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SARAH SNAPPED A POSED selfie, her new engagement ring sparkling on her finger, and texted Morgan right before she headed to work. Her best friend was seriously going to lose her mind after seeing the picture.
And the best part?
Aside from getting married to the man that she loved, Sarah would be moving here to Virginia Beach permanently. She’d be closer to her brother and his family, closer to her best friend—it was like all the missing pieces of her life were falling into place.
And shoot.
She hadn’t even realized what she’d been missing out on until Ryan had swept her off her feet all those months ago. When she’d opened the door that one night to find Ryan telling her the news that Patrick had been injured? That had been it. He’d pulled her into his arms, and she’d never wanted to be anywhere else ever again.
Humming to herself, she drove along the main drag of Virginia Beach toward her office building. It was faster to head from Ryan’s house directly there, but she couldn’t resist the allure of the ocean. Rolling down the windows of her Mini Cooper, she let the salty ocean air blow through her car.
Her long hair was tousled in the breeze, and she tucked it behind one ear, feeling the three tiny studs there. Briefly, she wondered if she should shock Ryan by getting something else pierced one day. Part of her wanted to see the expression on his face as he slowly undressed her and spotted nipple rings or something.
Hmmm.
Maybe someday.
She inhaled the scent of the Atlantic. It was a perfect day, with clear skies and sunshine, and she was literally about to burst with happiness. Probably the only thing better would be if she and Ryan didn’t each have to rush off to work.
But a wedding meant they’d have a honeymoon, too. And she loved the idea of running off to Mexico or somewhere exotic where they could make love all day and night, lost in one another.
Sarah was still smiling when she pulled into a parking spot twenty minutes later and glanced down at her phone.
Holy shit. He proposed?!?!
Pushing the button to call her best friend, Sarah grinned as Morgan picked up.
“You’re getting married?!” Morgan shrieked. “Oh my God! This is crazy! I almost dropped my coffee when I saw your text.”
“We are! We’re getting married. Ryan just surprised me this morning by pulling out a ring and asking me to marry him.”
“Holy shit,” Morgan said.
Sarah giggled. “Well it’s not like we’ve never talked about it before. And God knows I’m there at his place all the time anyway, but this makes it official! No more living with my boyfriend most of the time and driving back to my place one night a week—we are officially getting hitched.”
“Well, it must have been a very good night then,” Morgan teased.
“Yeah, you could say that,” Sarah said with a snort. “If you’re into understatements of the century.”
“Good lord, the man is infatuated with you. And good for him, too—he’s so strait-laced, he needs someone to bring out his wilder side.”
“Well, he’s not that strait-laced,” Sarah said, remembering how he’d bent her over the lounge chair and taken her from behind by his pool. Sure, he followed military protocol on base and was stern and serious when out in public, but she loved the other side of him when they were all alone.
He was commanding in bed and an attentive lover. He was protective and possessive at times, but she actually loved every minute of it. She also loved that she could shock the hell out of him, too, but they balanced each other out in the best way possible.
“Uh-huh,” Morgan said. “Commander Hottie and my best friend. I might just have to reconsider never dating military men again after how happy he’s made you.”
“Girl, you just might,” Sarah said. “Let’s chat more later, okay? I just got to the office and my first patient is coming up.”
“Is he home today?”
“Ryan? No, he had to go into base.”
“Then we are one hundred percent meeting up for drinks again tonight. He can screw your brains out later—I need details, hun. And I’m dying to see this ring.”
“Sounds good. I’ll text you later on.”
They said their goodbyes, and Sarah climbed out of her car, shutting the door. “Good morning, miss physical therapist!” a man sitting on the park bench called out.
Sarah did a double take, realizing it was the same man who’d asked yesterday if she was a nurse. His dark hair was slicked back, and he had a cup of coffee in his hand again.
“Good morning. Is this your bench now?” she joked. “I’ve never seen you here before, but this is two days in a row.”
He chuckled, his gaze sliding over her. “I’m just visiting town for a couple of weeks. What can I say? I enjoy a little fresh air with my morning coffee.” She detected the faintest hint of an accent, and she wondered if he was from Mexico or somewhere in South America.
“Kind of like an extended vacation?” she asked. “That would work for me.”
“Something like that,” he said, taking a sip of his coffee.
“Well, have a good day! I’ve got to get to work.”
He nodded as she said goodbye and headed into the building and toward her own office.
“Good morning, sunshine!” she trilled at her friend Dawn.
“Well aren’t you in a good mood this morning,” Dawn teased. “I take it your boyfriend finally came home last night?”
“My fiancé, did, yes,” Sarah said innocently.
Dawn dropped the stack of folders she was holding and hurried over. “Girl! Congratulations!” she squealed, engulfing her in a big hug and then pulling back to admire the ring. “When did he pop the question?”
“This morning,” Sarah admitted. “It still hasn’t totally sunk in yet.”
“This morning?” Dawn asked, raising her eyebrows. “And you’re here?” she teased.
Sarah laughed. “Ryan had to go into base, and I had patients. We’ll celebrate more this weekend or something when stuff settles down. His team just got back from a mission. And there’s a million things to figure out—moving here, leaving my old job for good, planning the wedding.”
“So you’ll be working here five days a week now?”
“Probably so,” Sarah said. “I need to look into adjusting my schedule and wrapping up stuff with my old office in Norfolk. It’ll be a bummer to not see my patients there on Fridays anymore, but I’ve been slowly cutting back.” She shrugged. “I knew it wasn’t forever, seeing patients in both offices, and it’s time to move forward, you know?”
“God, that will be awesome for you to be here all week.”
“For real. It’ll be good for me—I’ll be closer to my brother, too. When he gets sent out, sometimes Rebecca could use help with the kids. And since Ryan is busy at the same time Patrick is when those guys have missions, it works.”
“Yeah, it’s good to have family close by. I really miss that.”
“Honestly, I got closer to Patrick after Logan, his son, was born. Now I’m the crazy aunt who’s a bad influence on the kids.”
“Yep, I can totally see that,” Dawn said with a grin.
“Hey, I’ll catch up with you later, all right?” Sarah said, grabbing a chart for her first patient. “I’m running late thanks to that surprise proposal, and, ahem, mini-celebration this morning.”
“Girl, you have the life! See you later.”
Sarah smiled as she headed off down the hall. Life was pretty damn perfect at the moment. Nothing could bring her down.
