"Ok."
"Right now."
Her eyebrows tug in the center. "I think the stores are closed by now."
Moving quickly, I wrap my arms around her and roll her over. She gasps in surprise as I hold my weight on a forearm, reaching into the bag I'd been packing.
"Dom, what are you—" Cecily cuts off when she sees what's in my hand. "That's a ring box."
"It is," I confirm, situating myself so I'm lying alongside her. "And I've had it for a while."
Cecily's brown-eyed gaze slices to mine. "A while?"
"Since Sierra Grande."
"You bought a ring for me in Sierra Grande?"
I shake my head, using my thumb to open the ring box seam. "That is when your grandma gave me her ring."
Cecily sucks in a shocked breath. Instantly her eyes grow shiny. "She must have really believed in us, Dom. In you."
"I told her she might want to hang on to it. That our story was complicated. She told me to knock off my crybaby antics and put her ring on your finger when we were ready."
Cecily breathes a shaky laugh. "That sounds exactly like her."
I push up a little, so I can use both hands. "She said a few curse words, too, but I left those out." I pluck the brilliant pear-shaped diamond ring from where it nestles in the box. The gold band is delicate, intricately woven in a design that gives it an antique feel. "If it's not your style, we'll get something else." I don't want her to feel pressured to wear something that doesn't suit her.
Cecily's head shakes vehemently. "My whole life I've admired my grandma's ring, and she knew it. She'd remove it to put lotion on her hands and I'd slip it on my finger and pretend it was mine."
With two fingers, I hold the ring in the air between us. "Can I put this on your finger, Cecily? Make you mine?"
A tear slips from the corner of her eye. "I already am. But, yes. Of course."
She offers her left hand, and I slide the ring on, feeling something heady and powerful. Humbling, too. This incredible woman has agreed to be my partner for the rest of our lives. To let me be hers.
I take her hand, the feel of the cool, hard metal new against my palm. I brush a kiss along her knuckles.
"Let's get yours when we're in New York," she says, a trace of urgency in her tone. "I want to put a ring on your finger."
I like all facets of Cecily, but this side of her is special. Possessive and eager. "Let's do it."
Cecily turns her face to me, letting me know she wants to be kissed. I love it. And I give her what she wants.
When we come up for air, cheeks pink and breathless, she says, "My mom wants to throw us a party, and this time it's for the right reasons."
I trace the curve of her cheek. "I'll have to invite my parents. But first, I'll need to give all the Hamptons a crash course on how to handle my dad and his ideas."
"At least we know that from here on out family gatherings cannot possibly be boring."
I kiss her again, something slow and easy. We have time.
"I love you, Cecily." It's a truth that exists without fanfare. Basic, and fundamental.
"I love you too, Dominic."
Epilogue
Dominic
