Page 135 of A Soldier's Return

Sage had been right. He couldn’t do it. Imperfect though he was—inadequate as he felt as a father—his daughter needed him.

“Same here, okay? I’ll try harder, too. We both have to figure out how to make this work. I’ll try to cut down my travel schedule so I’m home to spend more time with you.”

“Oh, would you?”

More guilt sliced him at the stunned disbelief in her voice. “Yes. But you have to promise me that you’ll settle down and work harder in school and that you’ll take it easy on the new nanny when we get one.”

Though she was about to fall over with exhaustion, she still managed to get a crafty look in her eyes. “Can I help pick her?”

“Well, I can’t promise I’ll let you make the final decision but you can have input. Deal?”

“Deal.” She beamed at him. “I know just what I want. Somebody like Sage. She’s pretty and she smells good and she’s super nice.”

That just about summed it up, Eben thought. “We’ll have to see what we can do. I think Sage is one of a kind.”

“You like her, too, don’t you, Daddy?”

“Sure, baby.” He wasn’t quite ready to examine his emotions too closely—nor did he want to explain them to his eight-year-old daughter. Instead, he scooped her into his arms, earning a sleepy giggle.

“Come on, let’s get you into bed, okay? Jade Wu is coming over to stay with you so I can take Sage’s car back to Brambleberry House after you’re asleep.”

“Okay. Give Sage and Conan a big kiss for me, okay?”

He grimaced. He wasn’t sure either of those creatures in question were very happy with him right now. “I’ll see what I can do,” he murmured as he tucked her into her bed, then kissed her forehead and slipped from the room to wait for Jade.

What the hell was he doing here?

Twenty minutes later, Eben drove Sage’s car into the driveway of Brambleberry House, turned off the engine and sat for a moment in the dark silence.

He should just leave her car here, tuck the keys under the doormat and walk back down the beach. The smartest thing to do would be to leave things as they were and continue with his plans to leave in the morning.

But just the thought of it made him ache inside. He sighed, still not certain what he wanted to say to her.

He was still trying to puzzle it out when the porch light flipped on. A moment later, she opened the door and stood in the doorway, a slim, graceful silhouette, and his heart bumped in his chest.

Her hair was damp and she had a blanket wrapped around her shoulders and one hand on the dog. He let out a long breath and slid from the car. The night air was cool and moist from the rains earlier, sweet with Abigail’s flowers and the salty undertone of the ocean.

Neither of them spoke until he reached the porch.

“I wasn’t sure you were coming.” Her voice was low and strummed down his spine as if she’d caressed his skin.

“I probably shouldn’t have.”

“Why are you here, then? You’re not a man who does things he shouldn’t.”

He gave a rough laugh. “Aren’t I?” Unable to resist, he stepped forward and framed her face in his hands. She was so achingly beautiful and the air eddying around them was sweetly magical and he had no choice but to kiss her.

She was perfect in his arms and as her mouth moved softly under his, he felt something tight and hard around his heart shudder and give way.

Thiswas why he came. He knew it with sudden certainty. Because somehow when he was here, with this woman in his arms, all the tumult inside him seemed to go still.

He found a peace with Sage Benedetto he had never even realized had been missing in his life.

She wanted to cherish every second of this.

Sage twisted her arms around his neck, trying to burn each memory into her mind. She couldn’t quite believe she had the chance to touch him and to taste him again when only a few short hours ago she thought he would be leaving her world forever.

“You’re shivering,” he murmured.

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