by Rose Wulf
“Nate Hawke,” Madison began as she extracted his boxers from the pile, “you’re in no condition to be flirting like that. Of course I’m going to help you.”
Nate chuckled and pushed to his feet, letting the blanket drop behind him.
****
By Wednesday, Nate and Madison were back home, and Nate was helping Madison transfer her things from the guest house to the main house. Madison had opted to leave the bulk of her furniture behind, since it would be easier on her mother if the guest house was already furnished, and Nate had plenty of furniture for the two of them. And that decision made moving a lot easier.
Madison was zipping another suitcase full of clothes when her phone rang, and a quick glance at her Caller ID only confused her more. She put the phone to her ear and asked, “Logan?”
Logan’s deep voice easily responded with a question of his own. “When, exactly, is your mother supposed to be moving to town?”
She paused now and hesitated a moment before asking, “Why?”
“I have an email from her saying she can start as early as Monday,” Logan declared.
Madison’s eyes opened wide. “As in this Monday?”
“Yep.”
Releasing a poorly muffled groan, Madison replied, “I guess she’s moving up sooner than I thought. But she hasn’t told me, so I don’t know. I’ll call her.”
“Whatever you want to do,” Logan said easily. “I already replied and told her Monday was fine, but I thought you might want a heads-up.”
Madison thanked him and disconnected, quickly hitting the speed dial for her mother. It rang through to voicemail, so she left a message and hung up. She was still staring in disbelief at her phone when Nate walked back into the room.
Tilting his head at her curiously, Nate asked, “Something wrong?”
Returning her phone to her pocket, Madison looked over at him and said, “It’s a good thing we’re moving me out today. I have a feeling you’ll be meeting my mother sooner than we thought. Apparently she starts work on Monday.”
“This Monday?” Nate asked incredulously, unknowingly echoing her earlier words.
Madison grinned. “Yeah. And now she’s not answering, which makes me think I’m going to get a call in the next day or two telling me I need to pick her up from the airport.”
“You think she’d do that?” Nate asked.
“She’s done it before,” Madison replied with a nod.
Nate shook his head and reached over, hauling the suitcase off of the bed as he said, “Well, then we’d better hurry up and get you out of here.”
Even as he turned to take her suitcase into his—their—house, Madison pushed to her feet and moved to start working on the next things that needed packing. Cutting out furniture certainly saved time on moving, but she wanted to be sure to get all of her personal things. And she was always amazed at how much she actually had when she suddenly had to pack it up again.
****
Wednesday rolled into Thursday and, after spending the morning cleaning the guest house, Nate talked Madison into letting him take her parasailing. Kirk, Nate’s self-declared co-pilot, met them at the beach and Madison watched as the two men gathered the necessary equipment. Ridiculous nerves flitted in Madison’s stomach but she did her best to ignore them. It was true she’d never been parasailing before, but she’d never been afraid of heights, either. And certainly she’d be fine with Nate around.
Before she knew it, Madison was strapped in and Kirk was climbing behind the wheel of the boat, while Nate claimed a seat near the back. Nate grinned at her and winked as Kirk cranked the engine over, and then they were moving and Madison couldn’t help but cry out, just a little, as she quickly found herself airborne. And, once she was able to acclimate herself to the strange sensation, she had to admit that it was an incredibly clever ruse. If she hadn’t already known for herself about Nate’s power, she would never have guessed.
The air against her face and exposed skin was surprisingly exhilarating, and she was laughing almost from the beginning. Were it not for the awkward straps around her body, she would probably honestly think she was flying. And, she supposed, most people probably did. But those people didn’t know what it was like to be held above the ground with nothing but someone else’s arms wrapped around them. Now that was flying. Still, she decided as she inhaled a deep breath of the crisp, slightly salty, ocean air, this is pretty fun.
After several minutes, however, she realized they were slowing down. Madison looked around as she slowed until she was only hovering in the air. And she, as well as the boat she was tethered to, was nestled in a large open-faced cove. What’s going on? She couldn’t help but feel a twinge of panic in her chest as she wondered if perhaps something was wrong. But then she saw Nate coming up to her, and he didn’t look anxious or angry, so she told herself not to overreact. Maybe he just wants to show me something.
“Having fun?” Nate asked lightly as he reached her.
Her smile was easy as she replied, “Yes. But why are we stopped?”
“Because we’ve reached our destination,” Nate declared with a laughing glint in his eyes and a matching grin.
She scowled pointedly at him. “Very funny.” He reached out and trailed the fingers of one hand lightly over the side of her face, his teasing laughter gone in favor of a serious, tender expression that made her heart flutter. “Nate?” she asked quietly.
“Maddie,” he began in a similar tone, “you know I love you. And I was thinking, since we’ve done everything else in fast-forward, maybe it’d be okay if I didn’t wait so long to ask you something.”
Madison had to swallow as she found herself suddenly suspicious. The look in his eyes and their heartwarmingly romantic location were starting to play tricks with her heart. She didn’t dare speak, so she waited for him to continue, all the while hoping. Hoping for something that she had once—and not that long ago—thought she might not even want at all.
Nate took a deep breath and reached down to sweep her hands into his. He held her gaze and managed to keep his voice calm as he said, “Madison Price, will you marry me?”
She had to swallow again just to find her voice and she squeezed his hands as she breathlessly replied, “Absolutely.”
He broke into a broad grin for a split second before he tugged her forward and crashed his lips over hers. Her hands pulled free of his and her arms wound around his shoulders as she returned his kiss, but when his hands went to wrap around her they were rudely reminded of the gear she was still strapped to.
They broke apart, laughing at themselves, and Nate said, “I think I need to get you home. We’ve still got a few hours to kill before dinner.”
Madison clucked her tongue at him and teased, “I do believe you’re forgetting something?” She lifted her left hand and wiggled her ring finger pointedly.
Nate laughed again and one hand disappeared, briefly, into his pocket. “Whoops,” he said with a broad smile. He kept the ring hidden by his hand until he’d slipped it onto her finger, and his teasing laughter was gone, replaced with a tender smile as he whispered, “That’s better.”
She took a moment to glance down at the sparkling diamond, letting the memory settle over her heart. This was nothing like the way she had felt when Doug had proposed to her. Back then, she’d been giddy and giggling, despite that she had had to drop a couple dozen hints just to get the ring. She hadn’t given a thought to their future, other than that they would be sharing it. She couldn’t have been more wrong before. But she knew in her heart this wouldn’t end like that. Nate was nothing like Doug. And she could see a true future with him. She could see them living together as they grew old. She could see them raising children and babysitting grandchildren. She could see it all, and she wanted it all.
“Nate,” she said softly, lifting her eyes back to his with a smile, “let’s go home.”
The End
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