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“Yeah, it is.” Quinten let his brother step back, and turned to the other man. “Detective Robinson.” He held his hand out. “Thank you...for everything.” He glanced at Saige and back to the detec
tive.
“You’re welcome.” Robinson cleared his throat. “We better get moving before the press starts showing up.”
Quinten tightened his hold on Saige’s hand because he wasn’t going anywhere that didn’t include Saige being with him.
She smiled and snuggled against his chest, kissing his hand that held hers.
“I’m driving back to Port Jude with Alex,” the detective informed him, “and you’re going with Saige for a few days.”
Her arm pressed against his back at the detective’s words. She looked up and smiled. “I’ll tell you where we’re going in the car.”
Inhaling and slowly exhaling, she tugged him toward the two vehicles while he shivered in the early morning freshness.
“I have a sweater in the car for you.” She smiled. “I meant to send it in with your clothes but I was so nervous, I’m afraid I forgot.”
“Don’t worry about it. I don’t mind being cold. It’s good to be walking in the fresh air without the prison walls surrounding me, and it’s an added bonus to have you with me. To share my first minutes of freedom.”
Saige nodded and came to a stop beside a large, black SUV.
“Take care Quinten, and I’ll see you when Saige decides to bring you back,” Alex smirked, but Quinten could see the turmoil in his brother’s eyes.
He bent low to Saige’s ear. “Give me a minute.”
She nodded and caressed his back. “I’ll be here.”
Quinten moved over to his brother and pulled him fully into his arms and held him tightly. “I love you,” he admitted gruffly. “I’ll never be able to thank you enough for always believing in me, for never giving up on me. I love you, bro.” Quinten kissed him on his forehead and grinned.
“Go get your girl,” Alex said.
* * *
6:20am
* * *
It had taken Saige two hours of driving to get them to the beach house that Coulter owned, but it was certainly worth it, and no one knew where they were.
Most of the trip had been done in awkward silence, but nothing had felt awkward about the way she’d touched him. She hadn’t removed her hand from him since they left the prison, and wherever she’d touched had set him on fire for more. She’d always been able to do that to him and he realized that some things never changed.
Saige was still the woman he’d fallen in love with so long ago, and just being with her now was a dream come true. He thought he’d never see her again. They both wore physical and mental scars from the past, and Quinten wasn’t that blind that he didn’t see that, but he believed together they could get past them and start to live again.
A rustling noise behind him drew his attention and when he turned, he caught Saige watching him as he sat on the steps that led down to the beach with a mug of coffee in his hands. His hair was windblown, which made him wonder why he’d bothered leaving it slightly longer on top—it constantly got in his eyes as well. But Saige’s shiny auburn hair had been pulled back into a tie, looking neat and tidy.
At first, he held her gaze, but then she smiled and butterflies took flight in his stomach. Placing his mug down, he held his hand out to her. She hesitated before she slipped her hand into his and straddled his lap.
Quinten gasped, not only in surprise, but at the feel of her being so close to him, and the growing bulge behind his zipper, which he had no chance of controlling. So when she nuzzled into his neck, he did the most natural thing in the world and held her close.
He tried to fight the tears, he really did, but holding the woman he’d missed like crazy over the years had them streaming from beneath his closed eyelids. They made their way down his cheeks and into his beard as more followed. She was finally in his arms and he wasn’t sure he’d ever be able to release her.
“I’ve missed you,” she whispered, the sound of tears in her voice. “I know how that sounds, considering I couldn’t remember you until recently...but I always felt that there was someone there in the background...someone who needed me, except I had no way of finding him—you.” Saige met his gaze, her own eyes as red as his. She offered him a gentle smile and pulled some tissue from her pocket. “They’re clean. I figured I’d need them.” She shrugged and dabbed at his face before seeing to herself.
Sighing, she settled back against him, and seconds turned into minutes as he closed his eyes and listened to the relaxing sound of the ocean—the first time in eight years that he’d heard it. It had been a daily occurrence in Port Jude—listening to the ocean—but until it had been taken away, he hadn’t realized just how much he’d taken it for granted.
Opening his eyes, he kissed Saige on the top of her head and tugged the tie from her hair. She didn’t stir. His fingers caressed through the strands of silk, and he was surprised by how much he loved seeing her with auburn hair. She was still the woman he’d fallen in love with and nothing would change that, he just felt a profound sense of relief that she still felt the same way about him—he’d spent eight years thinking the opposite.
He was finally home.
