Kole and I watched him cross the beach, but then I turned and gave my undivided attention to my brother. “What are you doing here? I thought you said you had to work.”
“I did have to work, but Jordan called and said it was important that I be here.”
My lips pulled into a smile. “I’m sorry if we’re keeping you from work. As much as I love that you came, it’s not really like our anniversary is all that important to anyone else. I tried to talk him out of having a freaking luau to celebrate, but he’s incorrigible.”
“Yeah,” Kole grinned down at me, “but it’s only because he’s so completely in love with you. I asked him about this party. He said that he had to hide what he felt for you for long enough and now he wants everyone you both care about to be part of the big moment.”
“I guess our first anniversary is a pretty big moment.” I sighed into the fragrant night air as I searched for my boyfriend.
“Yeah, it’s your anniversary that’s the big moment,” Kole said cryptically, bumping his shoulder against mine. “He’s only been gone a minute and you’re already looking for him?”
“Yeah. All this talking about him has made me miss him. I think there’s something wrong with me.”
“I absolutely agree.” He nodded before he wound his arm around my shoulders and rested his head on top of mine affectionately. “I know what it is, though. You really do love him. That’s what’s wrong with you.”
He inhaled a breath and held me tighter against his side. “I’m really glad that he finally grew the balls to tell me and that he’s treating you so well. Even I can see you two were made for each other.”
“Thanks, Kole,” I said, surprised when I spotted Jordan heading down the beach to the water’s edge. Moonlight shone on his hair, the large yellow ball and the flickering flames of the bonfire the only light on this part of the beach.
He didn’t even have a torch with him. I wondered what the hell he and Mauli were up to now. “I’d better go after him. I’m sure those two have cooked up some kind of scheme or prank, and I don’t particularly want a bucket of wet sand dumped over anyone at my anniversary party.”
Kole chuckled and gave me another squeeze before taking a step back. “Sure. That’s what he’s doing. Go get him, tiger. Just make sure he leaves the wet sand down there because I’m pretty sure I would be one of their targets.”
I saluted him before I remembered how much he hated when I did that, then mouthed “sorry” before strolling over to where Jordan was. He stood with his back to the party, his gaze fixed on the ocean.
Surprisingly, it didn’t actually look like he was up to anything now that I was down here. The sand was damp beneath my bare feet and I wiggled my toes into it as I came to stand behind him, sliding my arms around his waist.
“Penny for your thoughts?”
He twisted at the waist to be able to look into my eyes, placing his hands over mine like I had done to him before. “Funny, I was just thinking about you.”
“You were?” I arched an eyebrow. “Why on earth would you walk away from the party you’ve been so excited about, only to come think about the person you’re having the party with all the way down here?”
I could make out his features perfectly in the light of the full moon and I saw the way the skin around his eyes tightened.
Before I could ask him what he was nervous about, he turned to face me and dropped down onto one knee. His fingers were still twined with mine, but he took both my hands with one of his and dug into the pocket of his shorts.
My heart was beating so fast it felt like it was about to take off on me while my mouth had gone completely dry. “Jordan. What are you—”
“When we first moved in together,” he said, cutting me off, but I didn’t mind. I had a pretty good idea of where he was going with this, and although I was surprised, I also felt joy, the magnitude of which I had never felt before, taking hold of my veins. “You said we had to wait a year.”
“I could’ve sworn we said we’d talk about it again after a year to give things some time to settle.”
Jordan shrugged, his eyes never leaving mine. “Waiting a year was damn hard, but I made it only because I’ve been planning on doing this tonight for the last eleven months.”
“You started planning your proposal when we’d only been dating for a month?” My eyes widened. I’d known he wanted to marry me. I hadn’t known he was quite that serious about it.
“I started planning my proposal to you the minute I found out you were moving to Hawaii,” he said. “It might not even have been consciously at first, but as soon as I heard you’d be coming back into my life, I knew I wanted you to stay in it. Forever this time.”
“Wow,” I breathed.
He pulled a little box out of his pocket and flipped open the top with his thumb, revealing the ring that I’d be wearing for the rest of my life. It was beautiful and absolutely perfect, the thin band made up of glittering stones with a larger stone protruding from the center.
“Okay,” he muttered. “Here goes.”
