I buckled the helmet on her head, even though I knew she could do it herself. Then she put her arms on my shoulders and climbed. When her arms wrapped around me, I closed my eyes and enjoyed the feel of her against me.
The drive was short, just to the outside of the club property. I took the small gravel path through the dunes and stopped just as we reached the hill overlooking the water. Shutting off my engine, I climbed off, then took her helmet and helped her off.
She looked around and then back at me with a frown. “What are we doing here?”
“The Kerrington Country Club owned this property. It was meant for expansion after Woods’s father passed away, but Woods didn’t go forward with it. So I bought it. All of it. I’ve hired Grant as the general contractor. I’m building a luxury hotel here so that those who don’t want to purchase or lease a house during the summer months have another option. Hotel guests will have access to the Kerrington Club during the length of their stays.” I paused. Her mouth dropped open, but she wasn’t saying anything, so I kept going. “I met with Quinn today because I wanted to give her an idea of what I wanted and supply some different options. You’ll be dealing with her from now own. She knows that you get the last call on everything.”
Bethy held up a hand to stop me. “Wait, what? How did you afford this? A hotel is . . . big, Tripp. Really big.”
I had forgotten that she didn’t know everything. We had never discussed my money situation. I didn’t realize it until she brought up my need to be a bartender and running out of money the other morning. “My mother’s dad passed away two years ago and left everything to me. The rest of the family was upset, but the will was ironclad, and I was his only heir. When I came back to Rosemary Beach, this idea slowly started unfolding in my head.”
“So you bought this land to build a hotel? Here? You’re going to just . . . build one?” She was still staring at me in complete shock.
“You’re here, Bethy,” I replied, and then I took her hand and walked her back over to my bike. “One more thing I need you to see,” I explained. She didn’t speak. She let me put the helmet back on her before we climbed back onto my bike so I could take her farther down the beach.
When I got to the spot that overlooked a long stretch of beach, I saw the blanket I had left earlier, along with the four lanterns at each corner to keep it from flying away and to give us some light. The sun had almost set. She stared as I took the helmet off and led her there.
“This is also property I purchased. It’s got an amazing view and plenty of room to build as big a house as you want. Any house you want. We’ll build it together.”
“You want to build a house?” she asked in a whisper.
I watched as she looked around her, and then her eyes came back to me. “Yeah, I want to build a house. With you. One that you want. Whatever makes you happy, because as long as you’re in it with me, I don’t care where we live.”
She continued to gaze up at me like I had lost my mind.
I reached into my pocket and pulled out the small velvet box.
When I went down on one knee, Bethy gasped. This was the part that scared the shit out of me. This was what I wanted. More than anything. But I wasn’t sure she wanted it. Her words the other morning had led me to believe she did. She wanted forever with me. I did, too, and I hoped my actions showed that. No more dancing around each other, unsure of our future.
“You needed to know that what we had was forever. Bethy, it was forever with me when I was eighteen years old. You were all I could see then, and you’re all I can see now. I’ve been waiting for you, sweetheart, to heal and to come back to me. But all you had to do was tell me you wanted forever, too. I would move heaven and earth to make that happen.” I opened the box and watched her face. “Bethy Lowry, will you marry me?”
Silence.
I waited as she stared down at the ring in my hand and then back at my face.
“You did all this because of what I said?” she asked.
She was going to kill me. I managed a nod. “Yeah. I don’t think you understand that if you asked me to fly to the moon and bring it back to you, I’d find a way.”
She let out a soft laugh that turned into a sob, and my stomach knotted up. She wasn’t supposed to cry. This was what she said she wanted. Then her head moved up and down as she let out another sob. “Yes.”
No word had ever brought me more happiness. I was on my feet and pulling her into my arms instantly.
Her arms wrapped around my neck as I held her off the ground. She wasn’t in heels, so she couldn’t reach me.
“God, I love you so much. I swear, woman, I thought you were going to say no,” I said into her neck as I closed my eyes and started breathing again.
“How you think any woman on earth could say no to you and a proposal like that, I don’t know,” she said, then sniffed.
“I missed eight years with you. I don’t want to miss another day.”
She pressed a kiss to my cheek, and I let her ease back down my body. I had plans for this blanket. “Can I have the ring now?” she asked sweetly. I realized I was still holding it in my hands.
Laughing, I opened the box back up and took the ring out. She held out her hand, and I slipped it onto her finger. I couldn’t look away from the sight of it.
“Oh, wow, and I thought that possessive gleam couldn’t get any worse,” she said, smiling.
I tore my eyes off the ring to look at her face. My Bethy. “Just so we’re clear, this means you either move in with me tomorrow or I burn down your apartment complex. You decide,” I said, before tugging her down to the blanket with me. And placing her in my lap.