24. Sarah
Sarah
The next two weeks are exactly what we needed. We spend our mornings on the beach with coffee in our hands, our afternoons bouncing between the ocean and the pool, and our evenings eating way too much food before walking barefoot along the shoreline until we finally wander back to the villa.
We try enough tropical drinks that I eventually stop remembering what half of them are called, order dessert every single night because we’re on vacation and calories don’t count in the Caribbean, and somehow manage to come home with more souvenirs than either of us planned.
We also have an absurd amount of sex that I’m not even a little sorry about it.
There are days we don’t leave the villa until lunchtime because neither of us can seem to keep our hands to ourselves, and there are nights we fall asleep with the patio doors open, the sound of the waves drifting through the bedroom while we lie tangled up together afterward.
Some afternoons we stretch out beside the pool with a book neither of us actually finishes, and other afternoons we end up back in the ocean because one of us decides we’re too hot to stay out of it for long.
We don’t set alarms, we don’t answer emails, and the only schedule either of us follows is deciding whether we want to spend the day by the beach or by the pool.
By the time the last evening rolls around, I’ve almost convinced myself we actually live here, and the thought of packing a suitcase instead of grabbing another beach towel feels downright offensive.
We linger over dinner longer than we need to, ordering dessert even though we’re both full because it’s our last night, and when we finally leave the restaurant, Luca reaches for my hand before we wander down the wooden steps leading from the terrace to the sand.
The beach is almost empty. The resort sits behind us, glowing softly against the night while the sound of distant laughter fades beneath the steady rhythm of the waves.
The moon hangs low over the water, silver light dancing across the ocean until it disappears into the horizon. Warm sand shifts beneath my bare feet as Luca and I walk side by side, neither of us in any hurry to get back to the villa.
“I’ve had so much fun,” I say.
He looks over at me.
“So have I.”
I smile out at the water.
“I don’t want to go home.”
“We have to eventually.”
“I know.” I let out a dramatic sigh. “I don’t have to like it.”
He brings my hand to his mouth and presses a kiss against my knuckles before letting it fall between us again.
“We’ll come back.”
“You promise?”
“I promise.”
I smile to myself.
“I’ll hold you to that.”
For a while, neither of us says anything.
This trip has been everything I hoped it would be.
Just sunsets, too much food, swimming until our fingers wrinkle, lots of sex, and waking up beside the man I love every morning.
Somewhere between the beach, the pool, and more pina coladas than I can count, I forgot what day it was, and honestly, I don’t think I’ve ever been happier to lose track of time.
I turn toward him.
“Luca?”
Instead of answering, he looks at me. The breeze catches a curl across my face before he reaches up and tucks it behind my ear. His hand settles against my cheek, warm against my skin, and I lean into his touch without thinking.
“You know,” he says quietly. “My whole life has been planned for me. I knew what my responsibilities were. I knew who I answered to. I knew exactly what tomorrow was going to look like because it always looked the same as today.”
His thumb brushes lightly across my cheek.
“Then you walked into my life.”
A smile ghosts across his face.
“You weren’t part of the plan, Baby Girl.”
He studies me for another moment before continuing.
“I didn’t think there was room for any of this. I didn’t think there was room to want mornings that belonged to someone else, or vacations where the only thing on my mind was whether you’d talked me into ordering dessert again.”
His gaze never leaves mine.
“I didn’t think there was room to want a home. Then somewhere along the way, you stopped feeling like the best part of my life.”
Emotion tightens in my chest.
“You became my life. I’ve seen you at your happiest, and I’ve held you through the worst days of your life. I’ve watched you choose me when walking away would’ve been easier, and somehow you keep choosing me every day after that.”
He lets out a quiet breath.
“I don’t want another vacation without you. I don’t want another birthday without you or another ordinary Tuesday without you.”
His hand slips from my cheek as he takes a step back.
“You changed me, Baby Girl. You made me realize there was more waiting for me than responsibility. More than surviving. More than tomorrow looking exactly like yesterday. You gave me a home before we ever shared one, and somehow you made a man who’d already accepted his future start dreaming about a different one. ”
His hand falls from my face, and my pulse stumbles the second he takes a step back. Before I can make sense of what’s happening, he’s reaching into his pocket, and when the small black box appears in his hand, the rest of the world disappears.
“I don’t want another day of my life that doesn’t end with you beside me.”
He lowers himself onto one knee. He opens the ring box, and the diamond catches the moonlight between us.
“Sarah...”
A tear blurs my vision.
“...will you marry me?”
For a second, I can’t move. The tears come before I even realize they’re there, blurring Luca until all I can make out is the man I love on one knee in front of me.
A shaky laugh escapes me as I nod.
“Yes.”
My voice breaks.
“Yes.”
I don’t wait another second. I throw myself into his arms, and he catches me before I can send us both into the sand. He laughs against my hair as he wraps an arm around my waist.
“I love you,” I whisper.
He slides the ring onto my finger before bringing me back against him.
“I love you too, Baby Girl.”