Deep Blue Sea

by Tasmina Perry

  Liam opened his mouth to speak, but she held her hand up to stop him.

  ‘Let me finish, because if I don’t, I’m not sure I will ever say it. I loved being back in London but I love something else more. You make me so happy, Liam. You’re right, I was a snappy little crocodile when I came to Ko Tao, and then I wasn’t and that difference was you. I can’t bear the thought of losing you or of you not being in my life any more. And right now, just looking at you is making my heart beat so fast that I could fall off this jetty into the Gulf of Siam. And I know I don’t look like Diana or Sheryl or Alicia Dyer. I know I will never be posh or well-spoken like your friends in London. But we fit. And I just think that two people who fit together like us should be together. In life. In love . . .’

  She had barely noticed that he had walked right up to her.

  ‘Just stop talking for one minute so I can kiss you.’

  And the kiss was sweet. So sweet. As if it was nectar, as if she was coming home.

  ‘So you’ve changed your mind, then?’ she said eventually, her heart almost jumping out of her chest.

  There was silence. All she could hear was the lapping of the tide against the hull of the boat.

  ‘Everything I do is because I love you,’ he said, holding her face between his hands. ‘I had that disgusting fifty-baht curry the first night we met because I didn’t want to let you get away. I set up a business with you because I came here to make my life better and I knew that if I spent every day with you in it, then I couldn’t not be happy. I’ve been single in Thailand for three years not because I’m mourning for Alicia or any other girl in London, but because I don’t want to be with anybody else but you. And when I turned you down on the beach that night, it was purely because I thought we wanted different things, not because I wasn’t hopelessly in love with you.’

  ‘You told me we should stay friends.’

  ‘You’d just heard about Julian.’

  ‘That didn’t change the way I feel about you.’

  Liam shook his head, his blue eyes shining. ‘For three years I have listened to you dissing love, dissing marriage, keeping your distance from everyone, anyone, because you didn’t want to get hurt. When something happened between us, I didn’t think you wanted what I wanted, so I said that we should stay friends because I was protecting myself.’

  ‘What do you want?’ she said, hardly daring to breathe.

  ‘I want to be with you. In life. In love. Till we grow old. Forever.’

  She melted into his arms and it was as if they would never be apart. She could taste salt water from the tears that were leaking down her face, but it didn’t matter because Liam kissed them off gently and wiped her eyes with his thumb. Then he cupped her face in his hands once more and kissed her again properly.

  ‘Marry me,’ he said finally.

  She nodded. ‘It can be a family affair. Right here on the beach. Diana was thinking of coming out with Charlie this summer anyway for a month before the school holidays finish.’

  ‘Well let’s do it then,’ he grinned.

  Her pulse was racing with excitement as she started to make plans.

  ‘Actually, Diana gave me something. She said I wasn’t allowed to open it until I was with you.’

  ‘Go on then, do it now.’

  She opened the envelope. Inside was a key.

  ‘What is it?’

  ‘I’m not sure.’

  There was also a card, which she handed to Liam to read out.

  ‘“Here are the keys to the Sunset Bungalows. The property is yours. I agree with you that it’s a very good business investment indeed. The title deeds will arrive separately. Your sleeping partner. Diana.”’

  ‘She’s bought the bungalows. For us.’

  ‘What a wedding present.’

  ‘What a sister,’ she smiled, as they walked hand in hand down the beach.