For 100 Reasons (100 3)

“I love him,” she says. “With everything I am, I love him.”

A surge of pure, unabashed happiness rises up within me as I gaze at the extraordinary woman in my arms. In the time I’ve known her, I’ve given her a hundred reasons to walk away, and yet here she is. Trusting me. Forgiving me. Believing in me.

Loving me.

It’s more than I ever dreamed I’d have in my life. Far more than I’ll ever deserve. But I plan to spend the rest of my life striving to be the man I see reflected in her eyes.

“I love you too,” I murmur against her lips. “With everything I am now and will ever be, Avery, I love you.”

Chapter 28

One month later

Nick holds the bronze urn over the side of the Icarus and carefully pours his father’s ashes onto the crystalline water.

There are no words of soft regard offered for William Baine, no tears shed as the ocean embraces the dark gray cloud of his cremains and draws it under. This ceremony is solemn and private. Just Nick and me and the warmth of a brilliant sunrise that paints the sky in pastel shades of pink and peach and lavender.

It is a far different affair than the other funeral we attended a few weeks ago.

Unlike Nick’s father, Kathryn Tremont exited her world on her own terms—the same way she lived it. Only days after we returned to New York, Kathryn’s nurse had called to let us know that she had ended her own life while she was at her house in the Hamptons.

Her memorial had been an event, of course. Kathryn wouldn’t have had it any other way. I wasn’t surprised to learn that in absence of any heirs, her fortune and her estate had gone to the handful of her favorite charities and art museums.

But there was a special provision that had come as a shock to Nick and me.

An incredibly generous gift that we will be used to seed a brand-new non-profit venture for the construction of youth recreation centers all over the country. Andrew Beckham has already drawn up the paperwork.

But before Nick’s vision goes national, he and I will be overseeing the design of a more personal project—a small oceanfront resort and sailing school for abused kids. We’ll be breaking ground next year on a particular plot of land on Key Largo.

When we boarded the Icarus this morning, Nick told me that as far as he was concerned, that’s his only pressing obligation on the mainland. Everything else can either be handled by his teams or wait for our return.

I can’t help the contentment—and desire—that overcomes me as I watch him move across the deck of the beautiful sailboat. It’s always like this for me when I look at him. I’m sure it always will be.

“What will we do for almost a year at sea together?” I ask him once he’s put the urn away and comes back to me at the wheel.

He draws me into the circle of his arms. “I’m sure we’ll think of something.”

“Does that mean you have ideas?”

“Baby, I’ve got hundreds of them.” His mouth quirks before he kisses me.

It’s so easy to lose myself in the bliss of his lips on mine, his arms wrapped protectively, possessively, around me. I want to kiss him uninterrupted for days, and I can hardly contain my excitement over the fact that I can start enjoying that privilege now.

Waves roll beneath us and I groan in protest when Nick’s mouth leaves mine.

“Hands on the wheel,” he commands me in a low purr. “We should set our course.”

I oblige him, pivoting around to take the helm with him standing at my back. “Where to, Captain Baine?”

He points over my shoulder toward the empty horizon. “We have several choices. Bermuda up there. The Bahamas and the rest of the Caribbean down that way. Or we could just go wherever the wind and the waves carry us. It’s up to you.”

“Anywhere at all?” I ask him, mulling over the possibilities. “And you trust me at the wheel of your baby?”

His lips press against the sensitive curve of my neck and shoulder. “I trust you with more than that, angel. I trust you with my heart.”

I smile, leaning into the warmth of his body at my back. “So does that mean I’m officially your first mate now?”

“Actually, I was hoping you’d officially be my wife.”