“Is that right?” Her voice said he wasn’t making much headway.
Joel waved his hands. “Please, I know I’m screwing this up somehow, just let me try to get it out. See my grandma took care of me because she had to—family obligation—and she loved me in her way, but it was like you love a dog or a horse.” Thankfully he stopped himself before he said cat—she really didn’t need the reminder. “But no one really loved me when I was growing up, not like your mom and brother love you. No one took care of me, the way you take care of me. I guess I thought I didn’t really deserve it, that there was a reason no one really loved me, and I was okay with that. I could live alone, get together with my SEAL buddies once or twice a year for camaraderie, and I’d be fine.” He would have been, until he’d met her and realized what he was missing.
He felt the sweat slide down his bald head and hit his eyebrow. He lifted his fingers and wiped the moisture away, brushing it onto his pants. “But then I met you and it was like the sun burst out of the clouds and I had something real, someone so good and sweet to believe in. I love everything about you, Sage, from your wild curls to your obsessive talk about fate and ghosts, to the funny things you eat. I love how you try with your sisters and want to protect everyone, and how you’re feisty when someone ticks you off.” He sucked in a breath and plunged forward, no point holding back now, was there? “I just love you, baby. I can’t imagine living without you ever again. There’s nothing better than being with you, even if you’re just sitting nearby.”
Sage’s expression had changed from anger to curiosity to something he couldn’t read, but it was soft and a bit disbelieving. That had to be a good thing, right?
He took her hands in his and gave them a squeeze, finding hers cool to the touch. “Marry me? Please don’t leave me alone. I love you.” He’d never said those three words before, not to anyone, and was surprised at how easy it was to say them now. It should have been much harder.
She looked at him cautiously, studying his face. “So you proposed because you want to be with me, and you love me, not because you think you should, or because it’s the right thing to do or what my dad wanted?”
Joel felt the breath he’d been holding rush out in relief when she restated it. “Yeah. To be honest, everyone else could go hang themselves—I don’t care what they think. I just want to be with you. Always.”
“Well, that leaves me with only one answer.” Her face was inscrutable, making his stomach clench in worry and his mind jump ahead to what he might say next to convince her, what he might do if she refused.
A smile blossomed on her face. “Yes. I’ll marry you.”
Joel felt the rest of his tension rush out of him. “Really?”
“Yes, really. But you still have to get me a ring.”
“We’ll get one tomorrow.” He moved in on her, desperate for a kiss to seal the deal.
“Okay.” Sage loosed her hands from his to throw them around his neck. His slid to her waist, cupping her narrow curves. Drawing her close, he kissed her with everything he had, bending to meet her lips, though he knew she was stretching onto her toes to reach him. In the kiss, he could feel her passion, love, excitement and the pure joy that he felt being mirrored back to him as she molded her body to his.
“Really, really?” he asked when the kiss ended, hardly believing his luck.
“Yes,” she said with a laugh.
Would she change her mind? An urgency inside him demanded they finalize things, to make sure she couldn’t get away. He knew how she felt about commitments and how she would do everything in her power to make it work once he had ring on her finger. Making it official was the only thing on his mind. “Maybe while we’re heading out of town anyway, we should book a flight to Vegas and get married right away—tomorrow night.” He sat back on the edge of her desk and pulled her between his knees so they were closer to the same height. “No need for frills. What do you say?”
“And we can be married in one of those boats shaped like swans in the tunnel of love and have a fake Elvis seal the deal,” she said in a super cheery voice, before reverting to her own. “Not gonna happen.”
He started nibbling on her ear. “Why not? It would be much less fuss than what Cami’s going through. Do you really want a huge white wedding with hundreds of people in attendance?” He slid his bands up her back, trailing lightly over her spine.
She squirmed slightly, causing his lips to curve against her neck, then he kissed a trail up the side and along her jaw to her mouth.
“No, I don’t need everyone there,” she said, a bit breathily against his lips. “But I do want my mom, Harrison and my sisters there.”
“Come on, this would be way easier.” He took her mouth with his again and was setting about persuading her when the door opened.
“Hey, Sage, your two-o’clock ...”
Joel looked up and saw Wendy’s mouth hanging open and several of the employees standing behind her, staring at them. He looked her right in the eye. “Shut the door. She’ll be out in a moment.”
Sage buried her face in his chest before the door shut. “I can’t believe everyone saw us making out.” She pushed against him, but he didn’t let her go.
“Are you afraid they’ll know that you like me before you start wearing my ring? If we’re going to run to Vegas tomorrow—”
“We’re not going to Vegas to get married.” Sage protested as she continued to push against him, though her efforts were weakening as he started kissing the hollow spot in her neck again.
“Where do you prefer? Reno? Atlantic City?”
“Here, in the hotel. Joel, I have to go. I have an appointment.” Her protest was feeble, though.
“They can wait.” He kissed her once more for a long moment, then reluctantly released her. “Fine, we can marry at your sisters’ house, with everyone important there. In a week. It’ll be tight, but I’d like to give my SEAL buddies a chance to come before they ship out if we’re going to do the whole family thing. Is that too soon? Because I need to do this, to know that you’re really not going anywhere.”
