***
When I returned to the hotel, Giuseppe was waiting for me. “Father Tortoni will be here as you requested.”
“Thank you.”
When I got upstairs, Drea was still asleep in her green dress. I didn’t bother trying to sleep. Instead, I watched television and texted with Rafe, who also found it impossible to sleep.
With thirty minutes until dawn, I went over to the bed. I began kissing Drea’s forehead and cheeks. Then up and down her neck. When I finally kissed her lips, she started to stir.
“Good morning, Mrs. Neretti.”
She smiled. “Since I was already going to wake up this morning as a Neretti when I married Rafe, I think I’ll say good morning, Leo.”
“Speaking of our first morning together, let’s go watch the sunrise on the beach.”
Drea groaned. “Seriously?”
“I guess this is when I learn you aren’t a morning person.”
“Exactly. Especially not when I’m jetlagged.”
“Come on. Do this for me. I want to prove I can be romantic.”
As she rubbed her eyes, she sighed defeatedly. “All right.”
Dragging her out of bed, I then led her out of our suite and downstairs. Giuseppe was still behind the desk. When I brought my finger to my lips, he nodded.
When we got onto the beach, the sky was that bluish purple color it turned as the sun started creeping on the horizon. As we stared out at the crashing waves, I turned to Drea. “You know I was thinking that I never got to formally ask you to marry me.”
“You asked me if I would have you.”
I laughed. “That was in a pressure cooker situation with Rafe being held at gunpoint.”
She grinned. “True.”
After taking the ring box from my pants pocket, I sank down onto one knee. At the sight of me kneeling before her, Drea staggered back slightly
“Drea, will you marry me?”
She frowned. “But we’re already married.”
“I promised you earlier today I wanted to be able to marry you without you being Rafe’s fiancée.”
“Yes, you did.”
With the most divine timing, Father Tortoni appeared at the edge of the boardwalk. “So marry me now.”
When Drea saw the priest, she began to cry. “Leo, I can’t believe you did all this.”
“You better believe it, and believe that I’m a romantic. Maybe not before I met you, but I am now.”
A bright smile lit up her face. “Oh, I believe you now.”
“Then let’s get married for real.”
“There’s nothing more I’d rather do.”
And for thesecond time in twenty-four hours, I married Drea.
