much I love you?”
She stroked his face. “A couple of times, but let’s keep it up. My fantasy engagement to you was pretty spectacular. The real one has a lot to live up to.”
When they reached Sloan, she was toe-tapping impatiently by the stage. “Where have you two been? I’m supposed to introduce Tyler to—” She stopped, her gaze roving their faces, which were probably still flushed with pleasure and happiness. “Oh.” She smiled widely. “I guess you worked out your issues.”
Andrea simply held out her left hand. “We did. Thanks.”
The two women embraced briefly before somebody shoved a microphone in Sloan’s face. “The band’s getting impatient.”
“Yeah, yeah,” she said, grabbing the microphone. “Details tomorrow,” she said to Andrea.
Next, Sloan was onstage, thanking everyone for coming and for their election day support. She introduced the mayor, then Sheriff Caldwell, her voice breaking a bit when she hugged him and expressed the island’s gratitude for his many years of service.
“So, now,” she said dramatically, “please welcome the man who will serve and protect our island for many years to come, Sheriff Tyler Landry.”
Tyler took the stage to a round of applause and cheers. He shook hands with everyone near the podium and waved at the familiar people in the crowd—his family, Sister Mary Katherine, Aqua, Dwayne and Misty. He’d make sure his life was spent keeping theirs safe, understanding how precious the gift of love and contentment could be.
When the noise died down, he moved toward Sloan to take the microphone, mentally going through the list of people who’d helped him get here, when Sloan pointed toward Andrea. “And please welcome the future Mrs. Landry.”
Tyler’s gaze darted to Andrea, expecting her reluctance to announce their engagement so publicly and suddenly, but she was already racing up the stairs to join him.
To stand by his side always.