Page 44 of Rescuing Dr. Marian (Made Marian Legacy #1)

Now his eyebrows nearly shot up into his hairline. “What? No I didn’t. Why would I do that? I fucking love you! I have since… Hawaii! I had to come home for Anna’s birthday dinner, but I was going to drive back as soon as it was over. Slide into bed with you, even if it meant waking you up?—”

“You love me?” I spun around to face him fully. “You love me, but you’ve been throwing darts at my face for six months? That’s not love, Foster. That’s?—”

“Torture,” he finished quietly. “It was torture. Every single day, seeing your face and knowing I couldn’t have you. Knowing you belonged to someone else.”

“I broke up with her!” The words exploded out of me. “I called off my wedding because of you! Because one kiss from you was worth more than ten years with her, and you—” I gestured wildly at the dartboard. “You turned me into your personal punching bag.”

Foster stepped closer, and I saw something give way in his expression.

“I didn’t know you’d broken up, Tommy. I thought you were married.

I thought you’d used me for some pre- wedding experiment and then went back to your perfect life.

And I still couldn’t stop myself from wanting you.

I looked up your picture because I thought you couldn’t be as gorgeous as I remembered, but you were.

” He gestured at the dartboard. “Then I thought maybe if I could destroy it, I might destroy the hold you had on me, but that didn’t work either.

” His big hand reached out and cupped my cheek.

“I fucking ached for you. Day and night.”

I took a deep, shuddering breath and turned into the warmth of his palm.

“Because deep down, I didn’t want to let you go, no matter how angry and hurt and heartbroken I was,” he went on in a voice so tense it cracked.

“I kept your T-shirt, just so I could touch it. I got a dog, just like I’d told you I would, and the minute I saw her, I thought about how damn happy you looked when you were eating that damn hummus dip and teasing me to name her after?—”

“Hummus.” A laugh wanted to bubble up, but I was too scared things were still too precarious. “I can’t believe you named her after hummus because I made an offhand joke.”

Foster nodded, his gaze warm and a little wary.

“Every time I said her name, I’d think of you, even when I thought I’d never see you again.

And then I showed up in Legacy… and there you were.

Even smarter, and funnier, and kinder than my memory.

A hundred times more compelling than that damn picture.

” His eyes bored into mine, like he was willing me to believe him.

“If you think I could walk away from you with a ‘have a good life’ text, Tommy Marian, think again. ”

I stared at him, trying to make sense of what he was saying. “But… Trace said you quit.”

Foster scowled. “Bullshit he did. I didn’t quit. I hired on!”

I stepped back and rubbed my hands over my face, trying to make any of this make sense. “What do you mean, you hired on? I asked him if you quit, and he said…” I stopped and replayed the words. “He said he thought so?”

That didn’t make any sense. How could Trace not know if Foster quit SERA?

Foster’s eyes closed, and he let out a breath before stepping toward me again. “Baby. He probably thought you knew. He probably thought you were asking if I’d quit my job yet.”

Before I could respond, he added, “Quit my job here . In Majestic. I accepted a permanent position at SERA.”

The words hit me like a physical blow. An impossible gift. “You… what?”

He gestured to the desk, which was neat and mostly bare, with the exception of a single, white business envelope. “My letter of resignation. I took the job Trace offered. Permanent SAR director. I’m moving to Montana.”

I felt like the world had tilted sideways. “When did you decide this?”

“It’s been in the back of my mind for a while, but I decided for good the other night, when we were stuck in the hunting shack.

After I almost lost you on that mountain.

” He ran both hands through his hair. “I realized I could have it all, my dream SAR job and maybe a chance to build something with you, too. If I live in Legacy and you live in California… well, I’ll have two weeks off between every SERA session to co me see you.

And when you come to Legacy to visit your family… ”

It was too much. Too good to be true. “I thought you’d decided I was too much trouble. Too much drama. Too much… Marian.”

Foster’s face crumpled. “Christ, Tommy. You’re not too much of anything. You’re everything . You’re the reason I’m here turning in my resignation instead of running from you again.”

I felt like I couldn’t catch my breath, like there were too many questions and not enough answers. “You accused me of running, when really… it was you.”

“Yes.”

“Because you’d already fallen for me.”

His smile was tender and sweet. “On the airplane that very first day. I didn’t believe in love at first sight, but I think I knew you were The One, even then. I guess you could call it… kismet .”

I huffed out a laugh that sounded almost like a sob. “Real, like daisies in sunshine?”

“Exactly.” His smile faded, and he stepped forward, taking my hands in his.

“And it turned out you had the answer all along. You remember what you told Matthew that night at the bar? You said, ‘When you find The One, you hold on to him and find a way to make it work.’” He pulled me closer.

“So if long distance doesn’t work for us and you want me to come to Stanford with you instead… I will.”

I blinked at him. “But…”

“Your great-aunt Tilly told me at the cookout that you’d accepted the position,” Foster said with a little eye roll.

“And she’d already told me she planned to set you up with every available person in Northern California.

But we’re never letting on that her shenanigans helped me get my ass in gear and realize what was important, okay?

Because it’s bad enough I’m going to be called Sheriff Muscles for the next two decades?—”

“Foster,” I interrupted. “I turned down Stanford. And I told UC Davis I wasn’t interested.” I took a deep breath and admitted, “I already accepted a different job.”

“Oh.” His mouth fell open, and I saw the rapid calculations happening behind his eyes as he tried to recalibrate. “Okay. Right. Well, we’ll make it work. If it’s further away from SERA, we can?—”

“Actually,” I interrupted, wrapping my arms around his neck, suddenly needing there to be no distance whatsoever between us. “It’s closer.”

“Closer?” He blinked. “How close?”

