Epilogue
“Get up, I have a present for you.”
She groaned and burrowed deeper into the pillow and tucked another one over her head for good measure. “Give it to me later.”
“No, it’s nearly ten. You have to get up anyway. Your parents will be here in half an hour.”
“God, I can’t believe you invited them to brunch without telling me.”
“It was a spur of the moment thing,” he answered before yanking the pillow away.
She turned over and watched him stride naked into the dressing room. “Sure, which was why you arranged it two days ago, then dragged me on to yet another plane and flew us back to New York last night?”
His shrug was unrepentant. “They love you. I love you. I thought it was time we bonded over our mutual interest.”
She rolled her eyes. “When you put it like that, it’s so sexy!”
He laughed as he tugged on blue jeans and paired it with a fitted striped grey shirt that did amazing things to his physique and eyes. Strolling back to bed, he gazed down at her. The adoration in his eyes fractured her breath.
“I know they were concerned about that photo of us this week.”
“I explained things to them. They know who you are now, and they’re okay with it.”
“I still think they deserve to have their concerns put to rest properly, don’t you agree?”
Her heart melted. “I love you.”
His smile widened. “You still have to get up, Peaches.”
With a groan, she rolled over. The smack that landed on her ass made her yelp. She rose and lunged for him. He caught her up in his arms and strode into the bathroom before setting her on her feet.
“Shower. Now. I’d join you, but I’d prefer your parents not to receive audible evidence of me defiling their daughter.” His eyes raked heatedly down her naked body, then he swallowed and jerked around to walk out of the bathroom.
“What about my present?” she asked.
One wicked eyebrow arched her way. “You’d definitely have to shower and dress for that one. It’s in Bora Bora.”
* * *
Sugar-white sand crunched between her toes as Bethany lifted yet another shell and looked underneath it. So far, she’d searched from trunks of palm trees to the fruit sculpture their chef had created this morning for her. She’d even considered diving into the natural water feature outside their bedroom at Zach’s villa, but she hadn’t quite reached that stage yet.
But she was fast reaching the end of her tether.
“Do you give up, Peaches?” Zach strolled a few feet behind her, his bare chest making her insides heat up all over again.
“No.”
“Do you really want to tie me up that badly?” The dark anticipation in his voice made her pulse race.
“Yes, I do want to win that badly.”
Half a day of Zach as a slave to her every whim was too tempting a chance to pass up. Trouble was, she had to find the tiny flat white box he’d hidden somewhere on the premises.
His Bora Bora villa wasn’t huge, which was an advantage. But it was breathtaking in an utterly distracting way. The water was impossibly blue, the sand impossibly white, and the man she loved impossibly gorgeous and utterly bent on impeding her search.
“Just say the word and I’ll end this. We can go back to bed, and I can have my way with you until the sun goes down.”
She blew out an exasperated breath and faced him. His blue shorts were snug enough that she would’ve noticed if he had anything in his pocket. And his chest was bare, so no hidden treasure there aside from the obvious hard torso she loved to explore.
And she hated that his baseball cap and sunglasses hid his expression so she couldn’t get further clues…
His baseball cap.
She walked slowly toward him, swaying her hips in a seductive way that made his arms slowly drop from their folded stance. Her tiny white bikini had already caused major concentration issues for him, and when his lips parted and his tongue traced the inside of his lower lip, she knew she had him.
“Zach?” She reached him and tugged off his glasses.
Molten-grey eyes stared at her, their focus unwavering and adoring. “Yes?”
“I need to kiss you.”
“You don’t need to ask, baby. Just take what you need.”
“Take your cap off.”
He tensed. “Ah…”
“Do you want to win so badly? It’ll be equally pleasurable for you if I win.”
His nostrils flared. His attention dropped to her hips, and he swallowed before glancing back at her face. “Take what you need.”
She closed the gap between them and slowly slid the cap off. His tension increased. She looked from his face to the cap. Taped inside was a flat box from a jeweler whose name made her jaw drop.
She looked from the box to Zach’s face.
Guarded expectation blazed from his eyes, and he swallowed again. “No matter what your decision, I love you. I’m thankful that you love me in return. Know that. Believe that.”
“I do.”
He nodded. She opened the box. The diamond ring was huge and gorgeous and a perfect fit when he placed it on her finger.
Her heart leapt into her throat. She tried to speak, but no words were adequate for the feelings rampaging through her.
“Speechless, Peaches? I believe that wins me a year’s brownie points.”
“You win all the fucking points, Savage. A lifetime of them.”
“And I intend to collect. Often and thoroughly.”
Tears swam in her eyes. “God, I love you.”
His smile slowly disappeared, and his eyes grew solemn with a deep, unwavering promise. “Not as much as I love and cherish you, Bethany. Always.”
Zachary Savage would probably never be the guy to wear his heart on his sleeve, but she knew him inside and out. And she loved every single inch of him.
That he felt the same about her was pure icing on the cake.