Chapter 10
Bellamy
Garen and I sit on his back patio, full from the pizza he made in his stone oven. My bare feet rest in his lap as he rubs the soles, and I sip my Duskwood Winery Pinot Grigio with a contented sigh. He looks over at me with a mischievous grin.
"It's almost your birthday," he says with his sexy, lopsided smile.
"Yeah?" Garen says, stopping mid-massage.
Looking over at him, I smile.
"Well, for one, it has the world's most handsome mountain man living inside," I say, poking his washboard abs with my foot.
"Move in with me," he blurts out.
"What?" I say with surprise.
"Move in with me. You already need a bigger place for your studio, and we're together all the time, anyway."
"Are you being serious?" I say, slipping my feet off his lap and sitting up straighter.
"100% serious."
My heart hammers against my chest as I take in his words. Living with Garen in this beautiful house in this beautiful setting would be a dream.
"Where would I work?"
"Glad you asked," Garen says, standing and offering his hand. I take it, holding my wineglass in the other, and he leads me inside. We climb to the second floor, where he opens the attic door and pulls down the ladder. I follow him up and gasp.
"I assumed this was storage," I say, looking around at the furnished attic.
"Well, I did have some things up here, but I've been cleaning it out. And brainstorming what this space could turn into. I was thinking over here could be your wall of customized shelves."
"Garen, are you being serious?" I breathe, my heart hammering.
"Totally. This attic could be the perfect place for your studio. And it gets great light, well, for an attic in the woods."
He turns to me, his brown eyes studying my face. I choke back tears of joy.
"I'm in shock," I finally say.
Taking two long strides toward me, Garen wraps his muscular arms around me.
"Does this mean you're saying yes? That you'll move in?"
"Yes," I say, tears falling down my cheeks. "Yes. I would love to move in here with you."
"What are you thinking about, birthday girl?" the love of my life asks, sitting across from me at our table at Mare Pacificum. I pull my eyes away from the sun setting over the ocean's horizon and look at the handsome mountain man.
"I was just thinking how this is the last spring sunset of the year."
"And the first sunset of your fiftieth year," Garen adds, reaching across and placing his large hand on top of mine, giving it a squeeze.
"You know what I just realized? We met on the first day of spring. So now we've spent an entire season together."
"Well, then that makes what I'm planning to do right now even more special," he says with a wink.
I look at him curiously just as the server appears behind my chair, placing a flourless chocolate cake on the table.
Raspberry swirls decorate the plate. Blinking, I realize the swirls spell out words, and gasp when I read them.
I look over at Garen, but he's no longer in his seat.
He's on one knee beside me, an open ring box in his hand. My hand flies to my mouth.
"Did you read what it says?" Garen says, looking at me with his dark eyes.
"Yes," I choke out, tears already streaming down my face.
"I really didn't think there was someone out there for me, Bellamy, but then you tumbled into my life and brought so much joy and love and laughter and smoking hot curves that I couldn't help but fall absolutely head over heels for you.
Bellamy Coney, will you allow me to be your husband, making the rest of my life beyond any happiness I ever thought was possible? "
Nodding through the tears, I manage to say yes before tumbling to my knees as Garen takes my hand, sliding the ring onto my finger. The tables around us burst into applause as he grabs my wet cheeks, pulling me in for a kiss.
"I love you so much," I say when we part.
"I love you too, sweetheart."