She breathed heavily for a moment, studying him, then shook her head. “I can do a week. If it’s that important to you.”
He grinned in relief. “Good. I guess I ought to get back to work.” But he wished he could whisk her to his place instead to finish what they started. “I’ll pick you up after. Maybe we can run to Denver for that ring tonight.”
She shook her head. “You have poker with the guys tonight, remember? Cami said you were joining them.”
Joel cursed. “They can do without me. You don’t have to have four to hold a game.”
“But we’re doing a cake tasting and planning the menu for Cami’s wedding tonight, and I said I’d be there.” She pressed her hand to his cheek and rubbed her thumb over his bottom lip, weakening his resolve to leave her to return to work. “We’ll go tomorrow. I promise.”
“All right.” He stole one more quick kiss, then opened the office door and hobbled out of the spa with only a nod at Wendy. He glanced back over his shoulder to see Sage emerging, straightening her polo shirt while Wendy fanned herself with one of the brochures from the counter.
“That was seriously hot. You must be doing something right!” Wendy said.
Joel adjusted his suit jacket and returned back to his office to cool off before starting rounds. He was getting married next weekend and contrary to what he’d always expected, all he felt was happiness.
The air practically vibrated with the methodical sound of the Joel moving around downstairs. Sage sat on the bed, her legs crossed and willed the cosmos to give her something to confirm or disprove that Mick was the right person—the one who had been terrifying her with letters and presents for the past year. Something about the previous night’s events bothered her, but she couldn’t figure it out.
The heater hummed as it blew warmth into the room and wind blew through the eaves. She caught glimpses of people at work, a vase shattering, and
a cake covered in fresh flowers and lace.
She saw nothing about Mick, or anything else that might be helpful.
Giving up, she rubbed her eyes. She’d tried this so many times, despite the fact that it never worked—not when she was looking for anything that had to do with her. Why did she have this irrational, desperate need to search for information she knew she wouldn’t be able to get?
Joel walked in, pausing at the door when he saw her. “Am I interrupting?”
“No, I’m done.” She sighed. “I can’t get a handle on this. Something just doesn’t feel right.”
Joel hobbled over and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “I know, but don’t worry. I’m not giving up until I find out.”
After the sisters had all eaten as many cake samples as they could stand that evening, Sage sat back and watched them cast their votes for Cami’s wedding cake. When the overwhelming winners were the rum and the black forest flavors, she asked, “Is that because they’re the best, or because they are the most like Cami and Vince? Would we pick the same ones for everyone? Say, for me and Joel?” She was testing the waters, wondering if everyone would be in shock because they hadn’t really been together for more than a couple weeks, though she knew him better than anyone and had loved him for months.
She still hadn’t told anyone about the engagement since she didn’t have a ring, yet, but she didn’t think Joel would mind—he was the one pressing for a quick wedding, after all.
“No, of course not,” Rosemary said, flipping her hair back. “You’d be pumpkin spice and…”
“Red velvet,” Delphi added.
“Oh, yeah. Much more likely.” Jonquil shifted her cast and lifted her brows at Sage. “Is this a hypothetical question or are you making tentative plans for next spring? The way he looked at you when he dragged you into your office today, well.” She wiggled her brows.
“What?” Rosemary asked. “Are you holding back on us? I mean, you’ve been staying at his place and we kind of figured it wasn’t all about our protection.” She tipped her head. “But planning cake flavors smacks of something much, much more.”
Sage looked over at Cami, who appeared eager for answers. She let out a slow breath while she tried to decide how to tell them what was going on. “You aren’t one of those brides who feel like someone stole their thunder if they get married first, are you?”
Cami’s mouth dropped and Jonquil grabbed Sage’s left hand and turned it over. “No ring, so it’s not official yet.”
“No, I wouldn’t get upset,” Cami said. “Unless you choose the day before and everyone’s too tired from celebrating your wedding to give mine proper attention.” But her eyes twinkled with excitement, belying the statement.
“Actually, we’re going ring shopping tomorrow,” Sage said to Jonquil, who jumped up and started to dance. “And Joel was talking about next weekend.”
Rosemary waved her arms in denial. “Next weekend? To get married? That’s only eight days—if it’s a Saturday wedding. Nine for Sunday. I mean, I can do a cake that fast, but it’s really going to strain my genius. Flowers take time to make and dry—and you’re the kind of person to have flowers on your cake. They’re practically required. I haven’t even thought about a style and—” she turned to Sage. “Are you really serious? I mean, you almost might as well just run off to Vegas.”
Sage smiled at the scattered thought pattern. “Joel did mention that. It was his first choice, actually. I nixed the idea.”
“I should hope so. No sister of mine is eloping to Vegas,” Cami said, scowling. “She better have it where the rest of us can attend or I’ll have to beat on her.”
“Vegas isn’t such a bad place to get married,” Lana protested. “I mean, thousands of people travel there for weddings all the time. It’s a wedding destination.”
