Page 86 of The Taste of Deceit

“We’ll come back.”

“You promise?”

“I promise.”

I smile to myself.

“I’ll hold you to that.”

For a while, neither of us says anything.

This trip has been everything I hoped it would be. Just sunsets, too much food, swimming until our fingers wrinkle, lots of sex, and waking up beside the man I love every morning. Somewhere between the beach, the pool, and more piña coladas than I can count, I forgot what day it was, and honestly, I don’t think I’ve ever been happier to lose track of time.

I turn toward him.

“Luca?”

Instead of answering, he looks at me. The breeze catches a curl across my face before he reaches up and tucks it behind my ear. His hand settles against my cheek, warm against my skin, and I lean into his touch without thinking.

“You know,” he says quietly. “My whole life has been planned for me. I knew what my responsibilities were. I knew who I answered to. I knew exactly what tomorrow was going to look like because it always looked the same as today.”

His thumb brushes lightly across my cheek.

“Then you walked into my life.”

A smile ghosts across his face.

“You weren’t part of the plan, Baby Girl.”

He studies me for another moment before continuing.

“I didn’t think there was room for any of this. I didn’t think there was room to want mornings that belonged to someone else, or vacations where the only thing on my mind was whether you’d talked me into ordering dessert again.”

His gaze never leaves mine.

“I didn’t think there was room to want a home. Then somewhere along the way, you stopped feeling like the best part of my life.”

Emotion tightens in my chest.

“You became my life. I’ve seen you at your happiest, and I’ve held you through the worst days of your life. I’ve watched you choose me when walking away would’ve been easier, and somehow you keep choosing me every day after that.”

He lets out a quiet breath.

“I don’t want another vacation without you. I don’t want another birthday without you or another ordinary Tuesday without you.”

His hand slips from my cheek as he takes a step back.

“You changed me, Baby Girl. You made me realize there was more waiting for me than responsibility. More than surviving. More than tomorrow looking exactly like yesterday. You gave me a home before we ever shared one, and somehow you made a man who’d already accepted his future start dreaming about a different one.”

His hand falls from my face, and my pulse stumbles the second he takes a step back. Before I can make sense of what’s happening, he’s reaching into his pocket, and when the small black box appears in his hand, the rest of the world disappears.

“I don’t want another day of my life that doesn’t end with you beside me.”

He lowers himself onto one knee. He opens the ring box, and the diamond catches the moonlight between us.

“Sarah...”

A tear blurs my vision.