Seaside Secrets by Melissa Foster Page A

liquor.” She ran her fingers up his back, sending heat to all the right—and wrong-for-the-moment—places. “I can’t deal with heavy things. I hide from them. I don’t deserve a second look, much less to be put up on a pedestal.”
    “Let me be the judge of what you deserve, okay?”
    She leaned in so close her breath brushed over his bare chest. Torture. Pure, unadulterated torture.
    “No,” she whispered. “You aren’t a good judge of what I need, because what I need is right here, right now. We don’t have to deal with the past. I have no idea why you think you’re not good enough to be with me, but from the feel of things, I think you want to be.”
    He narrowed his eyes and gripped her shoulders. “I never said I wasn’t good enough. I said you deserved better. There’s a difference.” He was powerless to resist sliding his hand down her hip to the curve of her thigh. His fingertips brushed her bare ass, inciting a sexy mew from Amy.
    “You’re the best, Tony. Can’t you see that? You’re one of the top three surfers in the country. People pay money for you to tell them how to live their lives. Who could be better than you?” Her breathing became shallow as he dropped his other hand to her thigh.
    He had driven himself to succeed in his career, but he’d never pushed himself to be the best boyfriend he could be. He’d pretty much spent his life avoiding being a boyfriend, because every other woman was a substitute for the one he really wanted. The one he really needed. The woman he truly believed deserved more than a guy who hadn’t fought for her all those years ago when she’d sent him away, a guy who had never been able to commit to a long-term relationship since—and worried now that he might let her down.
    “It’s not about how successful I am, Amy. I need to prove to myself that I can be the man you deserve, and I need to prove it to you before I can call you mine again. I need to know I’ll never risk your health again. I mean, I know it already, but I need to prove it to us both.” He wanted to kiss her, to slide his hands across her beautiful ass and finally take what felt like his for way too long, but he held back. They needed to deal with the past, but he couldn’t say that now. She’d come a long way. For the first time in fourteen years, she acknowledged that they’d been together. That was huge. A start. A fucking blessing.
    “Maybe you don’t know what I need after all,” she challenged.
    Goddamn it . He breathed deeply, trying to ignore the way every bit of him wanted to give in to what she wanted. But Tony wasn’t a man who believed in doing things he’d regret. Not anymore, and especially not with Amy.
    “I know you better than you know yourself. Can’t you see that?” He tangled his hands in her hair and tilted her head back. “You’re everything to me, Amy. You’re the first thing I think of when I wake up and the last thing I think of before I fall asleep.” He pulled her impossibly closer and lowered his mouth so their lips were a heartbeat away.
    “It’s your voice I hear pushing me through those treacherous swells, and it’s your voice I hear in my head right now, guiding me to do the right thing by you.”
    He had to kiss her. Just one kiss. He wasn’t strong enough to leave without one kiss, restaking his claim, showing her how much he loved her.
    “I’m not worthy of a pedestal,” she whispered.
    “You’re so damn worthy.” He paused to keep himself from lowering his lips to hers.
    “Statues are put on pedestals,” she whispered, blinking up at him. Her fingernails, which had grazed his skin so lightly, dug into his back. “Statues are cold and hard. I’m warm and soft in all the right places, not at all like a statue.”
    She was reaching so far out of the way she normally behaved that he clenched his jaw just to try to remain in control.
    “You say all the right things, Amy, but I know you. You’re going to wake up conflicted