did trust him now. I knew that when the time was right, we’d be jetting back to Fiji to say our vows. We hadn’t talked about it, but that was what I wanted, and I knew it was what he wanted too.
Once, a couple of months ago, I’d found the resort’s website open on our computer at home. Open to the page featuring their wedding options and packages.
The excitement I’d felt when I found it and it confirmed that we were on the same page—literally and metaphorically—still hadn’t completely evaporated. I wasn’t sure it ever would.
This last year with him had been the best of my life. It wasn’t so much the wedding I was looking forward to so much as finally really being married to him.
I woke up every morning in his arms, and fell asleep the same way at night. If anyone had thought that what we felt about each other would mellow out over time, they’d have been wrong.
Ember had even admitted to me earlier how very wrong she, for one, had been. Kavan and Jaxon’s mom, however, weren’t surprised at all.
If anything, our feelings for each other had only grown and become deeper. Which was why, about six months in, we’d both given our notice at the places we’d been renting and bought a house together.
The renovations had been murder, but I’d come to the conclusion that if a couple can survive that, they had to be able to survive nearly anything. As I turned off the highway into our suburban neighborhood, I hit the call button on my steering wheel and my boyfriend’s gorgeous voice flowed through my speakers a second later.
“Hey, beautiful. You on your way home?”
“Yep. Do we need anything? Also, ‘beautiful’ isn’t your most creative one so far.”
He laughed. “True, but it doesn’t need to be creative to be the truth. We don’t need anything. I stopped on my way home. Just get here fast and safe. I’ve got something for you.”
A legit yelp tore out of me. “Is it Ethan? Is he finally back?”
“Way to ruin the surprise,” he grumbled, and I heard my brother’s laughter in the background. “He can’t wait to see you either, cupcake.”
“I’ll be there soon.” I hung up without telling him that I wasn’t his roomie in prison and that, as such, he couldn’t call me cupcake. I’d be home soon enough and then I could tell him in person.
Joy spread through my veins at the thought that I’d be seeing my brother again in just a few minutes. He’d left only about a week after that night that he showed up on my doorstep. We’d stayed in touch this time, but video calls and emails just weren’t the same as seeing him for real.
Surprisingly, I wasn’t the only one staying in touch with Ethan. The guys had figured out pretty quickly after Jaxon and I had gotten together that they’d met before.
The morning after our reunion, it turned out we’d both texted my brother to let him know what’d happened and that we’d made up. They put two and two together, and I’d learned that the stranger Jaxon had been speaking to about me all night at that convention he’d been at was my brother.
Apparently, I had Ethan to thank for convincing Jaxon to fight for me. Imagine that.
Big Mac had had a huge laugh about it when we’d told him. According to him, it’d been serendipity and simply more proof that we were fated to be together.
Maybe it’s fate. Maybe it’s not. Whatever it was, I’d never been happier.
Jaxon had landed the position as instructor—with no help from me. He hadn’t been kidding when he’d said they’d been after him to teach for a long time.
Half the damn company converged on him after he’d mentioned to Steve that he might want it. He still flew because I knew he’d never be happy with having his feet permanently on the ground, but he was never gone for longer than two or three days at a time.
Our garage door started rising after I stopped in our driveway, and Jaxon was waiting for me on the other side. He grinned while I parked, then pulled me into his arms as soon as I was out of the car.
“I love you,” he said before slanting his lips over mine in a kiss that left me breathless and wanting more. A soft chuckle made his chest vibrate against mine when I pressed myself up against him. “We have company,