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“Your dad likes me.” He’s pleased with himself. “I’m in charge of the grill.”

“Um, the grill is out in the yard.” I point out of the room and down the hall.

He gives me a look like he doesn’t appreciate my insinuating he’s an idiot. “Yeah, I’m pretty clear on that. He sent me in here to get you.”

“Oh.” I reach both arms around him. “Well, now that you’ve got me, what would you like to do with me?”

“Nothing I can do in your parents’ bedroom. Now back up before this pink ball of cotton covering my crotch starts to move into an awkward position.”

I laugh. It feels good. All of this feels good.

“So, what happens next?” I ask as I loop my arm into his and we start walking down the hall.

“That depends.”

“On what?”

“On what you want to have happen.” He stops before we enter the living room to join everyone else.

“I just want to be with you.” I reach up onto my tiptoes to reach his lips. “But before you agree, there’s something else. Something I need to tell you. One last truth I owe you.”

“Well, let’s hear it,” he murmurs, and I can’t help but smile.

“It’s pretty major,” I warn, still moving my mouth over his while I whisper.

“With you, everything always is.” His lips twitch playfully. “Now stop stalling and just say it.”

So I do.

“I love you, Riker Shepherdson.”

EPILOGUE

QUINN

It’s been five years since Judge Hanson dismissed the case against me. Five years since I was set free. Five years since I said I love you to the man who has since become my husband.

As soon as Kirsten was able to stop writing checks to the Quinn’s Legal Defense Charity, she found herself a new cause to sink her money into. Mine. Barks Against Battery has grown tremendously in the last few years, successfully matching nearly five thousand women with adoptable dogs in seven states, and we continue to expand every day. I no longer feel like I need to seek redemption for the things I did, but I know I’ll never be satisfied when it comes to the number of women out there I want to reach before they find themselves in the same place I was. Or worse.

Riker has found his calling as well. He still runs the family business, but the bulk of his time is spent on the ranch where he and Sid have moved the focus away from lessons and onto equine therapy. I think it’s the best decision he’s ever made for himself. Nox still refuses to be cared for by anyone but him, but I think it’s more out of spite than anything else. And I’ve even started riding again.

“You ready to get out of here and get some dinner?” Riker’sstanding in the stall eye to eye with the black stallion he still claims to hate.

“Yep.” We still eat takeout more often than not. “Joe’s tonight?” He comes out into the aisle, and we start walking, his hand sliding into mine automatically.

“Works for me.” I whistle for Harley, and he comes cruising around the corner from wherever he was. He’s getting older, and his arthritis slows him down more than it used to, but his spirit is still as young and free as it ever was.

When we get home, we take our dinner out onto the back deck. We’ve moved since the early days in his garage apartment, but our place is still tiny compared to the mansion he used to live in. All either of us really cared about was being on the ocean, and that we are.

“Kirsten call you about Nate’s birthday party?” he asks between bites.

“Yeah. It’s supposed to be a big surprise.” I toss a fry to Harley. “But Sophie called right after she hung up and said Nate already knows.”

He laughs. “You going to tell Kirsten?”

“Haven’t decided yet. Waiting to see if she has some tedious job for me to do like last year when she made me the valet.” It had its upside, too, though. I didn’t have to deal with any strangers for more than thirty seconds at a time. I’m not as cranky as I used to be, but I’m still not what you might call a people person.

“Well, you better figure it out fast because she’s making me the decoy. Apparently, I’m supposed to take him out for the day, and if I don’t have to stress about the possibilities of having to dig out my dad’s old golfing gear, I wouldn’t mind knowing now.”

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