You Kissed Me First

Epilogue

ONE YEAR LATER

KATIE

“I cannot believe you are actually going to go down there. You do realize I am not doing that, right?” I look over at Dominic as he suits up.

“Baby doll, it’s perfectly safe. That’s why we have a guide. Don’t you want to try something new?”

I sigh. “You always talk me into this crazy shit. Aren’t you afraid of closed spaces? I think cave diving is a terrible idea.”

He shakes his head, coming over to kiss me. “If you really don’t want to go, you can stay here. We aren’t going far.”

The guide nods his head.

“Fine. I’ll go. I’m not standing here waiting for a snake or something to eat me.”

He chuckles. “Whatever you want.”

I watch as the guide descends first. Then he helps me down. Dominic is last.

Thankfully we have these headlamps. It’s the only way we can see.

“All right, we are going to dive under and follow the tunnel to the next cave. Since you are nervous in tight spaces, we will only go three deep. Follow the line above you. Are we ready?” The guide looks at both of us.

I’m tempted to say no, but Dominic has been planning this trip for years. I can’t ruin this for him. I’m finding I’ll follow him anywhere.

Six months ago, he convinced me to move into his home with him. It didn’t take too much, seeing as I was already over there every single day. He even let me chip in on the bills even though he didn’t want me to.

Thankfully, I was offered a part-time job at the Fairville Gazette, the small town where my parents live. It’s a little bit of a drive now that I live with Dominic in Ocoee, but it’s worth it. Not only do they let me report on what I want to report on, but they are happy to review my freelance work as well. It’s more like a family there than a job.

“You okay, baby doll?” Dominic whispers to me.

I nod. “Yes.”

“Follow me. I’ll make sure nothing happens to you.”

We make it to the second cave, no problem. Dominic takes his time looking around and exploring while I tread water. While my fear of the ocean isn’t as bad as it used to be, it’s still there.

It’s in the third cave that I start to become more comfortable. In here, you can see through the water pretty well with the natural sunlight coming from some cracks in the walls. It really is pretty looking.

“Wow,” I tell Dominic. “This was totally worth it.”

He swims closer, pulling me into his arms.

Then he whispers in my ear, “If we didn’t have a guide here, I’d be fucking you so hard right now.”

I squeak, causing the guide to look at us weirdly.

“Sorry. Thought something touched me,” I tell him as I elbow Dominic.

It only makes Dominic laugh harder. “I love you.”

“Love you too. Now stop messing with me and admire nature.”

“There are fish below if you look closely,” the guide tells us.

As we look, Dominic grabs my hand.

I flashback to my first time snorkeling with him back in the Dominican Republic. I remember being so scared, but having him with me made it so much better.

Who knew that one year later, I would be in another country with this man going on a new adventure.

I squeeze his hand, making him squeeze it back.

I’m so beyond grateful to have this man in my life. To think I almost messed it all up because of my damn hormones.

We hang around a little longer, but then the guide says our time’s up.

As we make our way back through, I find myself smiling. This was more fun than I thought.

Then we get to the last tunnel into the first cave. I take a deep breath, then dive down, using the rope to pull me.

Only, something touches my foot. At first, I think it’s Dominic, so I look back, but he’s not there.

That’s when I start to panic. I’m still holding my breath, but my heart is racing. I kick my legs harder until my back hits the top of the tunnel. I feel a burning feeling on my back, but I ignore it, trying to get me out of there faster.

I feel like I’m about to drown when I finally reach the end. Using my feet, I propel myself to the surface, taking a huge breath when I emerge.

“Are you okay, miss?” the guide asks, not quite looking at me.

“Something touched me,” I manage to pant out.

Then Dominic surfaces next to me, making me scream. I must kick out too because he grunts.

“Watch the feet, baby doll. You trying to take me out?”

“You scared me.”

He nods. “Um, babe. I hate to break it to you, but this isn’t the type of country that you should go topless in.”

“What?”

He looks down at my chest, making me look down. My entire top is floating on the surface. I guess the part around my back came untied when I brushed against the tunnel walls.

I squeal. “Dominic. Don’t look at me like that. Help me.”

I turn, trying to tie it, but I can’t tread water and tie at the same time.

The guide clears his throat.

“I’m going to climb out and give you a minute, but no funny business. I have another tour in an hour.”

“Okay. Thank you,” I tell him quickly.

As soon as he is up, I swim over to the rope ladder, using it to steady myself.

Dominic comes closer, grabbing my top to secure it. Then he places a kiss against the back of my neck.

“Only you, baby doll.”

I roll my eyes. “Why do I have the worst luck? I’m so embarrassed.”

He chuckles. “Don’t be. You have a great rack. I’m sure you made that guy’s day.”

I groan. “You’re such an asshole.”

Turning me so I’m facing him, he leans down and kisses me.

“Yes, but I’m your asshole.”

DOMINIC

This has to go perfectly. If it doesn’t, she might kill me.

