She clenched her eyes shut, drinking him in. She pulled him back from her and stared into his eyes. “I love you, too.”
His smile made her heart dance a samba. She stood up and slid her shorts down then straddled him, taking him into her hand and guiding him inside of her. She moved on him, their eyes locked as his arms reached around her back, pulling her body close to him. She held onto the back of the couch as she moved on him, their bodies linked together as one. She wasn’t sure there was a way to get any closer to him, and she never wanted to be apart from him again.
28
“Damn, woman. You’ve gotten good at this,” Jesse said, watching Cassidy balance on the paddleboard. “I thought you were afraid of the water.”
“I was. I guess I still am, but I wanted to see your ocean like you see it out here,” she said, watching her feet as they adjusted on the board.
Goddamn he wanted to kiss her right now. He probably could, but he didn’t want to scare her. She’d done something for him, learning how to paddleboard while he was gone, and he wasn’t going to push his luck.
This life with her was what he never knew he’d been searching for. But here he was with her. He hadn’t been sure he could do it, but he’d somehow convinced her to trust him and to believe that she was what he wanted. This life with her was everything to him and a world more.
She gazed out into the vast ocean. “This ocean of yours isn’t bad.”
“Yeah?” he said with a grin.
“Yeah. It’s pretty breathtaking.”
He gazed at her. “Mmm hmm.”
She smiled over at him. “What are you looking at?”
He grinned. “Nothing.”
She smiled down at her feet. “I’m gonna be a tightrope walker before this is through.”
“You could. You about ready to head back in?”
“I’m kind of enjoying it out here.”
“You wouldn’t rather come back out on the boat?”
“Oh God yes,” she said, maneuvering herself around toward the shore. He smiled the whole way back in.
They walked their boards back to his bar and stacked them together on the rack he’d installed to hold both. It was goofy, but he loved seeing them there together.
He turned to her with a kiss. “I love you.”
“I love you, too,” she said, now free with her I love yous. It’d been a tough road to get there, but she was open now with her feelings. She’d gone all-in, it seemed, allowing herself to be with him. He pulled her to him, hands resting possessively on her ass. “Want to detour upstairs for a minute?”
“A minute? That’s all you’ve got for me now?”
He squeezed her ass. “A day? Hell, a week?”
She kissed him. “I was promised a boat ride.”
He kissed her back, walking her in a circle. “Mmm, okay. Let me get the keys from my office.”
They headed to the bar area, and as she parted from him to go to the ladies room, they mouthed, “I love you,” to one another. God, he knew he was getting exhausting for anyone who witnessed his PDA with her.
He opened the drawer and grabbed his keys along with the black box he’d had the past three days. He knew this was a humongous risk, and he was probably chancing his good luck, but he couldn’t stop himself no matter how hard he tried. He was ready for this. When he’d thought about marrying Lauren, he used to get hives. But when he thought about marrying Cassidy, he got nothing but a rush of happiness that couldn’t be contained.
* * *
Cassidy stared out at the ocean. She’d never spent so much time on the water or, heck, even outside. But Jesse made her want to experience life. She’d thought she’d lived a lot with as much travel as she’d done, but she hadn’t even started yet. Living was sharing an ocean with the man she loved. Living was the way her heart pounded when she saw him after they’d been apart even for a workday. Living was allowing herself to be happy with him.
He messed around in the cooler and then handed her a seltzer water. “Thanks,” she said with a smile.
“What are you smiling at?” he asked, sitting next to her.
“I’m just happy.”
He stared at her, his blue eyes searching hers. His head dropped down as if he was in thought, and then he met her gaze, taking her hands. “You’ve changed my life, Cassidy. You’ve made me a whole person again. I was bitter and floundering around without any focus or semblance of a meaningful life, and you’ve made me into a person I’m okay with looking in the mirror at.”
“You did that Jesse, not me.”
“I did that because of you.” He kissed her knuckles and then released a deep breath. “I don’t want to live another minute of my life without you.” He dropped her hands and turned around, lifting up the seat beside him, and then he turned back toward her, dropping to kneel in front of her.
Cassidy’s heart expanded in her chest like a balloon, thumping like a bass drum.
He opened the box to display a diamond ring she couldn’t dream of focusing on. He took her hand. “Will you marry me, Cassidy?”
She covered her mouth with a shaky hand, staring at the ring which was vintage and unassuming but one of the most beautiful sights she’d ever seen. “Jesse,” was all she could say, and it came out in a high-pitched whisper.
He rested the box on her knee, and his other hand on her thigh. “I swear I will spend every day of my life making you happy.”
She scratched the back of her head, staring at the ring, her whole body quivering. There were a million reasons to say no. He was too young. She was too old. They couldn’t have a baby together. She’d spend a lifetime feeling like she’d cheated him out of another life. But her heart was so full of love for this unbelievable man who’d dropped into her life and shaken her to a reality that felt like a dream. But he was real, and was hers, and selfish as it may be, she couldn’t let him go…not again.
