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“Are you sure?” Addie asked.

Emma nodded. “I’m positive.”

“If you change your mind, call me and I’ll come pick you up.”

“I won’t.”

Addie smiled and gave her friend a hug. “Good luck!”

Emma watched as she and Howie pulled out of the driveway and then headed back into the house, locking the door behind her. She made her way to the backyard and saw Nick sitting there with his head in his hands. Knowing that he was probably upset by the fact that he thought she’d left made it hard to go back out to him but she made herself do it.

“Nick?”

He was so distracted by the view and his own thoughts that he didn’t hear her come out. She had to walk over and place her hand on his shoulder to get his attention. Nick jumped up and turned to face her.

“Em?”

“Hi. I…”

Her words were cut off when he swept her into a tight embrace. He pulled her as close as he possible could and kissed her.

“You came back.”

“I wasn’t leaving.”

“You weren’t?”

“No, I just needed to tell Addie and Howie that I was staying here. Is that ok?”

Nick burst out into laughter. “Ok? Are you kidding me? This is more than ok.”

Emma smiled. “Good. I’d hate to have to walk home.”

“You definitely don’t have to go.” Nick said and then waited for a moment. “Are you sure you want to stay here? I promised you that I wouldn’t push and I meant…”

Emma cut him off with a kiss. “If I wasn’t sure, then I wouldn’t have stayed.”

She had decided earlier in the night that she had to take Addie’s advice. If she didn’t risk being hurt, she was going to regret not seeing where she and Nick could take their relationship. Maybe it would be tough but she’d take the leap.

“I know it’s late,” Nick told her, “I can go make up the other bedroom for you.”

“I didn’t really have sleeping in mind.” Emma replied with a smile. “I was thinking that we’ve spent…”

Nick crushed his mouth against hers and swept her up in his arms. He practically raced down to the bedroom and gently set her on the bed. Lying down next to her, he ran his hand over her face and kissed her again.

“Are you absolutely sure about this?”

Emma slid her hand under the back of Nick’s shirt and pulled it over his head. Tugging his head down, she kissed him with as much intensity as she could.

“Does that answer your question?”

“Absolutely.” Nick answered.

-----------------------------

Emma woke up a few hours later to find herself wrapped in Nick’s arms. Her head was lying on his chest and she could hear him snoring quietly. They had spent the last few hours exploring each other and making up for all the time they’d been apart. She smiled as she thought about her decision to give this relationship another chance and she knew in her heart that she’d done the right thing.

Raising her head to look at him, she could see the smile on Nick’s face as he lay there. She slid out of his grasp, slipped on his shirt and made her way down to the living room. Pushing the slider open, she inhaled the smell of the beach air and wound up sinking down into one of the deck chairs. She drew her knees up to her chest and laid her head back, thinking about everything that had led up to this point.

She knew that they were taking a gamble by getting involved again and that the whole thing could backfire. Her heart wanted to protect itself but she knew that after tonight, there was no way she could avoid her feelings for Nick. No matter what happened in the past, she loved him and he was the only person she wanted to be with. She wasn’t going to tell him that right away but she needed to admit it to herself.

Nick’s hands grazing her shoulders surprised her.

“Sorry.” he said quietly. “I woke up and you weren’t there; I got worried.”

Emma slid over and let him lie down next to her. Running her hand over his face, she leaned in and kissed him gently.

“I’m not going anywhere.”

“Good to know.”

Nick kissed her, gently at first, then passionately. He slid his hand up her shirt and she shivered but didn’t pull away. Taking that as a sign, he began to unbutton the top of the shirt and leaned in to kiss her neck. Slipping his arms around her, he pulled her close and left a trail of kisses from her ear to her neck. Emma lost all ability to think and her body took over; she moaned when Nick began to slide one of his hands towards the rest of the buttons.

“Don’t you think we should take this inside?”

Nick gave her a wicked grin. “Are you sure you don’t want to try something new?”

“I’d love to try something new but I think that if you continue what you’re doing, I’m going to get a little loud. I would hate to wake the neighbors.”

Nick stood up and pulled her with him. He grabbed her waist and she draped her hands around his neck while wrapping her legs around his waist.

“I hope you’re fast Mr. Carter,” she whispered in his ear, “because I’m not sure how long I can wait.”