“You didn’t!” Jenn rounded on her husband in mock exasperation.
“Oh baby, but I did. I hoped our wedding night might turn out a little differently this time around.” Cole pushed open the door of their rented villa on Luca Cay—the very same villa he’d been staying in on that fateful night a year ago. Today was their first anniversary. They’d started the day by renewing their vows with a big Catholic wedding in the church Jenn had grown up in, in front of all their friends and family.
And they were ending it by taking the honeymoon they’d never had after their accidental vows one year ago today. It had been her idea to come back to Luca Cay for their honeymoon, but out of the dozen or so private villas on the island, she hadn’t imagined they would wind up back in this one.
She walked through the living room to the entrance of the bedroom, remembering the way it had felt when she woke in that bed, hungover and horrified. She never could have imagined that morning that she’d be back here again today, still married and madly in love.
“It seemed only fitting,” Cole said, coming up behind her to slide an arm around her waist. “I think we need to go down to the Tiki Bar tonight and have a moonlight martini for old times’ sake.”
“Why, Colton Nix, I never knew you were such a sentimental man.” She spun in his arms so that her chest pressed to his.
“You bring it out in me.” His voice rumbled through her, low and deep.
“I wouldn’t have picked this villa, but now that we’re here, you’re right. It’s perfect. Today is all about redoing things the right way.”
“And as much as I want to throw you on that bed right now and get started on our wedding-night celebration, we have dinner reservations, and I don’t know about you, but I’m starving.”
“I am too.” She was starving, but she couldn’t quite believe Cole wasn’t throwing her on the bed anyway. He’d been so romantic all day, and it was melting her heart into such a puddle of lovesick mush that she could hardly complain about anything he had planned.
“You’d better get ready, then.” He nudged her toward her suitcase, which the bellman had already left in the bedroom for them.
“Okay.” Grinning, she walked over and unzipped it. She’d hadn’t packed much other than breezy sundresses and bathing suits. There was one dress she’d almost left at home, and somehow she knew it was the dress she needed to wear tonight. She grabbed it and her toiletry bag and ducked into the bathroom.
Again, her mind flashed on that morning a year ago when she’d run in here to throw up, the horror she’d felt when she first noticed the flowered wedding band on her left ring finger. Tonight, she rubbed her finger over it with a smile. Even that morning, she’d been struck by how much she loved this ring. It had made her even angrier to think that she’d received a ring she loved so much from a man she didn’t even know, that she might someday marry someone else and have to settle for a less perfect ring.
If only she’d known…
Grinning, she slipped into the dress she’d worn on that fateful night. It was turquoise and breezy, layers of sheer chiffon that just reached her knees. She hadn’t worn it since, but tonight it was perfect. She brushed her hair and freshened her makeup, added a spritz of perfume and some simple jewelry, and stepped out of the bathroom.
Cole stood in the middle of the bedroom, in khaki shorts and a blue polo shirt. He walked over and pulled her into his arms, his brown eyes hot with lust. “I was hoping you’d pick that dress for tonight.”
“Is that the same outfit you were wearing too?” she asked, running her fingers down the front of his shirt.
“Fuck if I know, but it’s similar at least.”
She pulled back and turned to her bag to pull out the matching shoes.
“Leave them,” he said, threading his hand through hers.
“Are we having dinner at the Tiki Bar?”
He shook his head, but the gleam in his eyes made her heart pound. He was up to something, and although she didn’t know what, the knowledge that he’d preplanned something romantic for them here on Luca Cay spread warmth through her veins that settled into a happy ache in her heart. Together, they walked outside, barefoot against the sand. The sun was a fiery ball on the horizon, just minutes from setting. Already the sky was streaked with reds and purples that reflected on the water below.
“It’s so beautiful,” she said.
His hand tightened over hers. “Even prettier than the sunset the night we met, I think, or maybe it just looks better now because I have you to share it with.”
They walked farther out onto the beach. She wasn’t sure where they were headed, but she didn’t really care either, because the weather was perfect, the sunset was gorgeous, and the man she loved was at her side. And then she saw something up ahead on the sand, something glimmering and flickering against the setting sun.
She stopped short, pressing a hand to her mouth. “Oh my God.”
“I asked them to recreate it,” he said softly, “since you loved it so much.”
It was a wedding arbor, their wedding arbor, and she realized now that they were on the same stretch of beach just past the Tiki Bar. The arch was lit with hundreds of white fairy lights, just as it had been that night, but tonight, a table sat in front of it. A table set for two, with a white cloth draped over it and a candle flickering in the center.
“Dinner on the beach?” he said.
“Yes,” she whispered.
“I want to hear you say that word a lot tonight.” He squeezed her hand again, drawing her in for a kiss.
“Oh, you will,” she said with a smile.
They sat together at the table, reaching for the glasses of champagne that had been poured and placed there. A waitress came walking toward them across the sand to take their order. They both decided on the fresh catch of the day. As she walked away, Jenn raised her glass and tapped it against Cole’s.
“To new beginnings,” she said.
“New beginnings.” They both drank, and then Cole rose from the table. She followed him over to the arbor. The sun had set now, leaving only a faint orange glow in the sky behind them while the arbor twinkled brightly overhead. “There’s something that was still bothering me about the way our marriage came about,” he said, and there was something odd in his tone. He almost sounded…nervous.
“Really?” She cocked her head to the side, staring up at him.
“I never got to do this.” He reached into the pocket of his shorts and pulled out a little black velvet box.
“Oh!” She sucked in a breath, her heart lurching in her chest. “Oh, Cole…”
“We have a habit of doing things backward,” he said with a smile that made her knees weak. “But this place, and this arbor, are the foundation of our relationship so I thought it only fitting that I do this here.” He opened the box, showing her the ring inside.
Tears welled in her eyes. It was a diamond engagement ring—a post-engagement ring maybe. The diamond was flanked on either side by aquamarine stones.
“The aquamarine reminded me of the ocean here on Luca Cay and that dress, the one you were wearing the night we got married and why it was so fuckin’ perfect that you chose it again tonight.”
“It’s beautiful.” Tears spilled over her eyelids as he slid the ring onto her finger, nestling it against the gold flowered wedding band she already wore. “It’s perfect, so perfect.”
“I thought about giving it to you this morning,” he said. “At the church.”
“I’m glad you didn’t. Our church wedding was beautiful, but this is…well, it’s us. I think this place kind of defines us, don’t you?”
He traced a finger over her ring and then drew her up against him. “It absolutely does. I think we should come here every year on our anniversary.”
“And make some music together while we’re at it?”
“Swift as the wind, high as a kite, I can’t get my mind off you, day or night,” he sang, swaying with her to an imaginary beat. “I need you, baby, right away.”