“Summer.” His tone is firm, almost as though he’s trying to keep me in line. “You and I have had a long and winding road. Turns out it was leading us to where we should be. Maybe we should have been more then, but we can’t change the clock, and here we are now. It’s true. I’m supposed to be your last husband.”
Tears are beginning to bubble. It’s in an odd second, yet right that he references that sentiment from his brother. It doesn’t matter because it’s true.
“But in order for that to happen, you have to marry me.” His sly smirk turns to a fully warm grin.
Now I have to chortle and smile. “I don’t hear a question there.” No way am I going to make this easy for him.
“You can’t question facts.” Nash’s wink only solidifies my difficulty to ever break this smile.
Lowering to a squat, we come face to face, with my fingertips spread out against his cheeks. “Then it seems we can’t challenge that.” I love interacting with him this way.
“Exactly,” he rasps.
“You know, marrying me comes with some very serious perks.” I drop my knees to the dock.
“Oh yeah?” he says, playing along.
I nod once. “Free cookies.”
“I partly own this establishment. I already get free cookies.”
I tsk him to shut up. “Fine. Remembering the past and being at peace. A great kid.”
“Who will have a brother or sister soon.”
My eyes widen as my arms link around his neck. “Soon? You might need to wait on that little request.”
“What else?”
“Hmm, depends on the ring,” I tease him.
“Look in my jeans pocket.”
I smirk slyly as my hand dives into the pocket in a way that brings us close, and if we had no audience, then we would probably have clothes off soon. Our lips brush as I slide the ring out of his pocket. Glancing to my side, I hold up the ring. Beautiful and simple. Perfect for me.
I pretend to ponder. “I mean, I guess this works.” Nash yanks me closer to kiss my lips, and our teeth touch because our lips are still tightly in a grin. “That list,” I murmur against his lips. “You’ll also get a wife who will make every shower enjoyable as I will completely be on my knees to take you—” Bo’s squeal breaks our attention.
Our foreheads continue to touch as we move to study Bo. “I know, right? Your mommy has such a foul mouth.”
Bo holds up his hands with crumbs and icing stuck to his skin. He’s grabby because he wants more cookies.
“So, were you in on this too, kid?” I ask my son.
His response in to say, “Mama.”
The feeling of my fingers being dragged causes me to look down, and I watch Nash slip the ring on.
“I’m kind of surprised it didn’t fall down and between the boards because that’s just our style on this dock,” he quips.
My hand soars up, and I stretch my fingers to appraise the ring. It’s simple, Bohemian, and suits me in every way.
“Not too shabby,” I say.
Nash yanks me tight to his body and kisses me with a delicious warning. “You’re going to drive me crazy forever, aren’t you?”
“And you don’t mind.”
He swipes a few strands of my hair away, and we get lost in one another’s eyes for a few seconds before another kiss is shared between us.
