39. CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
Joss
I got home late last night to a sleeping Wes, and I passed out almost instantly by his side. I didn’t hear him get up, but as I run my hand over his side of the bed and find the sheets to be cold, I assume he’s been up for a while. Slowly rolling over, I grab my phone off the table to check the time. It’s almost ten in the morning—I don’t remember the last time I slept that long or that hard.
I stand and stretch my arms overhead, twisting side to side to work out all the kinks, hearing my spine snap-crackle-pop as I move. The sound of the front door opening greets me, and I bolt for it.
I don’t get to jump on him because his hands are full with a drink carrier and a bag from Harbour Grounds. I swoon a little at the sight. Not only is the man an absolute smoke show in his grey running shorts and a fitted athletic shirt, but he’s carrying my specialty coffee. There’s no resisting him. Especially when his lips tip up at the sight of me and his damn dimples come out to play.
I help him put everything on the counter before reaching up to grab the bill of his baseball cap, flipping it around so that I can kiss him without taking a hat to the face. His lips are warm and there’s a hint of salt there. With the way his shirt clings to him, I deduce that he went for a run before getting our breakfast. I should probably be grossed out, but after a few days away, I couldn’t care less that he’s sweaty.
“Have breakfast with me?” he asks sweetly against my lips. He pulls back and hands me a cup of coffee. It’s a Sleepy Sydney, my favorite, and I take a long drink, letting out a happy little moan at the taste.
“Yeah, okay, because you asked so nicely.” We grab the bag of pastries and move to the balcony. Summer weather is just beginning, and the sun is already high in the sky. I know it’s an adjustment for Wes, a man born and raised in a snowy climate, to think of December as the beginning of summer.
I smile, knowing we’ll be in that snowy climate come this weekend when we fly to Tahoe to spend Christmas with his family. And Breck and Willow. They got on a plane the day Breck finalized the transition to the new owners. They’ve been in Tahoe for a couple weeks now, and I know Wes is anxious to see how they’re really doing—if Breck is coping with everything or just putting up a good front.
“Are you excited to see everybody this weekend?” I ask him over the top of my coffee.
“Yeah, I am. What about you? Ready to meet the family? ”
I’m a little nervous about it, but I put on a brave face after much reassurance that they’re all going to love me. “Of course. Are you going to teach me how to snowboard?”
“No.” He says it so seriously I have to look over at him. All he’s talked about has been how much he wants to go snowboarding.
“What? Why not?”
“I’m going to get you a lesson, Grey. Otherwise you’ll be mad at me by the end of the day for torturing you on the slopes. I want you to actually enjoy it by the time we go together.”
“A lesson? Like I’m a little kid?”
“Yeah, with Willow.” He barks out a laugh and slides his fingers into mine, pulling them to his lips. “Kidding. A private lesson with an instructor who is used to working with adults. I promise you’ll enjoy it much more if I’m not the one telling you what to do.”
“But I like it when you tell me what to do.” I smirk at him, begging him to contradict me.
“Touché, Grey, touché. But I’m still making you take a lesson.”
I drop my shoulders and purse my lips. He just laughs again, like I’m a petulant child throwing a fit.
“Now,” he says, drawing my gaze, “do you want to sit here and pout, which won’t work by the way, or do you want to get ready for our date?”
I sit up straighter in my chair, spilling a little coffee down my shirt. “What date?” I say excitedly, clapping my hands together.
“I guess that’s my answer. Up.” He stands and offers me his calloused palm .
“See,” I say, “I do like it when you tell me what to do.” My sass earns me a swat to the ass when I walk in front of him toward our room.
I notice there are two outfits laid out on our chairs that I didn’t see when I first got up. The first is my tiny teal bikini, a pair of shorts, and a T-shirt. The second is a mint-green sundress I’ve never seen before.
“What are these for?” I ask, running my fingers along the silky fabric of the dress.
