Come back to me

Kit Ryan, a Marine, comes home on leave to California for the summer. He has a reputation as the local ladies' man, and he has never had trouble getting the girl he wants. This time the girl is Jessa, his best friend's sister, which makes her off limits.

Kit does not back off. Jessa gives in to his charm, and what begins as secret hook-ups and first times grows into a serious love affair. By the end of the summer both of them are in deeper than they planned.

Then Kit has to redeploy. Neither of them wants to say goodbye. Jessa is finally pursuing her own dreams, and Kit has found someone he would give up everything for. She promises to wait for him, whatever happens.

Distance and time are not the only things that pull them apart, though. Something heavier comes between them, and they have to decide whether what they share is worth fighting for.

This is a romance with an open-door heat level, built on a forbidden-attraction setup (a friend's sister) and a military separation. It runs from a warm, flirtatious start to a harder emotional stretch, and the focus stays on the couple, with friendship and family close behind.