Page 54 of Love Everlasting

The familiar taste of her triggered a rush of want so strong, he all but devoured her with a husky groan. “So help me, babe, I’ve waited forever to hear that,” he whispered, blood pumping through his body at a ridiculous rate. He pulled away to cradle her face in his hands, hardly able to believe she was finally his. “Are you sure? Because there’s no going back. You’re the one I want, Jasmine, and this time I mean forever.”

Tears brimmed in her eyes as she lunged, the depth of her kiss sending red-hot lava through his veins. “I’m sure, Sam, but if I wasn’t, Jack’s encouragement would have put me over the top.”

“Yeah?” he said with a curious smile, tenderly brushing the hair from her face. “And what was that?”

“That the kind of love I was looking for was right under my nose, and if I didn’t grab you, it would be the biggest loss of my life.” Her lips curved in a tease. “After him, of course.”

Sam grinned outright. “He said that?”

She nodded, skimming the side of his face with her fingers as her smile softened into awe. “He also said your love for me is so deep, it actually pushed you toward a faith that’s transformed you into one of the finest men he knows and one he’s proud to call a good friend.”

A prick of moisture stung at the back of Sam’s lids, catching him off-guard as he drew her close, burying his head in the crook of her neck. “He’s right, you know, about my love for you, Jazz,” he whispered, “but the true credit belongs to the power of faith.” Shannon’s image suddenly came to mind, and with it, a surge of gratitude swelled in his chest.

And a woman with a whole lot more of it than me.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

“So, you forgive me for acting like a moron?” Sam glanced up as he retied his Nikes on the bench at the Tybee Island Pier and Pavilion, sweat glistening on a sculpted torso that put a lump in Shannon’s throat.

“Of course I forgive you,” she said, quickly diverting her gaze to the rolling azure waves as they lapped at Tybee’s white-sugar shore. She took a drink of her water bottle and closed her eyes to breathe in the clean scent of the ocean. The sea breeze fluttered her ponytail and cooled the moisture on her skin, her sports tank damp from their six-mile run on the beach. “I planned to tell you all along, Sam, the next time I saw you, but uh … you kind of caught me off-guard.” A smile squirmed at the edges of her mouth as she took another drink. “Didn’t expect it to be at church.”

“Yeah, I figured that was a factor.” He grinned that lovable crooked grin as he upended his water, face shifted to the side so he could watch her while his Adam’s apple glugged. Wiping his mouth with the side of his arm, he grinned and poured the remainder over his head, drowning his dark curls like a kid under a hose. “I think I caught God off-guard, too, since there weren’t any bolts of lightning for me to dodge.”

She grinned, wondering if she’d ever get past this melted, gushy feeling inside whenever she spied hints of the little boy in Sam. The one who had been so wounded and hurt, yet hid behind the fun-loving façade, never letting anybody know. The same one she always wanted to nurture and love.

And kiss?

“Stay with me …”

Heat swallowed her whole at the memory of that night in the car, how one kiss had so disarmed her in a span of a few seconds. Sam emanated a raw magnetism that even Eric hadn’t possessed, shocking her that one man could have such a powerful effect. Battling a shiver, she took another drink, eyes closed as she drained the bottle straight up.

“Ready?”

Not really. “Yeah,” she said with a toss of her empty bottle into the trash receptacle, falling in beside him as they strolled the long span of pier back to the beach.

“So …” He slowed his pace as always when he noticed her huffing to keep up. “Guess who paid me a visit at the office?”

Shannon’s shoes slid on the sand when she ground to a stop on the pier. “Jasmine?”

He grinned and tugged on the bottom of her tank to keep her moving. “Yep.”

“What did she want?” Shannon’s voice was breathless, an odd mix of euphoria and fear.

His teeth flashed white against a perfect tan. “We’re back together, Shan, for good.”

She skidded to a dead halt, heart plummeting deeper than the ocean on either side of the pier. “That’s … that’s … incredible,” she whispered, forcing the brightest smile she could manage considering the painful cramp in her heart. “You did it!”

“No, you did it.” His eyes were tender as he gently buffed her arms with his palms.

“No, God did it, Sam,” she whispered, unable to thwart the tears in her eyes.

His chiseled features melted into affection. “Through your amazing faith, Shan, and a boatload of prayer.”

She tipped her head to stare up at him, so very proud of the man he’d become. “And your faith, too, my friend, not to mention your adherence to God’s precepts.”

The smile dissolved on his face as he cuffed the back of his neck. “Yeah, well about that.” He continued walking, and she fell in step, her stomach suddenly as restless as the waves battering the sandy shore. “It’s not going to be as easy as I thought,” he said quietly, hands plunged in the pockets of his running shorts. He kept his gaze pinned to the weathered dock as if he were avoiding her eyes, his mood suddenly somber. “We’ve only been together two nights, Shan, but it’s been a battle when I take her home. She wants to stay at my place or me at hers, but I told her we weren’t going there this time, and naturally she threw a fit.” He stared up at a blue sky scudded with clouds. “Which I really can’t blame her, I guess, because we practically lived together before.”

Shannon swallowed hard, a knot of jealousy wedging in her throat.