“I know, but it’s a lot compared to this.” She pointed at the blue ocean. “Don’t you think?”
“I do.” He smiled. “But unfortunately, all good things must come to an end, and we have to go back to our apartments tomorrow.”
She shot him an annoyed look. “When can we move in together again?”
Lately she’d been getting antsy about moving in together, but he knew she actually enjoyed being alone. She loved him and wanted to be with him, sure, but she’d needed to experience being alone. Because once they lived together…it would be forever. He had no doubt about that. “We’ll talk about it after we get back from Guatemala.”
“It’s hot there, too.” She took a sip from her drink. “Another escape from the doom and gloom of winter.”
“Mmm-hmm.” He threw his arm over her shoulders, tugging her close. When he told her he wanted to volunteer overseas again, he’d been braced for her anger or even for her to be hurt. But instead, she’d asked to go with him. Her job was even excited about it, since she’d be working overseas the whole time. Maybe he could even convince her to go camping with him again. “We’ll only have to suffer through a month of snow before we’re back in the sweltering heat again.”
“And we can finally move in together,” she mumbled, snuggling closer to his side. “I can’t wait.”
“I said we’d talk about it—not do it.” He took a draft of his beer, his heart picking up speed the closer they got to his destination. “Before you get too mad, remember. It’s all part of the plan, Red.”
She looked at him out of the corner of her eye. “What plan?”
“You’ll see.” He took another long pull of beer, trying to ignore the fact that his legs felt all weak and shaky. “In time. But you’re grateful I refused to move in with you…right?”
She pressed her lips together. “You’re going to make me admit it? Really?”
“Really.”
“Fine.” She blew out a loud breath. “Yes, it’s been good being on my own. Getting used to it and all. Having you right across the hall is a plus. Like the night you were sick, and we made love over the phone.” She stopped walking and turned on him, her eyes blazing hot. Fuck, he remembered that night all too well. “Knowing you were across the hall, touching yourself? It made me so hot.”
His c**k twitched, hardening with desire. “Me too, babe. Me too.”
She started walking again. “Maybe we should do it again when we get home, just for fun. I mean, you don’t have to be sick for us to—” She froze at the end of the path, and looked at him. “Wait a second. Is this…are we…?”
“Yes. This is where our hotel is. Or, where it was.”
The worn-out path that had led to the tiny hotel had flowers and overgrown grass surrounding it, and the palm tree he vaguely remember being next to the sign was a bit bigger—but it was still there. That was more than he could say for the hotel. Instead of the quaint little joint where he had unromantically taken her virginity, there now stood a house. The water crashed on the sand behind him, and the sun beat down on his head.
Nothing could have been more perfect. It was time.
He set down his beer, reached into his pocket, and dropped down on one knee. As he waited for her to turn around, he took a soothing breath in an attempt to calm his galloping heart. It didn’t work. “Crazy how things work out, huh?”
“Yeah. It doesn’t look so familiar anymore, though.” She laughed and tucked her hair behind her ears, still not turning back to him. “Someone built a new house here. It’s pretty.”
He nodded even though she couldn’t see him. “I know. They kind of ruined my plans because I didn’t know about it.”
“I thought we were done making plans and lists,” she said teasingly, craning her neck to get a better look at what had once been a hotel. When would she turn the hell around? “It’s still neat to see, even if it’s not the same place.”
His fingers clenched the ring even tighter. “That’s not the part it ruined. I wanted to ask you inside it.”
She froze, her hand tightening on the glass she still carried. “Ask me what?” Slowly, she turned around, her cheeks flushed and her lower lip caught between her teeth. When her gaze fell on him, taking in the fact that he was on bended knee, she pressed a hand to her heart. “Oh my God.”
He had no idea if she was panicking or happy, so he just went on with his planned speech. He’d spent ten minutes rehearsing it in front of the mirror that morning while she showered. “I know we don’t even live together—”
She blinked back tears. “Yes.”
“Red,” he said, laughing. His heart skipped a beat. “I didn’t even ask yet.”
“I just didn’t want you to have to wait for an answer when it is most assuredly yes.” She dropped to her knees in front of him, eye level for once, and set her glass down, too. She smiled at him and rested her hand on his knee. “But go ahead and ask me anyway.”
He loved her even more for that. Loved that she cared about him so much that she wanted to assure him before he even had a chance to ask her like he was supposed to.
“I know we don’t even live together—” He broke off and laughed. “You know what? Fuck it. I had a whole rehearsed speech planned, but you know what I love most about life with you?”
She smiled and swiped away the tears falling from her eyes. “What?”
“Nothing ever goes according to plan.” He cupped her cheeks and pressed a kiss to her lips, the ring still in his hand. “You make me live—and I’ve never been happier. You’re the one person in this world who makes me feel alive, and baby? I feel f**king alive right now. I feel like I own the world.”
She kissed him again, lingering this time. “I don’t know about all of that, but I know you own my heart and have for a long, long time.”
When she pulled back and smiled up at him, tears shining in her eyes, his soul soared. That’s right. He’d f**king said his soul soared. Corny or not, it was true. He held the princess-cut diamond ring out to her. “I love you and will always love you. You’ve shown me what life really is, and I know I never want to lose you. Never want to go back to the way I was before you. I know it’s kind of sudden, but Red…will you make me the luckiest man in the world by saying you’ll marry me?”