She pressed her palm against her forehead, desperately trying to hold back her smile. “Jesse, are you sure about this?”
He dropped his head into her lap. “Oh my God, woman. Do you not see that I’m freaking mad over you?”
She played with his hair. “We could just move in together.”
He lifted his head up to face her and then sat down next to her. “I don’t want to just move in. I want you to be my wife. I want to commit my life to you. I want us to move forward together and I don’t want this bullshit in the back of your mind about me possibly leaving one day for some other life I don’t want and will never want. I want you. I want us. And I want us to be married. We can have a long engagement if you want, but I want commitment, not only to you, but from you.”
It dawned on her for the first time that he might be afraid she would change her mind and want a different life. She couldn’t fathom a life without him. She squeezed his knee. “I do have one thing I’d like to talk to you about first.” His brow furrowed in concentration at her words and she swallowed hard before moving forward. “Even though I don’t want to have a baby at my age, one thing I have thought about doing at some point, even before I met you…and this would be sometime a bit into the future…but I’ve thought about fostering. If we did get married and built a life together, would that be something you would consider doing with me?”
“Wow,” he said, looking off at the ocean. Her stomach plummeted. Had she just messed all this up? He turned back to her. “That’s really something you’ve wanted?”
“It’s something I’ve thought about. I haven’t been ready though, and I’m still not to be honest. But I think if I had someone to co-parent with, the idea of it would become a lot less daunting. And I wouldn’t want a baby. I’d be more comfortable with an older child, or maybe a couple of older children. I don’t know. We’d have to figure it out as we went. But do you have thoughts about that?”
He shrugged. “I think it would be really hard and really rewarding. It might be perfect for us.”
She smiled at him, shaking her head. “You
really are the most wonderful man. Do you know this about yourself?”
He moved her hair over her shoulder with one finger, brushing her neck, making her insides melt. “So?”
She closed her eyes, the no that should be on the tip of her tongue somewhere off in the vast distance. “Yes, I’d love to marry you, Jesse.”
The shock on his face almost made her a little nervous. Had he changed his mind?
“You will?” he asked like he couldn’t believe it.
She giggled. “Yes. Does the offer still stand?”
He put his head in his hands for a moment and then lifted up with a grin on his face like she’d never seen, making her heart practically fly out of her chest. “I wasn’t sure you’d say yes.”
“Are you crazy?” she asked.
“Really?” he asked.
She wiggled her fingers at him. “Yes, give me that beautiful ring.”
He slid it onto her finger, and it fit perfectly. “I stole one of your other rings I’ve seen you wear on that finger and took it with me when I got this.”
She shook her head. “God, I’m a lucky girl.”
She held her hand up in front of her, staring at this new ring, this new life she was headed into.
“That looks so good on you,” he said.
She turned to him. “Thank you, Jesse. Thank you for so much.” She could feel the tears coming, but this time she wanted to let them flow.
He wiped them away with his thumbs, searching her gaze. “I’m the thankful one.”
The Next Chapter…
Meade stood in the living room of a home in Alys Beach that may have been the most expensive house she would ever step foot in. This art party, which to Meade felt more like a gallery showing, was being sponsored by a couple named Gwendolen and Rob. Apparently, they threw Halloween and Christmas parties to thrill the masses of 30A and had address books thicker than some small cities’ phone books.
Good for Desiree and Marigold, who were a team of artist and agent who seemed to be pretty unstoppable. Meade would definitely be buying a piece if she ever banked any money…which was fairly unlikely, actually. 30A wasn’t cheap, but she’d found a long-term rental that her bartender gig would support as long as she worked plenty of shifts, if you could call pouring drinks on a beach work.
A server stepped up to her with a tray of wine glasses. She took a glass of white with a smile. He was hot, though at least ten years younger, not that she ever let that stand in her way. “Thanks so much. Hope you’re not working too hard.”
He smiled back. “Hardly working’s more like it.”
“Ah, in that case,” she said as she held up her glass with her best come get me eyes, “cheers.” She indicated the tray, daring him to take a drink.
He glanced down at the tray and then around the room, locking eyes with the lady who appeared to be the head caterer who gave him a stern shake of her head. He met Meade’s gaze. “I can’t right now.”
“I hope you can later,” she said, eyeing him up and down. Oh, how she loved the thrill of the chase.
He grinned. “I think I can.”
“That’s the spirit.”
Maya, her buzzkill of a sister, sidled up beside her, taking a glass off the tray. “Thank you so much,” she said in the tone of a dismissal, which had the cutie scurrying away.
Meade exhaled a deep breath and glanced around the living room with its glass walls and view of an infinity pool with the ocean as a backdrop. “I think I’ll take this as my next house.”
“It’s not like you couldn’t have this if you really wanted it.”
Meade had to work hard not to roll her eyes with regard to her sister’s nonstop comments about her life choices. For whatever reason, Maya had taken on the challenge of fixing Meade, which hadn’t worked out too well for her to date.
“Well, I guess for now I’ll just have to settle for my efficiency of a rental, which is lovely, by the way.”