After clearing his throat, he tightened his grip on my hand like he was making sure I wasn’t about to run off. But I wasn’t going anywhere.
“When I was teenager, I often wondered why the hell I had to go and fall for the one girl I couldn’t have. I wondered why I couldn’t resist you and why you were the only girl who got under my skin the way you did.”
He inhaled a deep breath, his eyes growing misty. “I thought it would blow over, though. I thought I’d leave, eventually get over you, and I convinced myself that one day, I’d find someone else who made me feel the way you do. I swore to myself that when I found her, I’d never let her go because I knew that what we had was rare. That it was special and that if I managed to find it twice, there was no way I’d ever find it again.”
His voice grew thicker with every word, so much emotion in it that I choked up too. “But as time went on, I started realizing that I wasn’t going to find it again. I realized that what I’d been given at such a young age was so rare, so special, that we only ever find it once.”
“I thought I’d had my shot,” he said. “I thought I’d already had and lost the great love of my life without even being able to really appreciate it. Eventually, I managed to convince myself that it was okay because at least I’d had it once. I thought I’d get over it, over you, but I never did.”
A tear tracked its way down my cheek. Everything he said resonated deep inside my soul because it was exactly how I had felt for all those years. “So the thing is, Elyse, I’ve always been yours, and in my head, you’ve always been mine, too. I just never thought I’d get a shot to make it official.”
“When you came here and I saw you again, it was like I woke up after a decade-long nightmare. It was like I could breathe again for the first time, feel again for the first time, and even if I didn’t used to believe I really could have you forever like this, I couldn’t help dreaming about it. I thought about it all the time, how incredible it would be to be with you.”
His eyes were shining with unbridled love and joy, glistening with tears. “But no matter how many dreams I’d had or how incredible I thought it would be, the real deal has been even better. You are the best thing that has ever happened to me, and I can’t believe how lucky I am to even get a chance to ask you this, but I am, and that’s why I couldn’t wait any longer. Elyse Dennis, will you marry me?”
“Yes,” I whispered, tears streaming down my cheeks as he slid the ring onto my finger and rose to pick me up, sweeping me up against his broad chest and kissing me as cheers sounded out behind us.
I had totally forgotten that we weren’t alone, but as our friends swarmed all around us when Jordan finally set me down, I was immensely happy to have them there to celebrate with us.
When Kole walked up to us, a brief stab of worry hit me. I didn’t want anything to ruin our night, but Kole’s reaction to this news just might.
He came over to me first, gi
ving me a big hug. “Congratulations, little sis, and stop looking so worried. He asked me before he did this. I said yes.”
“He asked you?” I wouldn’t have thought it was possible, but I fell in love with Jordan even more in that moment. “I’m so glad he did that. I was really scared this was going to ruin all the progress we’ve made.”
“That’s why I wanted to tell you as soon as possible,” he replied. Then he let me go and held out a hand for Jordan to shake. “Well, I guess it’s time for an official welcome to the family, brother. Never thought I’d say it, but I’m really fucking happy that the guy I’m getting for a brother-in-law is you.”
It felt like a fairy tale, like a dream, but all this was really happening. I slid my hand into my fiancé’s and looked up at him in wonder. “I love you, Jordan.”
He bent over to press a lingering kiss to each one of my eyelids, finally moving down to plant a chaste one on my lips. “I’ve always loved you and I always will. This is only just our beginning.”
The End.
Want More?
Checkout Show Me What You Got!
Get it Here
Insider Group
Join my Insider Group and keep in touch…
Also get a FREE novel
Get it HERE
About the Author
Hey there. I'm Weston.
I'm a former firefighter/EMS guy who's picked up the proverbial pen and started writing bad boy romance stories. I co-write with my sister, Ali Parker as we travel the United States for the next two years.
You're going to find Billionaires, Bad Boys, Mafia and loads of sexiness. Something for everyone, hopefully. I'd love to connect with you. Check out the links below and come find me.
Amazon KU
Website ~ Facebook ~ Twitter ~ Instagram
The Parker’s Wicked Playground
Have Your Way With Me
Copyright © 2020 by Weston Parker
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
The novel is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and plot are all either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons – living or dead – is purely coincidental.
First Edition.
Editor: Eric Martinez
Cover Designer: Ryn Katryn Digital Art
Have Your Way With Me Page 26