“Parts one and two of our date. Right now I need you to get that bikini on so we can commence with part one. It may be too late for dawn patrol, but the surf report looks good all day.”
We’ve been a bit lax about waking up early over the last month. Since surfing was integral in the beginning of our friendship, it makes me smile that he chose to include it in our date.
It takes us longer than planned to get to the beach because getting into bathers required getting naked, and one thing led to another and… Well, I won’t be complaining about a couple of missed waves.
We spend a solid hour and a half surfing before we land on the beach winded, wet, and hungry. I can’t stop smiling as I look at Wes laid out on the sand with a matching smile. It reminds me of our trip up the coast. Was that really six weeks ago? After a few minutes, when our breathing has returned to normal, he looks at me with a boyish excitement in his eyes that makes me feel giddy.
“Time for part two.” With that, he bends to pick up the towel bag and his board. He turns to find me ogling his fine ass and just raises an eyebrow and smirks .
“What? I’m just enjoying the view.” I laugh, and it’s so carefree and easy with him that I can’t quite believe he’s real.
We hardly make it in the door, boards and bags discarded around us, before Wes presses me against the wall, using one hand to pin both of mine above my head. The way he looks down my body, stretched long before him, makes me burn. He leans in just enough for our lips to brush before he pulls back, teasing me.
He runs his nose along my jaw and neck, nipping at the shell of my ear and making me gasp. “It’s a good thing, Grey, that part two isn’t for a couple hours.”
He lifts me so my legs wrap around his waist, crashing his mouth on mine until we’re nothing but a tangle of limbs and lips and tongues and teeth. He walks us with purpose to the bathroom, where he sets me on the counter and continues to take his time with me. We’re in the shower so long that the water runs cold and we have to jump out to save our skin from the icy burn.
We laugh and talk while we finally get dressed for whatever Wes has planned for this second part of our date. When he walks out of the closet in a pair of grey shorts that hug his hips just right, I want to say forget part two and pull him into bed with me. I watch as he does up each and every button on his navy-blue shirt and revel in the way it transforms the color of his eyes to an unfair shade of blue.
As we walk to the waterfront, I can’t help but stare at him. His hair is lightly styled in a way that makes it look like he didn’t even try, and with the breeze ruffling through it, it gives him that tousled look I love. I could stare at him all night, and I totally intend to. When I slipped into the mint-green dress, I was amazed to find it fit like a glove. The open back is strappy and dips to my tailbone, allowing that same cool spring breeze to caress it and send tingles up my spine. I paired it with white strappy wedges, my damp hair pulled half up with little tendrils curling around my face. I don’t think I’ve ever felt so pretty.
When we reach the restaurant, the host directs us to a table on the deck, and there’s a bottle of champagne waiting in an ice bucket. This feels like too much, but I know Wes put a lot of thought into it. I allow myself to just sit back and enjoy every moment. When he pulls my chair out for me, I feel his hand slide up my bare back, and I shiver at his touch.
We order drinks and appetizers, in no hurry to order dinner, and catch up on all the things we missed while I was away. I tell him about the night I spent in Honolulu, grabbing dinner at Duke’s with my fellow flight attendants and then surfing at Waikiki. He tells me every detail of his interview with Qantas. He gave me highlights over FaceTime, but hearing about it in person makes it so much more real. It sounds like it went well, and he’s cautiously optimistic he’ll get a conditional job offer before we leave for Tahoe. A perfect Christmas present.
The sun is setting beautifully across the water, and I feel so content that it takes me a beat to notice the hush that’s come over the restaurant. And the fact that Wes is no longer sitting in his seat. Instead, when I look away from the sunset, it’s to find Wes on one knee next to the table with a velvet box in one hand.
“Oh my god.” They’re the only words I can muster as I meet his blue gaze, watching as it turns a little glassy and the smile on his face grows to show those beautiful dimples .
