Tidal (33 page)

pounds had been lifted off my shoulders. It

wasn’t like I’d been forgotten—I was 100

percent sure I’d show up again on some

gossip site with a poll on when I’d fuck up

again—but today I was normal.

I finally came to the baggage claim for

the flight number Mom had given me but

when I glanced up at the scrolling text on

the digital sign, my breath caught. It

wasn’t Boston, but Honolulu.

“What? No lei?” a voice with an

Australian accent said from behind me,

and I turned slowly to face Cooper. He

was wearing jeans, Converse shoes, and a

blue t-shirt that brought out his eyes, and I

felt my mouth go dry as I drunk in the sight

of him.

“What are you doing here?” my voice

came out in a whisper.

The corner of his mouth lifted.

“Remember how I said that I like to study

up on my clients?” he asked, and I lifted

my chin slightly. He’d said that in this

very airport actually. “Did you really

think I wouldn’t show up?”

“I didn’t want to be selfish,” I said

honestly.

He took four long strides to me, and

gripped me to his body. An elderly

woman collecting her baggage from a

nearby claim did a double take, but

Cooper didn’t seem to notice. “God,

Wills, you can be as selfish as you want

with me.”

I shivered when our lips touched and

my body responded to his, moving closer

so that I could slide my arms around his

shoulders. I’d missed this. I’d missed him

so fucking much that now that he was here,

it hurt.

Groaning, he finally pulled back,

massaging my neck with the pads of his

thumbs. “Do you know how hard it was to

coordinate things with your mum? She’s

the scariest person I’ve ever met, you

know?”

My laughter was mixed with a sob as I

nodded. “She told me we had to pick up

my dad.”

He shook his head, chuckling. “Nah,

he’s somewhere at some fancy restaurant

waiting for us to show. My fucking flight

was delayed an hour or I would’ve been

there to get you first thing.”

I took a deep breath. “What about your

competition?”

He kissed the center of my forehead,

brushing strands of my dark hair away

from it. “What about it?”

“You didn’t have to miss it for me and

I—”

Pressing three fingers over my mouth,

he released a sigh. “You talk way too

much, Wills. I’m where I need to be,

okay? And for what it’s worth, the answer

to the question you asked a few months

ago is 34. I’ve won 34 competitions.”

I drew back and ran my tongue over

my teeth. “Bit of an overachiever, aren’t

you?”

He laughed and wrapped his arm

around my shoulders, guiding me toward

the exit. “I love you, Willow.”

“I love you, too.”

He paused, stopping a few inches from

the automatic door. “Before I forget”—he

opened his duffle bag and pulled a

necklace of smooshed flowers from the

top. “I owed you a lei.”

I choked on a sob, dipping my head so

that he could drop it around my neck.

“You do realize that this is exactly the

way they’d do it in the movies, right?”

His arms circled me again and I

sighed into his t-shirt, breathing in the

scent of sunblock and coconut shampoo.

“Guess I don’t hate the film industry as

much as I let on.”

Epilogue

Two Years Later

Cooper and I weren’t perfect. It took

us nearly six months to figure out where

we wanted to live, and even then, it

wasn’t the perfect solution career wise—

we would alternate between living in

Hawaii and California.

Somehow, it worked for us.

The first time he asked me to marry

him was right after the release of
Tidal
, a year after we met. The second time was at

Paige and Eric’s wedding six months

later. When I told him that I was still

thinking, he’d given me that dimpled smile

that I fell all over myself for and told me

he’d wait a few more months.

When those three months past, I

realized he probably wouldn’t ask again.

“You look cold,” he said, as we

walked through Central Park. He had

insisted we go to New York City for our

second dating-anniversary, and even

though I had mid-terms in two weeks, I’d

agreed.

I wrapped my coat around myself a

little tighter and grinned. “This is

definitely
not
Honolulu.”

He led me to a small picnic table and

we sat across from each other, clasping

hands. “I’ve got a surprise for you, but I

want you to close your eyes,” he said. I

nodded, biting the inside of my cheek as I

heard him shuffle around.

After a couple minutes, I felt him

behind me, breathing in my ear. “Open

them, Wills.”

When I did, nothing had changed, and I

glanced over his shoulder, cocking an

eyebrow. “Okay, I must be a dumbass.

What is it?”

Touching the back of my head, he

turned it until my gaze landed on a couple

and a little kid by a statue of three bears.

“So, I may have resorted to extreme

bribery to get this, but there’s someone

over there you’d probably want to meet.”

I felt my body go numb and my voice

didn’t sound like my own when I

demanded, “Wait—what?”

