Page 101 of Worthy of Sunsets and Second Chances

“Yes, and me teaching her to say mama, that you are her mama.” Eli kneels in front of me, kissing my inner thigh, my pink sundress slipping up closer to my hips.

“Eli,” I whisper.

“Her nursery, moving in together, changing her schedule around. All steps in the plan.” He grins up at me, that damn dimple making me melt.

“You are so proud of yourself, aren’t you?” I sass.

“I will be the most proud when I get the last part of my plan, the final step,” he admits.

“What’s that?” I sit up and smile at him; the sunset illuminates his face as he shifts to one knee.

“Making you my wife.” Eli pulls out a blue velvet box, flips the lid open, and I gasp.

The fading sunrays of the day sparkle on a stunning, large cushion-cut pink sapphire in an antique rose-gold setting.

Tears fill my eyes and Eli says, “Kendra, I have loved you for so long. You give me a life I never thought I deserved, and I don’t want with anyone else. It’s always been you. I’ve needed you, needed your love. It’s not gentle like a sunrise, slowly warming the day. It’s fiery like a sunset—illuminating my whole life and dipping into the darkness that I was afraid of. I want everything with you. Please, sweetheart, marry me and let me love you for the rest of my life and beyond.”

“Yes, oh, holy shit! Yes!” I lunge at him, and he hardly budges as I crash into his strong arms. Kissing him, my tears of joy are salty on our tongues.

“Here,” he says, taking my left hand and sliding the ring on. It glimmers in the quickly fading light, and he kisses it.

“This is the most perfect thing I have ever seen. How did you know what to pick?”

“I think I know you pretty well.” The cocky man winks at me and pulls a second jewelry box out, handing it to me.

“More!” I exclaim.

“Go on,” Eli says, with a laugh.

As I flip the lid of the longer box open, it reveals a necklace in matching rose gold.

“It’s a ring necklace,” Eli explains, “for you to put your engagement ring and wedding band on when you are in your studio doing pottery.”

“Holy shit, Hulk, you really did think of everything,” I say.

“All part of the plan.” Eli kisses me with a smile on his lips.

“Was part of your plan to get married at City Hall as soon as possible?” I ask him, and he pulls back, shocked.

“What? Do you not want a real wedding?” He tucks my hair behind my ear.

“That is a real wedding. I just don’t want a big fancy thing. We have waited so long to start our life, I don’t want to plan something for months, for years.” I cup his cheek.

“As long as you won’t regret missing out on a bigger wedding, I would love to make you Mrs. Hargrove as soon as humanly possible. I’m getting hard right now just thinking about it.” He laughs and kisses my neck, tugging me down to the blanket.

“I still want a dress. And fancy shoes. And a few of our people there. Maybe a small reception party at a later date to celebrate. But the marriage part—I want that immediately.” I kiss him softly, and he nods in agreement.

“Let’s do it.”

“Plus, Grady said the adoption process would go faster and more smoothly if we were married.” I remind him of our conversation with Grady when we took the paperwork to his office.

“That’s true, but we can still do it without getting married right away if that is the reason. You can still have the big wedding.” Eli searches my eyes.

“No, no. That’s just a bonus. I want you, your last name. I need to be your wife—immediately. Please don’t make me wait.” I straddle his hips, grinding down on his growing erection. “Please, Daddy,” I whisper in his ear.

“You’re killing me, sweetheart.” Eli moans. “I am gonna fuck you on this beach, then we are going home and planning our wedding because I cannot wait to call you wife.”

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