40-Love - Olivia Dade Page 0,102

lapped at the shore. And just beyond the point where that water seemed too deep, past the few fraught feet where she’d struggle to keep her head above surface, the sandbar waited for them.

This time, she knew Lucas would ease her through the frightening moments when her toes no longer touched bottom. He’d support her so she didn’t need to worry. Hold her hand as she forged ahead.

Inevitably, the sand would rise again to meet her. Then they’d sit hip to hip, swaying in the gentle, unceasing advance and retreat of the ocean. They’d let the silky sand dissolve through their fingers and swirl their hands through the warm, buoyant water.

They’d be. Just be. Together.

Paradise. But no more so than the house they now shared, their daily lives full of meetings and frustrations and laughter and the look on Lucas’s face each and every time she came home.

Lit from within. Incandescent with love.

So no, she wasn’t nervous. She was as buoyant as that swirling water.

She couldn’t wait for the sandbar. She couldn’t wait another moment.

When she fell to one knee in the damp sand, Lucas swore and dropped everything. “Tess, are you okay? Did you twist your knee? Because I can call for—”

He was crouching down, his hands grasping her shoulders, his brow creased with worry as he frantically scanned her for injuries.

Yup. He’d completely missed the point of all this.

The rings helped, once she fished their velvet boxes from the depths of the tote bag.

Men didn’t usually receive engagement rings, but she didn’t want a long engagement anyway. Not this time. She figured he could use the band as his wedding ring too. And she absolutely loved the design she’d picked for both of them. No diamonds anywhere to be found. Just wide circles inscribed with the date they’d met.

The day her dreams had multiplied and started coming true.

“I love you, Lucas Stig Karlsson. As long as I live, I’ll want you by my side. As long as I live, I’ll stay by yours.” She smiled into his astonished face. “Will you marry me?”

Silence. He didn’t say a word.

Nothing.

Nada.

Okay, now she was getting a teensy bit nervous.

“Tess…” He stared down at the platinum bands cradled in her palm, and then—to her shock—started laughing. “Älskling, I have two rings in my suitcase back in our room. Along with tickets for Vegas, in case you wanted to cut our trip here short and get married right away. That would be my preference, incidentally.”

Oh, thank God. “Mine too. The black oblong boxes have rings in them?”

He nodded.

She grinned at him. “I thought those were sex toys.”

“I know you did.” He winked at her. “The sex toys are in a different bag.”

Then he was on his knees too, her hands in his, the rings she’d chosen pressed between their palms. “Tessa Bethany Dunn, I love you. I’ll always love you, and I’d be proud as hell to call myself your husband. Will you marry me?”

Her kiss, her smile through her tears, served as her answer.

Much later, when they were both wearing their rings and skirting the border of public indecency charges, she pulled slightly away from him, panting.

“Lucas…” When the breeze ruffled his hair, she smoothed it with unsteady fingers. “We should go back to our room. In about half an hour, servers are going to start bringing every single item from The Sands’s dinner menu to our room.”

A smile spread slowly across his face, and his dimples popped. “You’re giving yourself what you want.”

“All of it. Practical or not.” Her breath caught as he squeezed her ass, the gesture possessive and approving. “It seemed like a fitting start to our engagement.”

“Definitely,” he said, nipping at the sensitive spot just below her ear. “And it would definitely be fitting if I did this too.”

“Maybe illegal,” she managed to say as his hands roamed freely, “but very fitting.”

After another breathless interlude, he gave her one last kiss, reluctantly disentangled himself from her arms, and got to his feet with a groan. “We need to go. Shame on you for distracting me, Principal Dunn.”

She shook her head at him. “You’re incorrigible.”

“You’re welcome.” His rumbling voice was smug. So very smug.

If she didn’t love him so much, she’d probably find that annoying, rather than sexy.

Alas.

“Lucas…” Even though she could do it on her own, she still held out her hand to him. “Will you help me up?”

His eyes went soft. Taking her hand, he eased her to her feet.

“Always, Tess.” He stood by her, hip to