Still, I’m frustrated as I look at the map again.

I paid a guide a lot of money to give me directions to this place. Usually they would take us themselves, but I didn’t want anyone to be around for this.

This needs to be just me and her.

Still, I’m regretting not at least letting him drive us out here.

“It’s been hours, Dom. Where are we going?” Katie is restless in the passenger seat.

I feel bad. We should have been here an hour ago, but I took a wrong turn and had to double back. Then had to stop and wait while some sheep crossed the road. When I finally got out to hurry them along, one tried to headbutt me in the dick. It wasn’t a pleasant experience.

It didn’t help that when I climbed back in the car, all Katie could talk about was those damn flamingos.

Finally, I see the sign the guide said he put out for me. All it had were my initials.

“We are here,” I tell her, pulling into the clear area where a car has been parked before.

Once I get out, I go to her side, helping her out. Then I grab the small backpack I packed for us.

“Is it very far?” Katie asks, eyeing my bag.

“No. Only about a ten-minute walk. I promise it’s worth it.” I smile, but I know it looks nervous.

It’s because I am nervous. I’ve been wanting to do this for over a year now. Every time I thought I might, I held off. Not because I didn’t want this with her, but because I wanted it to be special for her.

She told me when Abby and Alan finally got engaged at a basketball game on the Jumbotron, that she would never want anything like that. She wanted it to be somewhere intimate, preferably with just her and her guy.

This is as intimate as you can get.

Grabbing her hand, I pull her along the marked trail. It looks like the man literally tied a string to the opening of the trail and ran it through the woods all the way up to our destination. I’m giving him a huge ass tip for this.

As we walk, Katie rambles on about different things. It’s one of my favorite traits. I don’t have to fill in the silence. She’s happy to do it on her own. Her mind is always running through different things.

Sometimes I don’t think she even means to say it out loud. It’s almost like it popped into her head and she wanted to share it.

She’s not like that with everyone though.

I’ve noticed that only her family and a few close friends get this unguarded part of her. I’m beyond grateful that I’m considered one of them.

“My feet hurt, Dom,” Katie tells me, stopping to rub them as she leans against a tree.

“I promise, not much farther.” I walk, pulling her to me, pressing a kiss to her temple.

Mother nature is on my side today because only a few minutes later, I can hear the rushing water.

Katie starts to get excited.

“Is it a waterfall? Did you bring me to a waterfall?”

I nod. “We can’t swim in this one though. The guide said without him, it wouldn’t be safe.”

She squeals. “Who cares. It’s a waterfall.”

She’s now pulling me ahead until the waterfall comes into view. Then she drops my hand, pulling her phone out as she runs closer to take a picture.

Carefully, I unfold the blanket I shoved in my backpack. Then I grab the two things I need.

Positioning myself right behind her, I drop to one knee. Then I open the case and look up at her.

“Baby doll.” I keep my tone soft.

“It’s beautiful, right?” But she doesn’t turn toward me.

I clear my throat. “Katie, babe. Will you look at me?”

She spins quickly, flinging her hand around, which happens to nail me on the cheek.

“What? Oh fuck. Are you okay?” She’s standing above me.

I shake off the pain, looking up at her. “Fuck, baby doll. You have one hell of a hook.”

She’s not laughing though. She’s tearing up, her eyes on the box in my hand. So I hold it up farther so she can see it. When she does, her mouth drops open.

“Dominic…” she starts, but I hold up a hand to stop her.

“Let me get this out first.” Taking one of her hands in mine, I look up at her. “You are batshit crazy. You love to poke and prod me until I get angry. You can’t stand when I pay attention to anything else other than you. I think your favorite form of torture is cold feet on my nice warm body. I can never eat a meal without you eating part of it. I wouldn’t change a single moment of it though. I will take all your crazy and make it mine. I’ll share every single thing I own to make you happy. You want to torture and annoy me? That’s fine because you’re the only thing in this entire world that matters to me. So I’m here before you asking you. No, demanding, that you be my wife. Katie Ross, please, don’t fight me on this. Agree that you will be Mrs. Katie Price.”

She drops to her knees, a hand over her mouth.

Then she sputters out, “I am not wearing that butt plug ring as an engagement ring, Dominic Price. What the hell were you thinking?”

I chuckle before reaching into my pocket, pulling out the real ring. I keep it in my fist though.

“Say yes, Katie.”

Her eyes well once again, the tears spilling over. “Of course the answer is yes, you idiot.”

Opening my fist, I take the vintage princess cut and slip it on her ring finger.

She gasps. “It’s beautiful.”

“You’re beautiful.”

She kisses me several times before pulling back.

“Did you really buy the butt plug ring as a joke? That’s a lot of money.”

I shrug. “It’s a replica. One that doesn’t have real jewels in it. However, it can be used as a real butt plug. How about some starfish action later?”

She smacks me. “You’re lucky I love you.”

“And I thank God for it every single day.”