Total pages in book: 128
Estimated words: 125020 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 625(@200wpm)___ 500(@250wpm)___ 417(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 125020 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 625(@200wpm)___ 500(@250wpm)___ 417(@300wpm)
He gives a deep belly laugh. “Trust me. We jump together and solidify our bond. It’s going to be awesome.”
“God, I must be crazy. I’m really going to do this with you.”
“Crazy in love,” he chuckles.
Chapter 56
Adrenaline Rush
Shawna
I want to be a chicken and run, but Josh is asking me to take a leap of faith and I’m going to take it with him. I just refuse to look down over this cliff. I’m willing to go over if I don’t see how far down it is.
I don’t know how Ven does this shit. She’s told me time and time again about the rush she gets from doing things like this. I guess getting engaged was a leap off a cliff I never thought I’d take.
“You ready?” Josh says in my ear as he walks up behind me after talking to the guy who brought us here.
“No,” I snort.
He turns me to face him and palms the back of my neck to kiss me. “I’d never allow anything to happen to you,” he breathes against my lips.
Lifting me onto his waist, he moves to the edge of the cliff. He turns his back to the edge and palms my ass. My head starts to spin.
“Josh, wait, I don’t know,” I blurt out.
“You don’t know what? If you want to jump or if you want to get married before we return to Vander?”
“What?” I gasp.
“Marry me tomorrow. A small wedding in Crete. If you want something bigger, we can do that too. I just want you as my wife before we return,” he says as he looks deeply into my eyes.
“Are you for real?”
“Yes.”
“Okay.” I nod.
He kisses me, then does a backflip off the cliff. As we free-fall, our entire relationship flashes before my eyes. I love this man so much.
My heart races with excitement. I can’t believe I’m doing any of this. The laugh that bubbles up makes me feel crazy but happier than I’ve ever been.
“I’m getting married,” I yell.
Josh takes my lips right before we hit the water. It’s the most exhilarating feeling in the world. This day couldn’t be more perfect.
* * *
“We’re really going to do this?” I squeal as Josh lifts me into his arms after we make it back to dry land.
“Yeah, baby. We are. Pappoús is going to handle everything. He’s been preparing since we arrived,” he says with a big smile on his face.
“How did you know I’d say yes?”
“I was hoping you would. If you didn’t, I was going to leave your ass on this island,” he teases.
“You would never.” I frown at him.
He kisses my nose. “No, I wouldn’t. I couldn’t breathe without you.”
I wrap my arms around his neck and my legs around his waist. This day has been so surreal. My belly is full of butterflies. It feels like I’m about to be consumed by joy.
“How was it? Amazing, right?”
“Only because it was with you. By the way, you’ve totally been cheating. You keep throwing me curveballs just before the leap.”
He laughs. “A master of distraction. You love me though. That’s all that counts.”
“Maybe I do, but I’m going to stop going with you when I realize you want to do something like this.”
“Live, Shawn, live.” He laughs and his eyes sparkle with it.
I look him over and smile. I have been living and it’s because of him. I’ve never had so much confidence in myself.
“My mom is going to kill me,” I murmur as the adrenaline begins to wear off.
“We can sit down for dinner with your parents when we get back.”
“No.” I shake my head and slide down his front to settle on my feet. “I don’t want to take away from Ven’s wedding. Do you think we’re rushing things?”
“No, we both want this. We’ll figure out the rest.”
I scoff. “So what? We’re going to pretend we don’t know each other. I mean, come on, Josh. I show up with an engagement ring after I told Ven I couldn’t make her bachelorette party? She’s going to kill me.”
“Then we don’t tell her yet. The wedding is in three months. The best way to hide something is to stick to the truth. I told you to run. You didn’t and now here we are.
“We stick to that. Make everyone think I’m just being an asshole to you. Once the wedding is over, we sit Skittles down and have a real talk with her.”
“And say what?”
He cups my face and looks down into my eyes. “We say that I fell in love with you from that first call. We tell her that I almost lost you and I can’t bear that again. We say that I’m nothing without you and because I have people counting on me, I need you by my side to breathe.”
With that, he crushes his lips to mine and all thoughts of my parents, my cousin or anything else are swallowed by the emotions that take over me. I grasp his face and kiss him back feverishly. Breaking the kiss, he places his forehead to mine.