CHAPTER 18
When they got outside, Amy kicked off her shoes, letting her toes sink into the cool sand as she and Nash walked hand in hand along the water’s edge.
The Stone family inn sat behind them, windows glowing warmly in the distance, but out here it felt like they were the only two people in the world.
“I still can’t believe this,” Amy said softly, her fingers intertwined with Nash’s as they strolled along the shoreline. “Of all the places in the world, all the circumstances that could have brought us together again … it had to be a treasure hunt involving dangerous criminals.”
Nash chuckled. “Not exactly the reunion I would have planned.”
“What are the odds?” Amy mused, pausing to watch the waves roll in. “That Amanda Levitt would end up in witness protection as Sadie Blair, and that Sadie Blair would stumble onto a mystery that connected to Nash Cross and his family’s treasure hunt.”
“Impossible odds,” Nash agreed, stopping beside her. “Amy, I’m not sure you should go tomorrow.”
Her heart raced. “What are you talking about? You stood up for me back there.”
He shrugged. “True, but … I kind of care about you and I don’t want you getting hurt.”
She shook her head, feeling stubborn. “I’m not being left out of this, you know that.”
He was silent for a few beats, then he nodded. “You still haven’t changed, still stubborn.” He flashed her a grin.
Amy’s heart fluttered the same way it had when she was seventeen. “Thank you, because you’re right, I am still stubborn.”
He took her hand. “I like the way you are.”
He leaned in and kissed her.
She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back. It was like both of them had been waiting all day to kiss again. She laughed and pulled back. “How are we here, together?”
“I don’t know. I’m grateful for every impossible twist that led you back to me.”
“Nash …”
“No, let me keep going. I’ve missed you, Amy. Since prom. Since that night we danced and kissed.” His voice was quiet, earnest. “I’ve missed you for eight years.”
Amy shook her head, trying to dismiss the intensity in his voice even as her pulse quickened. “We were kids then. Teenagers. That was just … puppy love or whatever you want to call it.”
“Maybe for you,” Nash said, turning to face her fully. “But I never stopped thinking about you.”
The simple honesty in his words made Amy’s breath catch. She studied his face, looking for some sign that he was just caught up in the romance of the moonlight and the ocean, but all she saw was sincerity. “Nash, come on. You’re telling me thatin eight years, through college and law school, you never found anyone else? Never got serious with anyone?”
Nash ran his free hand through his hair, a gesture she remembered from high school when he was working through a difficult problem. “I dated. Of course I dated. But …” He paused, seeming to search for the right words. “I don’t know. Law school kept me busy, and when I did meet someone, they just never seemed … interesting. Not like you are.”
“C’mon, why aren’t you married?” Amy asked, the question slipping out before she could stop herself.
Nash’s smile was rueful. “Good question. My siblings ask me that all the time. Chance thinks I’m too picky. Porter thinks I’m too focused on school. Maybe they’re both right. Colt says I’m spoiled. Cheyenne thinks I’m bossy.” He stepped closer, his voice dropping to a whisper. “Or maybe I was just waiting for the right person to come back into my life.”
Amy grinned. “Nash …”
“What about you?” he asked gently. “Have you dated?”
Amy looked down at their joined hands. “A little. But it’s hard when you can’t tell someone who you really are. When you have to lie about your past, your family, everything that made you who you are.” She glanced up at him. “I never felt comfortable hiding things from people I cared about.”
Nash reached up with his free hand, cupping her cheek with gentle fingers. “You don’t have to hide anymore, Amy.” He leaned down and kissed her, soft and sweet.
Amy felt like she was coming home after eight years of being lost. She kissed him back, already getting used to the feel of this man’s lips.
When they finally broke apart, both of them breathing hard, Amy rested her forehead against his. “I don’t want to hide anymore. Not from you.”