“Destination weddings are stupid, if you ask me.” Delphi grabbed one of the mini carrots from the tray Cami had set out beside the cake flavors. “I’ve set them up for people before but it’s totally inconsiderate of your family and friends. It’s one thing to travel an hour or two to go somewhere special like here, it’s another story entirely to make everyone in your wedding party fly to Hawaii or the Virgin Islands to see you tie the knot.”
“Because everyone ought to be able to attend something as important as a wedding,” Cami agreed with a nod.
“Well, we talked about doing it here, in the house with all of you, my mom and Harrison, some of the hotel people, and his SEAL buddies, if they can make it. Just small and fun and nothing extensive.” Sage was relieved they were all taking it so well—the last thing she needed was friction about her decision.
“Understandable, but why so fast? I mean, you’re already living together,” Lana asked.
Sage took a moment to put her impressions into words. “Two things, really. Joel wants to have his SEAL buddies here and their leave ends in ten days. Also, I think he’s afraid I’ll change my mind. Something he said... as self-confident as he seems, he’s really not when it comes to relationships. He needs that public commitment from me. Since I never had dreams of a huge wedding, I’m fine with that, happy even, as long as everyone important can be there.”
“You said nothing extensive. That’s up for interpretation, right? Because I could really pull off some fun things,” Delphi said, standing up and looking around the room, as if trying to plan it out in her head. “It’s a small space, so it won’t take nearly as much work to dress it up as the ballroom would.”
“Now you’ve done it. Delphi’s in turbo mode,” Rosemary said.
“And I know exactly which flowers to use.” Jonquil touched Rosemary’s arm. “We’ll use fresh on her cake instead of sugar. I know you’re amazing, but you do have two other weddings next weekend and a kitchen to run.” She looked at Sage. “Do you trust me to pick something appropriate?”
When Sage agreed, it wasn’t entirely because she still felt guilty for Jonquil’s injury.
“And we have that convention,” Rosemary grumbled. “You’re right, and fresh flowers will be best, more her style. We’ll talk.”
Sage sat back while everyone started discussing wedding plans around her, only occasionally talking to her or asking a question. Rosemary and Delphi bickered over colors and fabrics and Jonquil began sketching bouquets and scribbling flower lists. After a moment, Sage decided to be amused. Not being responsible for anything but her dress would make the next week a whole lot less stressful anyway. And she’d had more than enough stress to deal with already.
Joel had stared in disbelief when Vince told him they played for pennies and no one lost more than ten dollars in their games, but when Jeremy came in and looked him over, Joel wondered why he had started laughing. “What’s the deal?”
“So they invited you to our secret guild, did they?” Jeremy asked. “Vince didn’t say who he was bringing, just that you’d fit in. I’m guessing it must be Sage, considering the way you hover around her.”
“What must be Sage?” Joel asked. He was usually good at guy subtext, but this was beyond him.
Vince set the packs of cards on the table along with a box of poker chips. “We call this the future sons-in-law club, because George picked us each out for his daughters. Jeremy here is still in denial, but George thought he would make a perfect match with Delphi.”
Joel nearly spit his drink over everyone at that revelation. But then, George had orchestrated everything else for his daughters, why not this? “I should have known.” He pounded his chest when some of the drink went down the wrong pipe. “Of course George made plans for all of his daughters and not just for me and Sage.” He looked at Blake. “What’s up with you and Lana?”
Blake’s mouth formed a grim line. “We’re not doing well at the moment, but she’ll come around.”
“So he says. And George figured Jonquil and Gage were a match made in heaven. The man was crazy, if you ask me.” Jeremy ripped open the bag of chips he’d brought in and took his chair.
Joel considered. “Actually, you and Delphi make some sense together. There’s the love of the motorbike, if nothing else.”
“She may be beautiful and know a lot about bikes, but she’s way too bossy and anal retentive, like an ice princess.” Jeremy peeled back the plastic on the dip and dug a chip into it. “When’s your big day gonna be? Popped the question yet, or are you still playing the field like me?”
There was no time like the present, Joel figured. “Next Saturday. At least, that’s what we discussed when I asked her to marry me today. I wanted to do it while my SEAL buddies are still home on leave.” The fact that Wade wouldn’t be there would make the day bittersweet, but if there was anything losing his best friend had taught him, it was to seize the day.
Jeremy stopped with the chip halfway to his mouth and stared. “You’re completely nuts. Unbelievable.”
Vince and Blake’s responses were a little more supportive and after they did a toast with their beer, they sat down to cards.
“I bet Delphi’s in crazy mode already, trying to micromanage the wedding when it’s so close. I bet she doesn’t sleep all week.” Jeremy’s phone beeped and he frowned as he looked at it. “And that’s a notice that she’s added your wedding to my photo schedule next weekend. I have three others—one of which isn’t even for your resort. I hate weekends.”
“You love it. There’s nothing you like more than standing behind the camera,” Vince corrected him. “And you can’t help but like Sage. You’ll do it because she’s a sweetie.”
“Yeah.” Jeremy chuckled and started passing out poker chips. “But I gotta tell you, Joel, glad it’s you and not me.”
SEALed With Love (DiCarlo Brides book 2) (The DiCarlo Brides) Page 20
