Authors: Emily Snow
pounds had been lifted off my shoulders. It
wasn’t like I’d been forgotten—I was 100
percent sure I’d show up again on some
gossip site with a poll on when I’d fuck up
again—but today I was normal.
I finally came to the baggage claim for
the flight number Mom had given me but
when I glanced up at the scrolling text on
the digital sign, my breath caught. It
wasn’t Boston, but Honolulu.
“What? No lei?” a voice with an
Australian accent said from behind me,
and I turned slowly to face Cooper. He
was wearing jeans, Converse shoes, and a
blue t-shirt that brought out his eyes, and I
felt my mouth go dry as I drunk in the sight
of him.
“What are you doing here?” my voice
came out in a whisper.
The corner of his mouth lifted.
“Remember how I said that I like to study
up on my clients?” he asked, and I lifted
my chin slightly. He’d said that in this
very airport actually. “Did you really
think I wouldn’t show up?”
“I didn’t want to be selfish,” I said
honestly.
He took four long strides to me, and
gripped me to his body. An elderly
woman collecting her baggage from a
nearby claim did a double take, but
Cooper didn’t seem to notice. “God,
Wills, you can be as selfish as you want
with me.”
I shivered when our lips touched and
my body responded to his, moving closer
so that I could slide my arms around his
shoulders. I’d missed this. I’d missed him
so fucking much that now that he was here,
it hurt.
Groaning, he finally pulled back,
massaging my neck with the pads of his
thumbs. “Do you know how hard it was to
coordinate things with your mum? She’s
the scariest person I’ve ever met, you
know?”
My laughter was mixed with a sob as I
nodded. “She told me we had to pick up
my dad.”
He shook his head, chuckling. “Nah,
he’s somewhere at some fancy restaurant
waiting for us to show. My fucking flight
was delayed an hour or I would’ve been
there to get you first thing.”
I took a deep breath. “What about your
competition?”
He kissed the center of my forehead,
brushing strands of my dark hair away
from it. “What about it?”
“You didn’t have to miss it for me and
I—”
Pressing three fingers over my mouth,
he released a sigh. “You talk way too
much, Wills. I’m where I need to be,
okay? And for what it’s worth, the answer
to the question you asked a few months
ago is 34. I’ve won 34 competitions.”
I drew back and ran my tongue over
my teeth. “Bit of an overachiever, aren’t
you?”
He laughed and wrapped his arm
around my shoulders, guiding me toward
the exit. “I love you, Willow.”
“I love you, too.”
He paused, stopping a few inches from
the automatic door. “Before I forget”—he
opened his duffle bag and pulled a
necklace of smooshed flowers from the
top. “I owed you a lei.”
I choked on a sob, dipping my head so
that he could drop it around my neck.
“You do realize that this is exactly the
way they’d do it in the movies, right?”
His arms circled me again and I
sighed into his t-shirt, breathing in the
scent of sunblock and coconut shampoo.
“Guess I don’t hate the film industry as
much as I let on.”
Epilogue
Two Years Later
Cooper and I weren’t perfect. It took
us nearly six months to figure out where
we wanted to live, and even then, it
wasn’t the perfect solution career wise—
we would alternate between living in
Hawaii and California.
Somehow, it worked for us.
The first time he asked me to marry
him was right after the release of
Tidal
, a year after we met. The second time was at
Paige and Eric’s wedding six months
later. When I told him that I was still
thinking, he’d given me that dimpled smile
that I fell all over myself for and told me
he’d wait a few more months.
When those three months past, I
realized he probably wouldn’t ask again.
“You look cold,” he said, as we
walked through Central Park. He had
insisted we go to New York City for our
second dating-anniversary, and even
though I had mid-terms in two weeks, I’d
agreed.
I wrapped my coat around myself a
little tighter and grinned. “This is
definitely
not
Honolulu.”
He led me to a small picnic table and
we sat across from each other, clasping
hands. “I’ve got a surprise for you, but I
want you to close your eyes,” he said. I
nodded, biting the inside of my cheek as I
heard him shuffle around.
After a couple minutes, I felt him
behind me, breathing in my ear. “Open
them, Wills.”
When I did, nothing had changed, and I
glanced over his shoulder, cocking an
eyebrow. “Okay, I must be a dumbass.
