If she was worried about him interrupting, she needn't have. His mouth dangled half open, not believing what he was hearing.
“When we go back to work on Monday, we have to figure out a legal way to get out of this. Maybe it can be annulled. Maybe we have to go to the CO and describe it as a stupid mistake we let get out of hand. Hopefully, nobody will find out about this and we can try to forget it ever happened. And then we can have to try to get out of the lease for the apartment.
She took another deep breath and focused on his face. Her green eyes were filled with both sadness and a steely resolve, reminding him how she could be so vulnerable and yet so determined. Slade yearned to reach out and touch her, do something to alleviate the pain in her eyes. Anything. His brain still hadn't even processed what the hell was going on so he didn’t even know how he should respond. How the hell were they laughing one minute ago when the discussion had suddenly turned so serious? Worst of all, he was losing her. The pain was greater than he thought possible.
“I'm sorry I let this get out of hand,” she continued. “I think we need to spend some time apart. Because I have to find a way to move on with my life and get over you. And the more time I spend with you, the more difficult it will be for that to happen.”
She pushed her chair back and stood up.
“I'm sorry I messed up your plans. It's all my fault. My bags are out of the room so it's all yours. I'm going back to the hotel to get them and leave. Bye, Slade.”
His eyes followed her as she exited the restaurant and he noticed a few businessmen turn to watch her. Jealousy was the least of his concerns at the moment. The woman he cared about, more than any other, just walked out of his life. Forever.
Fuck!
He took a sip of his beer again, studying the liquid again while he tried to process what the hell was going on.
Caitlyn cut him out of her life. She rejected all his stupid ideas of getting married and getting an apartment. All the damage they'd caused last week they'd have to rectify somehow.
But most of all—she admitted she had feelings for him. That she had fantasized about being with him. Had she wanted him this whole time as he had wanted her? Did she say she was hoping their marriage sham was real? Did she love him?
What did it matter now—she had left him. For good. While he sat there like an idiot drinking a stupid beer. He threw more than enough yen on the table and then he ran out to find her.
Where did she go? Scanning the area around the restaurant, he searched for the light-haired American woman in a blue and yellow dress.
He couldn't find her. so he took off in the direction that led to the hotel.
****
Caitlyn didn't know how she got through that speech, revealing her feelings for him and then saying they needed distance. She hurried down to Kokusai-dori, heading back toward the hotel, resigned that their relationship was irrevocably damaged. The part that hurt the most was how she had to lose him as a friend. He was the closest one she'd had in so long. Having him so near for all these months, but unable to touch had been difficult enough. Losing him as a friend would cut even more deeply, but it had to be done. She couldn't go on with the charade any longer.
“Caitlyn. Caitlyn!”
When she heard her name, she froze mid-step, to the annoyance of the pedestrians behind her.
“Wait!”
She turned around to see Slade bounding up to her in massive strides, the muscles visibly extended in his powerful legs. He towered head and shoulders above most of the people around him, with broad shoulders outlined by his dark green button-up shirt.
“What do you want, Slade?”
“Come. Come with me, please?” He took her hand and led her away from the main road where fewer people clogged the sidewalks.
Caitlyn rubbed a callous on his hand absently while her mind swam with reasons why he returned.
He faced her and swept a loose tendril of her hair off her cheek.
“I haven't been honest with you either,” he said.
“Oh. How so?”
His feet had been planted in a firm stance, but then he shifted from one foot to the other.
“I have feelings for you, too. Always have. I didn't want to be another one of those guys hitting on you. To tell you the truth, they aren't just feelings. It's an all-encompassing part of me, what I feel. You. You're a part of me. I'm in love with you, Caitlyn. And maybe my stupid ruse was a way I justified of getting as close to you as I could. And to hold on to you, be with you for as long as I can in this crazy military world where people are deployed from one location to the next.”
Caitlyn had stopped breathing. Her hands trembled while excitement shot through her core. Did Slade Masters tell her he loved her?
“I want to be with you. And not only while we're deployed here in Okinawa. But always,” he continued. “Wherever they send us in the world.”
“I—oh my God—I can't believe this is happening,” Caitlyn said. “Oh God, I can't think.” She put her shaking hand on her chest.
“Oh no. You're not about to have another sneezing fit, are you?”
“No!” She cried. “I love you, too, Slade. You big control freak.” She laughed. “With all my being.”
When Slade bent down on one knee, Caitlyn threw her hand over her mouth. People walking by had stopped to stare. They were in the middle of Naha, one of the busiest cities she'd ever been in during her life. Despite all the flashing lights vying for attention around them, she was well aware that most of the eyes were on them, the crazy American who just dropped to his knee in the middle of the sidewalk in front of a woman. She caught the eye of a little girl, around eight or nine, with her mother, and they both grinned widely.