He pinched the bridge of his nose,

laughing. “Put it this way, somewhere

there’s a lady who works for an adoption

agency who—”

“No, I know what you mean, but . . .

Are you fucking serious?”

His hands slipped under my arms,

lifting me up and compelling me forward.

My heart slammed between my ribcage

with each step, and when we reached the

couple, Cooper nudged me forward.

“Wills, these are the McKay’s and that”—

he pointed to the little boy swinging

upside down from one of the bears—“is

Parker.”

Parker.

My kid’s name was Parker.

Cooper had found him.

“This is that friend of mommy’s that

we told you about,” Mr. McKay told him,

tugging on the sleeve of his coat, and

Parker stopped playing to give me a

green-eyed once over.

And then I was crying. Because of

what Cooper had done. Because Parker

had run over to me, his small hands

stretching the hem of my shirt. He smelled

like chocolate and the non-toxic dough

stuff little kids liked to eat. I was crying

because Parker was here, period.

“Hey,” he said.

Pressing the tips of my fingers to my

eyes, I knelt down so our eyes could meet.

“Hey,” I said. It was so hard to keep my

voice steady as he grinned at me,

revealing two missing teeth.

“You’re the girl from Kaylee’s

movies.”

Before I could look over at them for

an explanation, Mrs. McKay spoke up,

clearing her throat, “Kaylee is our

fourteen year old—she’s a . . . fan of your

movies. And Parker loves his big sister.”

I nodded, my gaze never leaving his.

“Yes, I’m that girl,” I said.

Parker tilted his head to one side.

“You’re crying.”

“Yes,” I said. “Because it’s . . . a

good day. The best day, actually.”

He dug inside of his coat pocket for

something and when he pulled his hand

out, he held the ring box Cooper had tried

to give me twice before. Parker gave

Cooper a big grin. “Told you I wouldn’t

lose it.”

I took it from him, my fingertips

skimming his gloved ones and I held my

breath.

Cooper cleared his throat behind me.

“It doesn’t have to be tomorrow or even a

year from now, Wills. Just say that—”

I glanced over my shoulder, meeting

his blue eyes and nodded quickly.

Unquestionably.

“Yes,” I said.

I had never been more certain of

anything in my life.

Acknowledgements

To my amazing agent Rebecca

Friedman and her assistant Abby

Schulman—thank you ladies so much for

your support and guidance and for putting

up with my millions of emails!

To the wonderful ladies in Naughty

Mafia, Katie Ashley, Ava Black, Kelli

Maine, Kristen Proby, and Michelle

Valentine—thank you so much for your

amazing support. I’m so blessed to be a

part of such a talented group of ladies and

I’m so thankful for your friendship!

To Tanya Keetch—Thanks so much

for your awesome editing and the

wonderful instant messages. You know

how to bring a huge smile to my face

every day!

Lisa Pantano Kane, Kim Box Person,

Lisa Rutledge, Crystal Spears, and

Marilyn Medina: You guys rock! Thank

you for beta-reading my book and for the

kick-ass feedback. I love you guys!

To the wonderful bloggers who’ve

pimped my books, THANK YOU! You

guys have made this experience absolutely

amazing for me.

Thank you so much to my family for

supporting my writing and believing in

me. To my Angela, my best friend, thank

you for reading my chapters over and over

and over again!

And to my readers . . . you guys have

made my dreams come true. Thank you,

thank you, THANK YOU for reading my

books and showing so much love and

support. I love you guys!

About the Author

Emily Snow is the author of the
USA

TODAY
bestselling
Devoured
series (2012, 2013) and
Tidal
(2012). She loves books, sexy bad boys, and really loud

rock music, so naturally, she writes

stories about all three. She lives in

Southwest Virginia.

For more book news, teasers, and

giveaways, find her on Facebook

at http://www.facebook.com/emily.snow.397

visit her blog

at emilysnowbooks.blogspot.com

• Prologue
  
• Chapter One
  
• Chapter Two
  
• Chapter Three
  
• Chapter Four
  
• Chapter Five
  
• Chapter Six
  
• Chapter Seven
  
• Chapter Eight
  
• Chapter Nine
  
• Chapter Ten
  
• Chapter Eleven
  
• Chapter Twelve
  
• Chapter Thirteen
  
• Chapter Fourteen
  
• Chapter Fifteen
  
• Chapter Sixteen
  
• Chapter Seventeen
  
• Chapter Eighteen
  
• Chapter Nineteen
  
• Chapter Twenty
  
• Chapter Twenty-One
  
• Chapter Twenty-Two
  
• Chapter Twenty-Three
  
• Epilogue