My gaze jumps from the gorgeous ring that’s shimmering in the sunlight to his bright blue eyes that are so full of hope. He’s everything to me and I want to scream my answer and pin him to the blanket. I want to show him how much I mean it, but for some unfathomable reason, I can’t move.
My mouth won’t open and the simple three letter word won’t come. All I can do is stare at his beautiful face while tears roll down my cheeks. Six months ago, my life was on another trajectory entirely, and I could’ve never imagined this, him. If you’d asked me then, I would’ve told you that connections like ours don’t exist.
But they do.
I feel it pulsing between us right this second.
My body finally kicks into action, the pull too strong to ignore. I leap for him, tackling him to the blanket and fusing my lips to his. My fingers slip beneath his tee and push it up, only breaking apart to pull it over his head.
“Whoa, babe.” As I reach for his button-fly, he grabs my hands in one of his. “As much as I intend to get naked with you, I’m kinda dying to hear you say it.”
“Yes,” I whisper, but I meant to yell it from the rooftops, so I try again, and again, until I get it right. “Yes. Yes. Yes!”
He smirks his pretty smirk and reaches for my hand. It isn’t the usual slide the ring on and fall into a loving embrace. No. It’s uniquely us and in a uniquely locked in style. When the ring doesn’t fit the right finger, he tries the middle one before finally settling it on my pointer finger and kissing my hand.
“I’m sorry it doesn’t fit properly,” he says, tangling out fingers together. “I had to order it online. I know I could’ve waited for a better time, but I didn’t want to.” His bright, happy eyes roam my face, and I have no idea what he sees there. I’m still in a state of shock. “I needed to know that it’s a done deal.”
“Oh, it’s done.” I say, rising up on my knees so I can crawl closer to him. “You’ll never get rid of me now.”
“Promise?”
“I swear it,” I say, smashing my lips to his.
This time when I reach for his jeans, he returns the favor by snatching open my blouse. Buttons fly through the air, and it only makes me hotter. I strip him bare under the California sun in a place where childhood fantasies become adult realities.
When we come together, this time is different than all the rest.
Each touch means more.
Each kiss is felt deeper.
The perfect man for me delivers a perfect performance, driving me out of my mind and then bringing me back to earth before starting all over again. We spend all afternoon making love in his special hidden place before returning to our new reality as a couple engaged.
I don’t know how long we’ll be locked in, but I do know that whatever comes next, we’ll face it together.