What is it?”
Touching the back of my head, he
turned it until my gaze landed on a couple
and a little kid by a statue of three bears.
“So, I may have resorted to extreme
bribery to get this, but there’s someone
over there you’d probably want to meet.”
I felt my body go numb and my voice
didn’t sound like my own when I
demanded, “Wait—what?”
He pinched the bridge of his nose,
laughing. “Put it this way, somewhere
there’s a lady who works for an adoption
agency who—”
“No, I know what you mean, but . . .
Are you fucking serious?”
His hands slipped under my arms,
lifting me up and compelling me forward.
My heart slammed between my ribcage
with each step, and when we reached the
couple, Cooper nudged me forward.
“Wills, these are the McKay’s and that”—
he pointed to the little boy swinging
upside down from one of the bears—“is
Parker.”
Parker.
My kid’s name was Parker.
Cooper had found him.
“This is that friend of mommy’s that
we told you about,” Mr. McKay told him,
tugging on the sleeve of his coat, and
Parker stopped playing to give me a
green-eyed once over.
And then I was crying. Because of
what Cooper had done. Because Parker
had run over to me, his small hands
stretching the hem of my shirt. He smelled
like chocolate and the non-toxic dough
stuff little kids liked to eat. I was crying
because Parker was here, period.
“Hey,” he said.
Pressing the tips of my fingers to my
eyes, I knelt down so our eyes could meet.
“Hey,” I said. It was so hard to keep my
voice steady as he grinned at me,
revealing two missing teeth.
“You’re the girl from Kaylee’s
movies.”
Before I could look over at them for
an explanation, Mrs. McKay spoke up,
clearing her throat, “Kaylee is our
fourteen year old—she’s a . . . fan of your
movies. And Parker loves his big sister.”
I nodded, my gaze never leaving his.
“Yes, I’m that girl,” I said.
Parker tilted his head to one side.
“You’re crying.”
“Yes,” I said. “Because it’s . . . a
good day. The best day, actually.”
He dug inside of his coat pocket for
something and when he pulled his hand
out, he held the ring box Cooper had tried
to give me twice before. Parker gave
Cooper a big grin. “Told you I wouldn’t
lose it.”
I took it from him, my fingertips
skimming his gloved ones and I held my
breath.
Cooper cleared his throat behind me.
“It doesn’t have to be tomorrow or even a
year from now, Wills. Just say that—”
I glanced over my shoulder, meeting
his blue eyes and nodded quickly.
Unquestionably.
“Yes,” I said.
I had never been more certain of
anything in my life.
Acknowledgements
To my amazing agent Rebecca
Friedman and her assistant Abby
Schulman—thank you ladies so much for
your support and guidance and for putting
up with my millions of emails!
To the wonderful ladies in Naughty
Mafia, Katie Ashley, Ava Black, Kelli
Maine, Kristen Proby, and Michelle
Valentine—thank you so much for your
amazing support. I’m so blessed to be a
part of such a talented group of ladies and
I’m so thankful for your friendship!
To Tanya Keetch—Thanks so much
for your awesome editing and the
wonderful instant messages. You know
how to bring a huge smile to my face
every day!
Lisa Pantano Kane, Kim Box Person,
Lisa Rutledge, Crystal Spears, and
Marilyn Medina: You guys rock! Thank
you for beta-reading my book and for the
kick-ass feedback. I love you guys!
To the wonderful bloggers who’ve
pimped my books, THANK YOU! You
guys have made this experience absolutely
amazing for me.
Thank you so much to my family for
supporting my writing and believing in
me. To my Angela, my best friend, thank
you for reading my chapters over and over
and over again!
And to my readers . . . you guys have
made my dreams come true. Thank you,
thank you, THANK YOU for reading my
books and showing so much love and
support. I love you guys!
About the Author
Emily Snow is the author of the
USA
TODAY
bestselling
Devoured
series (2012, 2013) and
Tidal
(2012). She loves books, sexy bad boys, and really loud
rock music, so naturally, she writes
stories about all three. She lives in
Southwest Virginia.
For more book news, teasers, and
giveaways, find her on Facebook
at http://www.facebook.com/emily.snow.397
visit her blog
at emilysnowbooks.blogspot.com