Epilogue
SIX MONTHS LATER… AT KING DYNASTY RESORTS & WELLNESS
The moon was full, and the air was crisp. I couldn’t believe it’d been seven months since I took back the reins on my life, six months since I took a chance on the woman who brought light into my life, and three months since I’d started a security firm with VC. Although, as of recent, he had been on an extended vacation dealing with some shit.
If someone had told me I’d be vacationing with my girlfriend at King Dynasty Resorts & Wellness—one of the finest resorts in Ohana Bay, Hawaii—I never would have believed them. We chose this one because, since I came back into Skye’s life, we put our mental health first. I still couldn’t believe I allowed her to talk me into a room with a fucking balcony, but here I was, lounging and reminiscing over everything she had given me.
Looking down at the beach reminded me of our re-do first date. I wanted a chance to introduce her to the man I was today and not the one living under different identities.
My palms were moist as hell, causing me to rub my pants repeatedly. I didn’t remember the last time I was this damn nervous. It seemed as if any time I was around Skye, she had my mind gone. I convinced VC to help me set everything all up in my condo, and now I regretted that decision because who the hell was going to clean up all that fucking sand?
The thought alone made me groan as I stood outside of her front door. I stretched, then leaned forward to ring the doorbell. Before I could pull back, the front door snatched open. Skye was dressed in a red wrap dress with her hair falling past her shoulders in loose curls with a red flower in her hair.
When she asked me what she should wear, I told her to think beach. She took that concept, then went above and beyond.
“You look beautiful. I couldn’t have dreamed you up if I tried,” I told her.
Her cheeks reddened at my compliment. “Thank you. I was wondering when you would stop obsessing and ring the doorbell, but I was patient instead of snatching the door open like I wanted.”
I laughed because I loved how blunt she always was. I never had to wonder how she felt because she made sure I knew at every turn. I appreciated it because I had no experience with dating outside of her.
“You’re welcome, and you could have put me out of my misery if you saw me out here looking crazy.”
“Nah, that’s too easy.” She giggled.
I shook my head. “You got everything?” I asked.
“Yup. I can’t wait to see what you did. I know you did a great job, but I want you to know if you take me to McDonald’s, it would still be the best date.” I pretended as if I was relieved then gripped my chest, causing her stop walking. “You didn’t?” she asked.
I couldn’t hold back my laughter as I shook my head and led her to the passenger seat.
“I thought you said it didn’t matter.”
Skye rolled her eyes, then slipped inside. I jogged around to the driver’s side and pulled my seat belt on.
“It’s called a figure of speech.”
I laughed as we talked about what was new with her magazine and anything else she had going on. I had recently met her other friend, the one who was supposed to pick her up at the airport. He wasn’t as open at first to meeting me, but soon he started to relax and be himself. After being around him a while, I could see why they were friends. They said exactly what came to mind.
Finally, I made it to my place and parked in my designated garage. I could tell Skye was curious, but I kept quiet as I reached into my pocket for a satin scarf.
“I need you to wear this.”
She looked down at my hand, then back up at me before turning her back to me.
“Put it on me and you better not let me bump into the wall,” she warned.
I reached out and covered her eyes with the satin scarf, then directed her to my front door. I stepped away from her for a moment to open the door, then ushered her inside.
“Stay right there and don’t remove the scarf. One second.”
She shifted her weight between both legs. I knew she was eager to see what I had done, and damn if I wasn’t anxious too, like I hadn’t seen it. I lit the candles that were around the room, then took the top off the meal on the plates.
“Okay, you can take it off,” I told her.
I watched her every step as she reached up to untie the scarf. The moment it dropped from her eyes, they widened, and so did her mouth. Her hands shot to her mouth as she walked slowly toward me. I turned around to admire everything with her. VC and I set up a projector to look like the water in Fiji, and since I had little furniture, it was easy to lie out sand all over the floors with the table in the center.
“I hope you like it. I tried to recreate our first date, but this is all I could do on such short notice,” I explained, since she hadn’t said a word yet.
She turned to face me, then stood on the tips of her toes and reached up to bring my face down to hers as she kissed me. I closed my eyes briefly, wanting to stay in this moment. When I peeled them open, she was still staring up at me.
“No one has ever gone to these kinds of lengths for me before. It’s beautiful. I love it,” she told me.
I took her hand in mine and led her over to the table. I reached a hand out to take hers into mine, then placed a kiss against it.
“I know this is all backwards, but I wanted to reintroduce myself. I’m Knox Bolden and you are?” I asked.
She smiled up brightly at me and animatedly batted her eyelashes. “I’m Skye Daniels.”
The sliding of the door caught my attention, causing me to look over my shoulder.
“What you out here smiling about?” Skye asked.
She tightened her robe around her waist as she walked around to sit in my lap and lay against my chest. These were the moments I lived for, time spent with her.
“Our first re-do date and all the things I am thankful for. I just can’t believe this is my life now. That God gave me you. I still don’t think I’m worthy of you, but I’m going to work damn hard to make sure I am.”
She lifted her head and poked her lips out. I leaned in and kissed her, dragging out the moment as I slipped my tongue into play, making her moan.
“You better stop before we mark off another thing on your to do list,” she reminded me.
“I don’t recall adding fucking on the balcony on my life re-do’s.” I laughed. It was crazy to me how easily even laughing came to me now. Skye had opened my world up to so much, even that damn list. She convinced me to make a list of all the things I had never experienced as a kid. Whenever I had time in between, now being invited to her family dinners on Sunday and starting this company, we were doing it all.
“You want to?” she asked with a wiggle of her brows.
“You don’t need to ask me twice, but I have to say this. Thank you for staying, even when I was okay with just a while.”
“You can’t get rid of me even if you tried,” she responded.
“If you’re so sure, I have to ask. I know we haven’t been together for a long time, but there is no one else I want to do this life thing with. Will you marry me?” I asked.
I reached into my robe pocket for the engagement ring. I had been carrying it around for at least a month, but I felt it was too early and it would send her running for the hills. Tonight, it just felt right. I hoped I wasn’t wrong.
“Yes, a million times, yes!” she shouted.
I slipped the ring onto her finger and stood with her in my arms. Tonight would be the first of many nights I was going to make love to the woman I was going to spend the rest of my life with. This was forever.
The End.
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