Page 129 of My Real Love Affair

Maybe I didn’t know how to do this perfectly. I would make mistakes. Maybe I’d fuck up in spectacular fashion like I always did.

But I was going to try. Really try.

It was my turn to roll to my side and lean down for a kiss. I ran my tongue across her bottom lip before gently pushing my tongue inside. Her hand came up to hold the back of my head, her fingers threading through my hair. My hand slid over her stomach to cup her breast.

When we broke apart, we just held each other under the stars.

“Austin?” Melody said quietly.

“Yeah?”

“Thank you. For this. For all of it.”

“Baby girl, you have that backwards.” I tightened my arms around her. “Thank you for giving me a chance I definitely didn’t deserve.”

“You deserved it. You just didn’t know it yet.”

She kissed my chest, right over my heart. “You’re a good man, Austin Bancroft. Even if you don’t believe it yet.”

I wanted to argue and list all the ways I had proven I wasn’t good. But lying there with Melody in my arms, I didn’t feel like the family disappointment. I actually felt hopeful for a future I never imagined I would want.

CHAPTER 40

MELODY

Iwoke to sunlight warm on my face and the gentle sound of water. For a moment, I was disoriented. I wasn’t in my bed and definitely wasn’t in my room. My mind was spinning with confusion for a few terrifying seconds.

And then I felt Austin beside me.

My panic immediately resolved. I was fine. The yacht. We were on a yacht in Tahiti. Well, we had been in Tahiti, but now we were sailing in the open water.

I opened my eyes to find him already awake, lying on his back with his hands clasped behind his head, looking completely at ease. When he noticed I was awake, he turned his head and smirked at me.

“Good morning,” he said, his voice still rough with sleep.

“Good morning.” I pushed myself up on my elbows, trying to get my bearings. “Did we sleep up here all night?”

“You fell asleep under the stars. I didn’t have the heart to wake you.” His smirk softened into something gentler. “You looked peaceful. I thought you might want to give your soul all the help it could get.”

I laughed. “My soul feels pretty damn good.”

I looked around, taking in our surroundings in the daylight. We were still on the top deck on the cushions that were miraculously comfortable.

“We’re not moving,” I said.

“No. We’re anchored now.”

I sat up and looked around. We were in the most beautiful cove I had ever seen.

The water was impossibly clear, shifting from pale turquoise near the shore to deep sapphire further out. A pristine beach curved in a crescent shape, palm trees swaying in the morning breeze. Behind the beach, dense tropical foliage created a wall of green that looked almost primordial.

“Wow. Seriously, wow. This is the kind of thing that’s good for the soul.”

“Beautiful, right? We anchored here around three in the morning. Thought you’d like to wake up to this view.”

“It’s incredible.” But even as I said it, my attention shifted back to him. Shirtless, sun-bronzed, looking like every beach fantasy I ever had. “Although the view right here isn’t bad either.”

He laughed. “Smooth.”