Tessa had never been on a motorcycle before, and with the wind whipping through her hair, it really did feel like she was flying.
After spending the last hour or so driving up the coast with her arms snugged around Riker’s waist, everything felt right in the world.
And now that they’d stopped to watch the sun set, she climbed off the motorcycle and followed him toward the beach. To a special place he knew.
She was with a guy.
She was on her own.
And there was no way for Patrick to check up on her.
She was a raven spreading her wings, and it felt so, so good.
Tessa walked with Riker to a deserted section of beach, and there, on a dry spot of sand near a flat gray boulder, they sat down together to watch the sun sink into the sea. Tessa wanted to lean against Riker, to let his strength support her, but she resisted and just sat close instead. “So,” she said. “Did you ever figure out Lachlan’s puzzle?”
He patted his pocket. “Got my answer right here.”
“Let’s see it.”
He tugged out two sheets of paper-his sheet as well as the yellowed sheet she’d written her answer on. “So, remember, there’s two guys,” he said. “If the first guy gives one stack of his money to the second guy, then he ends up with half of the second guy’s amount, but if the second guy gives the first guy one of his piles, then they have the same amount.” “Unfold the paper,” said Tessa. “See what I wrote.”
Riker spread it across his hand. “Five and seven.”
“Right,” she said. “If the guy with five stacks gives the other guy one, they’ll have four and eight, and if the guy with seven gives the first guy one of his stacks, they both have six.”
“And you figured that out on the spot?”
On the horizon, scalloped clouds growing dark, welcoming the night.
“Yeah.” She was a little embarrassed, because admitting that she’d figured out the puzzle so quickly made Riker seem kind of dumb. “Let’s see your answer. What did you write?”
The sun was melting lower and lower, a small slice of melon against the base of the sky.
Riker held up the paper, but as Tessa reached for it, he pulled it away. She reached again, and he rolled onto his back. She leaned across him to grab it, and finally, when their faces were only a few inches apart, he let go. “Unfold it,” he said softly. Tessa caught the scent of his inviting cologne mixing with the wild ocean air.
The sun was a sliver…
She flattened the crinkled paper against his chest and read what he’d written: “You.” Her heart trembled.
… and then the sun was a dot…
“That’s my answer,” he said. “You are.” Tessa felt wanted, loved.
… and then the sun was gone, swallowed by the waves.
She lay by his side until the night’s cool fingers closed around them, then Riker took Tessa’s arm and helped her to her feet. “Let’s go. There’s still a lot I want to show you tonight.”