A young girl’s dream, Caitlyn thought.
He took her hand. “Caitlyn O'Neill Masters, will you marry me—again? For real. Not some sham. For love, not convenience. And not for some duration of time. Forever.”
Tears welled up in her eyes and she tried to hold them back. So many emotions rushed through her at once that she tried to rein them in before giving up. A smile spread across her face, tears fell down her cheeks, and she laughed as she cried in happiness.
Slade brushed a tear off her skin and brought his finger to his lips.
“Shit, I didn’t mean to make you cry.”
Caitlyn waved dismissively. “Happy tears, Slade. Not sad.”
“I want to do this right,” he said, looking around the Okinawan shops. “I need to get you another ring.”
“Oh, don’t be silly,” Caitlyn said. “Your grandmother’s ring means so much to you—so much to me.” She removed it from her finger and handed it to him and he slipped it back on her finger.
“Will you marry me, Caitlyn?”
Her buoyant mood then burst through her face in a grin a mile wide. “Yes, Slade, of course, I’ll marry you.”
Slade let out a big yee haw and picked Caitlyn up, spinning her around the sidewalk.
“We're getting married!” he announced to the passersby.
Enough Okinawans knew English that they understood. They cheered and clapped. A few said, “Congratulations.”
Slade put her down on her feet and captured her eyes with his. The happiness that danced in his blue-grey eyes darkened to one far more intense and predatory, the way they had last night. Her throbbing heart must have stopped beating. How could she function when he stared at her that way? It stripped her mind of any rational thought.
Could this be real? That Slade wanted her, loved her, and wanted to be with her always? He actually wanted to marry her and not as some scheme.
He leaned closer and her lips trembled, anticipating the moment his lips touched hers. His lips were far too sensuous not to kiss every day. A promise she intended to keep. Her eyelids fluttered closed.
When she finally felt them, she lost herself in the kiss, forgetting all the people around them until she heard more clapping and cheers. She pulled away, laughing, and wiped the remaini
ng moisture from her eyes.
“I hope this means you're coming back to the hotel with me,” he said.
“Of course,” she said, reflecting the buoyancy inside her. “We’re still technically on our honeymoon.”
“We’ll go away for our next one. Wherever you want to go?”
“Ooh, a second honeymoon?” She raised an eyebrow. “Maybe we didn’t screw up by having a fake marriage first after all.”
He took her hand and they strolled back to the hotel.
“Looks like my ass-backward plan paid off in the end,” he said with a lopsided grin.
“Not exactly,” Caitlyn countered. “We only needed to get a one bedroom apartment.”
He threw his head back when he laughed, revealing his white teeth that contrasted with his tan skin. “True.”
****
During the walk, Slade tossed around ideas for their wedding. “This time let's pull out all the pomp and circumstance, have a real military wedding. I'll wear my dress blues and you can wear—” He turned to her, “What do you want to wear? Your dress blues or a wedding dress.”
Caitlyn’s eyes widened in surprise and then she her mouth curved up into a smile. “Oh, I have a say in this?”
“Of course. But, I want it to be right. I want it to be traditional. The swords, the salutes. The whole shebang. Plus, I want our families to be there with us. Maybe we should book leave and get married in the States. Or, maybe we should invite them here to Okinawa. Hmm, let me think this out.”
“You'll plan out every detail again, won't you?”
“I'm still the same old me.”
“I know,” Caitlyn said and pecked him on the cheek. “And I wouldn't want you any other way.”
Slade bent down to return the kiss her on the forehead in a caring, protective manner. “I'm going to try to be a better man. A partner. I know I can't control everything and marriage is a partnership.” He held her hand. “So forget everything I said and tell me how you want our wedding.”
Caitlyn's smile grew even wider. “Well,” she began with a mischievous glint in her eyes. “First, we have to talk food and figure out what kind of caterer to get.”
“I'm glad to see you have your appetite back.” The corner of his mouth curved into a grin.
Caitlyn summoned the naughtiest look she could muster. “For more than just food.”
Slade's mouth dropped halfway open. “I'm loving married life already.”
“Let’s hurry back to the hotel.”
After another block, Slade stopped to face her. “Oh no, I just thought of something.”
“What?”
“What if you get nervous walking down the aisle and—”
Caitlyn knew exactly what he was going to say. She erupted in laughter before finishing the sentence. “Sneeze!”
About The Author
Lisa Carlisle served in the Marines on the remote tropical island of Okinawa, Japan, Parris Island, and the California desert. She then backpacked alone around Europe and lived in Paris, the city of her dreams. She currently lives with husband and children outside of Boston and loves to escape to local cafés to write paranormal and military romances.
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Table of Contents
A Marine’s Proposal
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
About The Author
Red Sage Publishing
A Marine’s Proposal Page 10
