The Prince's Devious Proposal - Holly Rayner Page 0,23

spent a lot more time here if I had known.”

“We’ll have to come here again someday,” Petr said. “Assuming I can’t convince you to stay longer on this trip.”

Her heart clenched. Had he saved this beach for the second to last day as a way of trying to get her to prolong the vacation? She knew that was what he wanted.

But I can’t. I have to go home.

To avoid engaging with the topic, she kicked off her shoes, stripped off her cover-up, and raced across the sand and down to the water. She jumped over the first breaker as it crashed against her ankles, then dove forward into the sea, swimming against the waves.

When she had exhausted herself, she came up for air, panting, her body bobbing up and down in the swells. She turned around to see how far she had come from the beach.

And found herself face-to-face with Petr.

She gasped, so surprised that she stopped treading water for a moment. The next swell came up behind her and hit her in the back of the head, making her sputter.

He laughed but reached out to help gain her equilibrium. “Are you all right?”

“I didn’t know you were right behind me!” she said, splashing water at him.

“You’re a strong swimmer.”

“So are you, apparently. How did that happen, growing up in a landlocked country?”

“We traveled a lot,” Petr said. “I had plenty of occasions to practice my swimming.”

Then he dove down. Naomi turned and saw that a big wave was approaching. She ducked under it as well.

They swam together for about half an hour, then allowed the waves to wash them slowly back to the shore. Naomi crawled up on to the beach, lay on her back, and allowed the sun to begin drying her.

Petr laid down beside her. “This has been one of the best weeks of my life,” he said.

“Mine, too,” she admitted.

“I really don’t want it to end.”

“We can do this back home,” she said. “We can go to the beach together. We can go out to eat. The good times don’t have to end just because the vacation is over.” Perhaps now was the time they would finally talk about their relationship, or whatever this was.

He sat up and brushed the sand from his shoulders. “I want that,” he agreed. “I want us to keep spending time together. I want you to be a part of my life, Naomi.”

She felt a thrill of excitement. Definitely a relationship talk.

“I feel the same way,” she told him. “Exactly the same way.”

“I have a question for you,” he said.

“Okay.”

“It might seem a little crazy,” he warned.

She thought of the day he had come to her with plane tickets and laughed. “I’m getting used to that kind of thing from you,” she said.

“Well, I might be about to outdo myself,” he said. “But I promise you, I’m being completely serious.”

“You’re making me nervous.”

He nodded. “I’m nervous myself.” He reached out and took her hand. “Naomi…will you marry me?”

Her breath caught in her throat.

He gazed at her, his eyes full of hope.

He’s joking. He’s messing with me.

But there was no sign of a joke on his face. And hadn’t he explicitly said that he was being serious?

“Marry you?” she managed.

“I know it’s fast,” he said.

“Fast isn’t the word,” she said. “We haven’t even known each other for a month!”

“In my defense, I feel like I’ve known you a lot longer,” he said. “I’ve been listening to your music for years. But yes, I understand that you’ve only known me for a very short time.” He laughed. “I did warn you that this was going to seem crazy.”

“You had that right!”

“Naomi, I’m in love with you,” he said earnestly. “You’re all I think about. When we’re apart, all I can do is count the minutes until we’ll be together again. Have you been feeling the same way at all?”

She couldn’t deny that she had. But even so…

“It’s just because this is so new,” she said. “It’s new relationship energy. It’s exciting.”

“It is exciting,” he agreed. “And I can’t stand the thought of letting it go.”

“Shouldn’t we…I don’t know…date for a while?” she asked. “Shouldn’t we take our time and really get to know one another?”

“Why?” Petr asked. “Just because that’s what’s traditional? Just because that’s what society would want us to do? I don’t want to wait to have you as my wife, Naomi. I want to marry you now. Here, in Barcelona.”

She was shaking, despite the hot sun beating down on her