I grinned. “About… three feet away from you? Possibly four. But I really think I need to bite the bullet and get a decent-sized bed, so?—”

“Tommy.” He gave me a light shake that said he wasn’t in the mood for teasing. “Where?”

But I saw the hope blossoming in his gaze, and I could tell he already knew.

“SERA.” The look in Foster’s eyes was so happy, so vulnerable, I couldn’t help but lean in and press a kiss to his mouth. “I love you,” I whispered.

“I don’t understand,” he croaked. “Jasper said Trace was ripping you a new one before you left.”

“He was,” I said ruefully. “He told me he would only hire me if I swore never to do something that stupid again. I don’t blame him.”

“Fuck, baby.” Foster’s voice was barely a whisper, his eyes seeking mine. “Are you sure? You’d be giving up?—”

“Nothing that I truly want.” I threaded my hands through the hair at the nape of his neck. “I figured out what I really want. And it’s not a prestigious job in California. It’s not impressing my colleagues or making my parents proud or any of the things I thought mattered.”

“What do you want?”

“You,” I said simply. “I want morning coffee with you complaining about compliance paperwork. I want to argue about training techniques and fight over who gets the bigger half of the bed. I want to watch you work with Chickie. I want to teach students and save people’s lives in ways that matter.”

Foster’s hands came up to frame my face. “You have to be a hundred… no, a thousand percent sure. Because I can’t—I can’t do this if you’re going to change your mind. I can’t watch you leave again.”

“I’m not leaving.” I covered his hands with mine. “I’m staying. I’m staying for the job I actually want, I’m staying for the family I chose. I’m staying for you and for me.”

Foster grabbed my face with both hands, crushing our mouths together in a bruising kiss. I threw my arms around him and held on as tightly as I could.

“What can I do to make this good for you?” he asked, pulling back and meeting my eyes. “I don’t want you to have any regrets. ”

“Mmm, let’s see,” I said, tapping my finger to my chin. “I was considering some cost-cutting measures.”

His eyes caught the light as he laughed. “What did you have in mind, Dr. Marian?”

“I figured I’d need to find a roommate. Someone who knows the area. Someone who’s good with his hands and doesn’t mind sharing a bed.”

Foster’s lip quirked up in a smile. “I thought room and board were included at SERA. But maybe if we agree to continue sharing, the program will save on housing, and they’ll be able to use that to bump your salary a little,” he teased.

“Ahhh, see there? You’re solving my problems already.” I clutched the front of his shirt and yanked him until his nose brushed mine. “You, sir, are awfully convenient to have around.”

“Tommy.” Foster’s voice was serious now. “I need you to understand something. I’m not going anywhere. Not anymore. If you stay, if we do this, it’s not a summer fling or a temporary thing. It’s forever. I’m talking about building a life together. A real life.”

“Are you threatening me with a good time, Sheriff? What does this life look like, exactly?”

“It looks like coming home to each other every night. It looks like planning SERA’s programs together and arguing about curriculum and probably driving Trace crazy with our bickering.

It looks like weekends at your family’s lodge and holidays in Majestic with mine.

” He paused. “It looks like maybe getting a house together when we’re ready.

Maybe getting married. Maybe adopting a whole pack of rescue dogs because I know you’re going to fall in love with every single one and give them all ridiculous names. ”

My heart felt like it might explode. “That sounds perfect. But you forgot something.”

“What?”

I gestured toward the dartboard. “It looks like you taking down that photo and burning it.”

Foster laughed, the sound rich and warm. “Nah, I think I’m having it mounted on a real dartboard because surely there’ll be times I’ll need it again in the future.”

I squinted at it again. “Those are very precise holes, Foster.”

“I was imagining them as acupuncture points.” He grinned. “Trying to cure myself of wanting you.”

“I was just as obsessed,” I admitted softly. “I’ve never jacked off quite that much before. You weren’t the only one who found a photo online. Only, I used yours for good, not evil.”

He hooted. “Meaning you jerked off to it?”

I shrugged and tried to look unaffected. “So I have a thing for men in uniform, sue me.”

His eyes darkened. “And you’re taking a job where you’ll be surrounded by cops, EMTs, firefighters, pilots…”

“I might have joined SERA for you, but I didn’t say there weren’t other perks,” I teased.

He growled and kissed me again, rough and wild, just the way I liked it.

“I love you,” I breathed.

Foster cradled my face in his hands. “I meant what I said. I fell for you, head over heels, that first night. I’m sorry it took me so long to admit it, but I will love you until the end of time. You’re it for me, Tommy. I’m yours.”

I couldn’t believe this was my life, that I was on the cusp of stepping into a new chapter, one in which I would get to live authentically, pursuing my dream job next to the man of my dreams.

“And I’m yours. Always.”

Foster’s shoulders dropped, as if he’d somehow been worried about my response. “Damned right you are.”

“Now what?” I asked with a watery laugh.

I looked around his office—at the neat desk with his resignation letter, at the dartboard, at this man who’d just turned his entire life upside down for me.

“Now I introduce you to my friends and family,” he said. “Because it’s time you learned the Marians aren’t the only… colorful family around.”

I let out a laugh. “Shall we place bets? On whose family gives us the most trouble in the years to come?”

Foster’s own laugh rang out in the nearly empty office. “Nah. I’ll still give that to your side. I don’t have a Tilly.”

As we walked out of the sheriff’s office together, Foster’s hand warm in mine, I caught a glimpse of our reflection in the glass door. We looked like what we were—two men who’d found their way to each other despite every obstacle, every misunderstanding, every dart thrown in frustration.

We looked nothing like the future of ticked boxes and empty accomplishments I’d planned for myself—the future Foster Blake had rescued me from.

We looked like everything I’d never known I wanted.

And more than I ever imagined.