Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 76782 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 384(@200wpm)___ 307(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76782 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 384(@200wpm)___ 307(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
“As long as you foot the bill for that?” I laugh.
“You know it.”
I look out at the water again. “It’s so calming, isn’t it? It feels like a different world out here. It’s serene and quiet.”
We passed other boats on our journey, but that was only twice, and after we waved to the people on board and they responded in kind, we continued on.
“Should we toast to our good fortune?” Daniel asks. “To the future?”
This moment. This man. All of this feels like what I imagined in my mind’s eye when I saw that boat on the water and the couple kissing all those years ago.
His hand reaches for mine. I give it willingly because I want to touch him.
“Sometimes, I look at you, and I can’t understand how someone can be this beautiful inside and out,” he says.
I want to thank him for the compliment, but all I can do at this moment is stare into his blue eyes.
“I know tomorrow has to come,” he whispers. “I’d trade everything I own to stop time. Even if it’s just for a little while.”
I want that, too, but the words get caught behind a sudden lump in my throat.
His hand drops mine so it can circle my waist. He tugs me closer. As the wind kisses the side of my face, his eyes lock on mine. “I’m the luckiest man in the world. I got to be married to you.”
“You’re happy you married me?” I ask, even though I already see the answer in his eyes.
“So fucking happy.” He smiles. “It’s been a wild ride, Gina Calvetti.”
“Calvetti-Lawton,” I whisper.
“Calvetti-Lawton,” he repeats. “Mrs. Calvetti-Lawton.”
“Mrs. Lawton,” I say out loud for the first time as I stare into his eyes. “I’m happy, too.”
He tugs me closer, his chin tilting slightly. “May I kiss the bride?”
As my heart skips a beat in my chest, I nod and push up on my toes. “You may kiss the bride.”
One of his hands cups my neck as his lips find mine. With the wind swirling a path around us, the sound of the water hitting the boat, and the warmth of the sun bathing our faces, I kiss my husband for the very first time.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
Gina
“Daniel.” His name escapes me in a breathless rush. “I want…”
“Me,” he finishes my sentence before taking my mouth in a deep, lush kiss.
This kiss is different then the one we first shared on the boat two hours ago. After that kiss, Daniel poured champagne into two plastic glasses, and we toasted to tomorrow.
Neither of us knows what that holds for us, but today, right now, we both want the same thing.
As soon as our kiss breaks, he fumbles with the keypad outside the door to the condo he’ll soon own. It’s the condo that overlooks the spot where we shared our first kiss.
“Why can’t I remember the fucking code?” He chuckles. “You do things to me, Gina.”
I circle a hand around his bicep. “Good things?”
He stops to kiss me again. The tip of his tongue traces a path over my bottom lip before it slides into my mouth. It’s so intimate and gentle that I can’t hold in a small moan.
“Jesus,” he whispers as soon as I step back. “You’re driving me mad.”
“Look at me,” I say as he again punches random numbers into the keypad. “It’s going to lock you out. If that happens, whatever you were going to do to me will have to wait.”
His gaze trails over me so slowly that it feels like he’s already undressing me. “I’ve waited forever for this. I’m not waiting another goddamn minute.”
A light laugh flows out of me. “Focus, Daniel. Look at me.”
He does just that, locking his eyes on mine. “I’m looking. I’ll never stop looking at you.”
My heart aches in my chest, not only from the words he just spoke but his tone. It was soft and tender.
“You know the code.” I cup his face in my hands. “Think, or we’ll have to call Kelly.”
His gaze trails over my face. “I’ve thought about kissing you for years.”
As much as I want in his condo so I can fall into bed with him, I savor the moment. “For years?”
“Forever,” he clarifies. “I almost ran after you when you knocked on my apartment door that morning.”
I won’t let the memory of one of his past lovers taint this moment, so I push past her presence and don’t mention her at all. “When I was eighteen and you were twenty-five?”
He nods, his eyes lighting up as he does. “That’s it. One. Eight. Seven and Two.”
I watch in silence as he keys it in. The light on the pad flashes green.
With a push of the handle down, the door opens.
“I’m going to carry you over the threshold,” he tells me as his right arm circles my waist. “No arguments from you.”