Total pages in book: 83
Estimated words: 79740 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 399(@200wpm)___ 319(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79740 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 399(@200wpm)___ 319(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
That made no sense, of course, since we’d taken the jet to a dozen places since we’d been together. Most of the time, it was a spur-of-the-moment decision when Shawn had a long weekend from work.
I mean, she literally kept three suitcases packed at all times. One had island attire. Another had rugged winter clothes. And the third was somewhere in between, packed with her usual daily type of wardrobe.
There was no reason to think she had any clue what we were up to.
I’d hammered out the details for months.
I’d booked everyone else’s flights, rented out their villas, and helped cover their tracks so Shawn didn’t realize that everyone in our lives was heading to the Maldives at the same time.
From the text I’d received from Jules and Nasir—the most anally responsible of all of us—before our flight took off, everyone had made it there and were going to be having Adnan take them over in the boat one-by-one to the villa when our plane was supposed to land.
“What’s the matter with you?” Shawn asked, frowning at me over her cup of coffee.
“Nothing, love.”
“Bullshit,” she shot back. “The only other time you were this quiet for this long was when you had to get that dental implant and were all dopey with a mouth full of gauze,” she said, brows raising. “What’s going on?”
“Why do I have to have some ulterior motivation?”
“Because you’re you,” she said, snorting. “You know that your team used to refer to you as ‘Fucking Bellamy’ all the time?”
“That hurts,” I said, pressing a hand to my chest. “I thought they did that to Fenway, not me.”
“Two sides of the same coin, the two of you,” she declared. “You better not be tricking me last minute and taking me to somewhere gross and buggy,” she warned me.
“I promise we are going to the Maldives.”
“Did you do something ridiculously ostentatious to the damn villa?” she asked, clucking her tongue at me. “You’re supposed to be focusing on the youth center and helping Velle and his dad franchise.”
“All of that is in the works as well, love. After all this time, you still underestimate my ability to be ridiculous and ostentatious on multiple fronts at the same time?” I asked.
“Fair point,” she agreed, shooting me a strained smile.
“This is a really long flight now that I’m conscious this time,” she said.
“I have the pills handy if you need them.”
“No. We’re saving those for the next time you’re sick,” she claimed. “I might love you, but I really don’t like you when you have the flu.”
“So you’d rather drug me than lovingly cater to my every need?”
“Oh, Bells, no. The drugs are for me. You can bitch and moan to the doctor. I’ll get a solid sixteen-hour sleep.”
She was the same woman I’d fallen in love with in the first place. Being together hadn’t stopped the snark and the sass, but it had softened her sharp edges, letting me get as close to her as possible.
And the closer I got, the closer I wanted to stay.
Forever.
Which was why we were taking this trip.
“Oh, hey, Adnan,” Shawn said, grimacing at him as we climbed in the boat. “I’m really sorry about the whole drugging you thing,” she added.
“Eh, good sleep,” Adnan said, shrugging it off as we got settled so he could bring us to the villa.
My stomach tensed as we closed in on it, half worried that the plan wouldn’t work, that she would see our loved ones gathered there, and surmise what was going on.
But I couldn’t see anyone. The new drapes Adnan’s wife had put up did the trick.
It helped that Shawn was one of the least romantic women ever, so she never expected grand gestures of any sort.
“Oh, God. Why would someone hang those curtains up? They’re hideous,” she said as I reached for the ladder.
“You think?” I asked, waiting for her at the top of the ladder before going in through the villa.
My heart was slamming in my chest.
There was only one other time in my life I remembered feeling this anxious.
And that was when I was terrified I’d lost her.
Now I was scared she was going to reject my forever.
Even if I had no actual reason to think that.
“Yes. We need to take them down,” she said, following behind me as I made my way to the doors to the back deck, grabbing them, then flinging them open before anything could go wrong.
“That was dramatic,” Shawn said, still following me. “What are…”
She trailed off as she stepped into the doorway, finding the whole crew from Quinton Baird & Associates, her aunt, uncle, and cousin, Velle and his family, Bob from the cabin, and a couple of other close friends were standing near the edge of the deck, fanned out behind me where I was down on one knee facing her.