Epilogue #2
“Hey, Luke, walk me to the ice cream store so we can get a quick ice cream.”
“Okay. Does that mean I’m buying you an ice cream?”
“Well, duh.”
“Okay. You want anything, Juniper?”
“No. Mia, didn’t you just say you were cold? Why would you get ice cream?”
“Because I like ice cream, even in cold weather.”
“Okay.” She smiles. “No, I’m okay. Enjoy, and take a long lunch if you want. I can look after the store by myself for a bit.”
“No, I don’t want you to do that.”
“It’s fine. I know Luke doesn’t always have a lot of time now that he’s helping get his family business back on track, and you are newly engaged.
I want you to spend as much time together as possible.
I know I might have sounded like a jealous shrew earlier, but I really am so happy for you both.
We’ve all been friends for a really long time, and to see your friendship blossom into love, well, it’s really cool. ”
“Oh, thank you, Juni.” I hurry over to her and give her a big hug. “I love you.”
“I love you too. Now go and enjoy your ice cream.”
“Okay. Thank you. Come on, Luke.”
“Okay, I’m just finishing taking off my wetsuit,” he says as he pulls it off and towel-dries himself.
My throat goes dry as I stare at his body. He’s so built and still so sexy to me as he pulls on a pair of shorts and a T-shirt. I think to myself that all I want to do is get him naked, not put more clothes on him.
“Okay, let’s go,” he says. “See you later, Juniper.”
“Bye, guys.”
We walk down the boardwalk toward the ice cream store, and then I grab his hand and pull him to the side.
“What are you doing?”
“I just need to kiss you right now,” I say.
I reach up and grab his face and pull him down toward me. I run my fingers down his chest and up his shirt, loving the feel of his skin against mine. He grunts as he kisses me back passionately, and I feel his hand in my hair, running down my back and squeezing my ass to him.
“Well, nice to see you too.” His eyes are teasing as he holds me to him. “What was that about?”
“Just was thinking how sexy you are and how lucky I am that you’re mine. And I was wondering if we could find a place to have a quickie around here.”
“You want to have a quickie in public?”
“Look, we’ve done it in the ocean. We’ve done it in the sand at night.”
“Mia, it’s the middle of the day.” He laughs loudly, though he looks excited. “But you know I can always be persuaded.”
“Okay, so maybe we’re not going to have a quickie right around here, but we could rush home.”
“That wouldn’t be a quickie then,” he says, lips twitching.
“Well, Juniper did say that we could take as much time as possible.”
“Okay. I’m down for it if you are. What about your ice cream?”
“We’ve got ice cream at home,” I say, “and whipped cream, and I can think of a couple of places I would like to lick that off of.”
“Oh, yeah?” he says, his tone low as his eyes darken. “And where would that be?”
“Well, one would be here.” I slide my fingers down the front of his shorts, and he groans as I squeeze his cock. “Ooh. Already excited to see me,” I say as I feel it hardening in my hand.
“I’m always excited to see you, fiancée.”
“I’m always excited to see you too, fiancé,” I say back.
He kisses me hard, and I feel his fingers reaching up the inside of my shirt and touching my stomach.
“I love you, Mia. Have you given any thought as to when you want to get married?”
“Well, I think we should date for at least a year before we get married, even though we’ve known each other for what feels like centuries.
But we haven’t been dating that long, and I don’t want to be that woman who gets married six months after officially dating.
” I am not being quite truthful. I’d marry him today if I could, but I want everyone in my family to think I’ve been responsible. Darn you, Rafe.
“So, I have to wait another six months, is what you’re saying? You want us to get married after one year of dating? I would marry you right now,” he says. “I love you. I pick you. I choose you. I want you. And I always will. But I’m willing to wait for whenever you are ready.”
“I know, and that’s part of the reason why I love you so much. You care about what I want and what I need and you respect that, and you don’t try to force anything out of me.”
“I would never force anything out of you, but maybe I will try and convince you not to name our first son Samuel.”
“What? I think it’s such a cute name. We can call him Sammy.”
“I do not want to call my son Samuel or Sammy.”
“So, what, you’re not going to let me name him even though I’ll carry him for nine months?”
“I respect you, and I know it’s a lot to be a mother, but Sammy? Really?”
I start laughing. “Okay, maybe not Sammy. We can come to a consensus for a name.”
“When do you think you’ll want to start a family?” He grabs my hand and clasps it, then kisses me softly on the lips.
“I don’t know. When do you want to start a family?”
“As soon as possible.” He smiles. “And by that, I mean whenever you’re ready.
I can’t wait to be the father of your children, but we have an eternity.
So, let’s travel the world. Let’s explore.
Let’s do whatever we want to do, and then we’ll have kids, and we’ll let them know they can be whatever they want to be, and we’ll support them and love them, and hopefully, they’ll find best friends like us. ”
“I love you, Luke. How did I get to be so lucky?”
“I don’t know, but I think I’m even luckier than you because I have you by my side and you’re the best woman in the world.”
“If I’m the best woman, then you’re the best man.”
“If someone could hear us talking right now, they would absolutely gag,” he says.
I grab his face and laugh. “I know. We sound ridiculously in love.”
“We do.”
“But that’s why we’re so perfect for each other. Now come on. Let’s go home for that quickie. I’ve got three hours I think I can spare.”
I laugh with abandon as we go running toward his car.
I love this man. I love making love to this man, and I hope our days of joy and wonder never end.
I still have to pinch myself at how life has gone.
My fake summer romance with my best friend led to the love of my life and I’m so very grateful.
I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with this man.
THE END