“Joss.” He clears his throat, the emotion in it evident, threatening to take over. “I literally fell for you the day we met, and I never stopped. Since then, I’ve known you’re it for me. That you’re meant to be mine. I’ve never wanted anything more than I want you. I’ve never felt more at home than I do with you. I have never loved another person the way that I love you.”
The tears in my eyes spill over now, but I can’t stop smiling. I can’t believe this is happening. His hand is in mine—I don’t even remember taking it—and he gives me a gentle squeeze before continuing.
“I know to some it may seem fast…” He gives me a little wink, and it makes me laugh. “But I have never been more certain of anything in my entire life, and I don’t want to wait to start my life with you. Will you marry me?”
His expectant gaze searches mine, and I’m at a total loss for words. My mind is a complete blank, and I’m pretty sure there’s something stuck in my throat because I can barely breathe. He lifts a hand to swipe away a tear as it falls down my cheek and I lean into it, drawing strength from this man who has become my everything.
I slowly nod as I whisper a quiet “Yes.” It’s all it takes for him to pull me into his arms, standing to twirl me around. The exhilaration coursing through my body masks everything else. He sets me back on my feet, pulling my face into a light kiss before bringing the ring box between us.
When he pops the lid open, I gasp. The ring inside is magnificent. In the center sits a brilliant sapphire, outshone only by the eyes of the man holding it. It’s surrounded by a hexagon halo of small-cut diamonds glinting in the fading light, with an accent diamond on either side. It’s the most unique ring I have ever seen, and it’s exactly what I never knew I wanted.
“Do you like it?” Wes looks from the ring to me, and I can see the pulse point on his neck fluttering.
“It’s…” I reach my hand out toward the box, almost afraid to touch it, like it might disappear. “It’s absolutely perfect.”
The smile on his face could light this entire restaurant for years. He pulls the ring from the box and slides it on my finger. A perfect fit. I’m spellbound by the effort he’s put into all the details. We’ve never once talked about rings, never looked at them, yet he was able to find the only ring I want to wear for the rest of my life.
When it’s fully seated on my finger and he’s done drinking in the sight of it there, he runs his hands up my arms and pulls me in to kiss him again. The restaurant around us explodes with applause, and I remember we aren’t alone. I laugh and he laughs with me, our lips still brushing, our foreheads resting against each other. When we finally turn away from one another and find everyone staring, Wes gives a little bow and I flush at all the attention.
I’m breathless when I sit back down, looking between Wes and the ring on my finger. His smile is so wide that I think it must hurt his cheeks, but he doesn’t mind and it doesn’t waver, not once, as he takes my hand in his.
“I’ve got one more proposal for you,” he says, and it’s the first time tonight I find him looking a little nervous.
“One wasn’t enough, huh?” I say with a laugh. He certainly has my full attention .
“We leave on Friday for Tahoe.” Our eyes hold across the table while his thumb gently swipes back and forth over my hand. “I was thinking, what if we get married while we’re there?”
“Like, elope?” I ask, my voice filled with the surprise I feel. That definitely wasn’t what I expected him to ask.
“Yeah.” He laughs, but I can still see the nerves under the surface because I haven’t answered him yet. He continues rambling. “I know you might want to do a wedding here but—”
I finally cut him off. “You don’t have to convince me, Wes.” I lean across the table to brush my lips against his, somehow avoiding spilling the champagne in the process. “I want to marry you, and I don’t want to wait, so this is perfect.”
I watch his shoulders relax and his smile reach his eyes again.
“Oh my god,” I exclaim as it all really sinks in. “That means we’re getting married this month, this year. How crazy is that?” I shake my head, closing my eyes in complete awe. There’s less than three weeks left in December, and I’ll be a married woman before it’s over.
“Yes, Grey, it does. I can’t imagine a better way to ring in the new year than with you by my side, and a second ring on your finger.”
He hands me another glass of champagne and we toast to a future that I couldn’t be more excited to experience, with a man I met by chance on a flight to Sydney.