“I didn’t say it wasn’t.”
Meade turned to her sister. “Wanna go outside by the pool, or can you take the heat?”
Maya peered out at the pool. “It is pretty hot out there.”
“I’m built for heat,” Meade said and then slipped away from her suffocating sister.
As she stepped out onto the pool deck, the July heat beat down on her like a punishment. She was getting used to the heat. She worked in it every day. But there was definitely a difference between sporting a tank top and shorts under a pavilion with a fan blowing, and being in it wearing a fancy dress with heels. Meade didn’t mind being grimy at work. At an elegant party, she minded a little. But she wouldn’t turn back now after she shamed her sister about not coming.
She stood staring out at the ocean wondering why she waited so long to come down here. Chicago was freaking freezing in the winter. She’d grown up in Indy, so she was no stranger to the cold, but it didn’t mean she’d ever gotten used to it. She’d have followed Maya down here the second she’d made the decision to move for Bo. But clueless as Meade could be in her relationships, she knew to give the two of them space while they figured their way forward. They were an old married couple now though, and Maya was trying unsuccessfully to get and stay pregnant. Meade’s heart broke for her sister and her struggles. She just wanted to be near Maya even though she drove her crazy.
“Hot enough for you,” came a man’s voice from behind her. She turned around to find a guy somewhere in the vicinity of her age as dressed up as she was.
She turned back toward the ocean. “I like the heat.”
He held out a hand. “I’m Ryder.”
She blinked, the name taking her off guard. He didn’t seem like a Ryder for some reason.
“I know, I probably look more like an Alex or a Felix or something like that. I think my mom hoped I’d grow up to ride a Harley and wear a motorcycle jacket.” He gave her a smile, or more like a little smirk, with just one side of his mouth.
She took his hand and shook it, getting a good look at him. He had a Clark Kent thing going on. Nerdy as hell, but probably cute somewhere underneath his glasses. “Meade,” she said, giving no further explanation.
He smiled. “Nice to meet you, Meade. Are you a friend of Gwendolen and Rob’s?”
“No, I’m an acquaintance of the artist.”
“Oh, really? I go way back with Desiree.”
This was a surprising turn of events. Desiree, who reminded Meade of Zoe Kravitz and was as chill and enigmatic, did not seem like the kind of person who would go way back with this chatty guy.
“You do?” Meade asked.
“Yeah. We went to high school together in New Orleans. When I moved here I heard she was living here too, so I looked her up.”
That made a little more sense, though this guy did not strike Meade as the New Orleans type.
“What brought you here?” she asked, a little curious, but not too much.
“The ocean. I’m a marine biologist. I’m studying the long-term effects of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill of 2010.”
“Mmm,” she said with a nod, glancing around. She hoped Maya wouldn’t see her talking to this guy. This was just exactly the type of man Maya would squeal over. Meade didn’t go for guys with brains. Sure, she was cerebral, but that was a part of her life she compartmentalized, and for very good reason.
“I’ve seen you before, actually,” he said.
She gave him a sideways glance. “Excuse me?”
“At the library. I volunteer there.” He pointed at her. “The Excellent Doctor Blackwell: The Life of the First Woman Physician.”
This was creepy. That was a book she’d read at the library last week. It wasn’t even like he checked it out for her because she didn’t have a library card since she wasn’t a real resident.
She jerked a thumb over her shoulder. “I’m gonna head back inside.”
He held up both hands. “I’m sorry. That was probably weird. I promise I wasn’t stalking you. It’s just that you dropped it o
ff in the cart to be re-shelved right as I was walking up to it, so I just sort of noticed it. I like to see what people are interested in reading.”
She gauged him. Maybe he wasn’t creepy. He was definitely cute, but she didn’t do nerdy, and this guy was for sure a nerd.
“Okay,” she said, glancing inside to see what that server was up to—flirting with another girl, of course. Rats.
“Well, I just thought I’d say hi. I’m going back inside.” He waved and headed off before she had the chance to protest. Not that she was planning on doing so, but with the hottie waiter otherwise occupied, she might have at least talked to him a minute. She watched through the glass window as he met up with Desiree inside, and she wrapped her arm around him, giving him a kiss on the cheek. Maybe he was cuter than she’d originally thought.
Nah, he wasn’t her type.
Will Ryder finally be the one to settle Meade’s restless heart?
Rosemary Beach Kisses coming soon!
Also Available from Melissa Chambers:
Love Along Hwy 30A Series:
Seaside Sweets
Seacrest Sunsets
Seagrove Secrets
WaterColor Wishes
Young Adult titles:
The Summer Before Forever (Before Forever #1)
Falling for Forever (Before Forever #2)
Courting Carlyn (Standalone)
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Acknowledgments
When I started this series, it was never my intention to write Cassidy’s story. I thought she would make a great wise old owl confidant for the younger characters in this series. But by far, Cassidy’s story has been the most requested by readers (with Sebastian coming in second. I hear you on Sebastian!).
Grayton Beach Dreams Page 21
