Epilogue #2
The last rays of sunlight behind him looked almost golden against his dark hair. I instantly noticed he wasn’t looking at the guests, the décor, or the ocean.
He was looking directly at me as he slowly descended the steps, one hand in his pocket and the other relaxed at his side.
And God. Yes, the man looked devastatingly handsome.
The soft deck lighting suddenly illuminated, with hidden fixtures tucked beneath seating and railings casting everything in a warm amber glow.
Candles flickered everywhere as the sky deepened into shades of violet and pink. The entire yacht looked magical. It was like something from a dream, and the man walking toward me looked like it all revolved around him.
He reached the bottom step, stopped, and simply looked at me. Everything and everyone around me faded, and I smiled as his eyes slowly moved over me, then back to my face.
The corner of his mouth lifted.
“You clean up nicely, sir,” I teased, completely lost as to what the hell was going on.
A laugh escaped him. “The event looks beautiful,” he said.
“It does.”
“I think your guests are going to love it.”
“I think so too.”
I smiled. “You really trusted me with everything.”
He held my gaze. “I did.”
Something in his expression changed, and then he reached for my hand. “Come with me, mi amor,” he said.
“Why do I suddenly feel like I’m the only person who doesn’t know something tonight?” I finally asked as we stepped down the steps to the bow of the boat, where my crew and I spent most of our time, since Titus said he would be making an important announcement there.
My heart rate picked up, and I instinctively squeezed his hand.
He glanced down at me. “Nervous?” he grinned.
“No,” I lied.
“Yes, you are,” he teased, easing my nerves some.
More candles lined the entire deck, while arrangements of intricately designed roses filled the space. The white, cream, and champagne-colored blooms I’d selected draped the railings and framed an intimate sitting area overlooking the ocean.
The ocean breeze danced through my hair as I turned to see Titus, looking more serious than before, and I swallowed, suddenly knowing exactly what this event was designed for.
The cello continued to play softly behind us, and I looked around again, taking in the candles flickering in the twilight, the roses spilling from every arrangement, and the soft strains of music drifting through the ocean air.
Everything about this felt like me. The colors. The romance. The timeless elegance. Every single detail.
My eyes slowly lifted back to his, and my breath caught.
Oh my God.
I hadn’t designed this for mysterious guests. I’d designed it for myself.
For this moment.
For us.
I looked back at him, and he smiled.
“You designed all of this,” he softly said.
“I see that…”
“You chose the flowers and the candles. You created the most beautiful, timeless atmosphere through the colors you chose and every detail you incorporated.”
He stepped closer, and I sucked in a breath in response to the emotions that were threatening to take over my composure.
“I told you to design this event exactly as you’d design it for yourself because I wanted you surrounded by everything you loved tonight.”
I just stared at him. My God.
His smile softened. “I tried to ask you out by hiring you to do this exact thing on this yacht when it was in Europe, but you were rejecting me at every turn back then.”
A laugh escaped him while I smiled.
“I was going to create a fake event just to spend time with you and convince you to date me.” He glanced at the people who’d apparently known about the plan and grinned. “I believe your response was that you weren’t going to cancel on a client just because I offered to pay you more.”
“I remember that,” I said through a laugh. “You were actually going to pay me to plan a fake event so you could date me?”
“Little did I know,” he continued, “that rejection would send me on a journey with you that I never imagined I’d take with anyone.
” He smiled as he stepped closer. “Because somewhere along the way, I stopped imagining you as someone I’d like to spend time with…
” tears immediately filled my eyes, “and I started imagining you as someone I could spend my life with.”
A tear escaped, and he reached up and brushed it away.
“Catalina Veléz… preciosa… mi amor,” he said softly. “I have everything I could’ve ever wanted in this life.” He smiled. “Everything except one thing… someone to come home to.”
Another tear fell.
He reached for my hand. “Someone to wake up beside, someone to laugh with.” His thumb brushed my cheek. “Someone to grow old with.”
I clutched my chest, trying to stop a joyful sob from bursting out and turning into a complete mess.
He smiled, then slowly lowered himself to one knee. I couldn’t stop staring at him, this man I was so grateful I’d allowed myself to love, who was now looking up at me as if I were the center of his entire world.
He reached into his pocket and opened a black velvet ring box, and I actually stopped breathing.
Nestled against black velvet was a gemstone unlike anything I’d ever seen.
It wasn’t a diamond. The center stone glowed in the candlelight, shifting between soft champagne, peach, and the faintest blush of pink.
It looked like the sunset surrounding us, the final few moments before the sun disappeared beneath the ocean.
“Titus…” I whispered.
His smile softened. “It’s called a Padparadscha sapphire.”
I looked at him. “A what?”
A quiet laugh escaped him. “Padparadscha.” He gently took my hand. “It’s one of the rarest sapphires in the world.”
My eyes dropped back to the ring in the box.
“It means lotus blossom. It is extremely rare, which is why I knew it was for you,” he said.
I brushed another tear away.
“I’ve spent my entire life around rare things, Catalina, but I’ve never met anyone quite like you.
” His thumb brushed my knuckles. “The first time I saw this stone,” his eyes held mine, “it reminded me of sunsets and warmth. It reminded me of beauty that somehow never looks exactly the same twice.” He smiled. “It reminded me of you, preciosa.”
I swear my heart forgot how to beat. It was beautiful, but I barely saw it because I couldn’t take my eyes off him.
“Mi amor, I’ve flown across oceans. I’ve stood in palaces, boardrooms, and places people spend their entire lives trying to reach.” His eyes never left mine. “And none of it,” his voice softened, “none of it means anything to me if I don’t get to share it with you.”
I held back the sobs that were threatening to escape, and he laughed.
“I know. I’m making myself emotional, too,” he winked.
Laughter sounded behind us, but I barely heard it.
He looked up at me, his eyes expressing so much love that I swear I could feel it transfer into my soul in that moment.
“I don’t promise you a perfect life. I don’t promise there won’t be difficult days. I don’t promise I won’t make mistakes.” He smiled softly. “But I swear to you that I will choose you first, above everything else, if you’ll allow me to.”
I reached down to his face, gently running my fingers along his cheek.