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I wiped my brow. “I might go for a swim.”
Chase smiled. “I enjoyed our midnight dip. That was kinda fun.”
“And shark bait.”
He shrugged. “I would have died a happy man with your gorgeous naked body rubbing against me.”
“You’re such a charmer.”
He stopped walking and turned to look at me, suddenly serious.
“What?” I asked.
“It’s nice here, isn’t it?”
I paused to look around. Surrounded by sky-piercing pines and ash trees with shimmering green foliage, I was reminded of a magical forest in a fairy tale.
Watching Chase stroke a huge tree trunk, I smiled. “You’re not going to hug it are you?”
“I’m so city that I’ve forgotten to stop and enjoy nature. There’s always Central Park, but this is wild and uncultivated. I love the earthy smells.”
He turned to stare at me and then lowered onto a knee.
“You seem strange,” I said, studying his face. “Are you looking for something?”
He took my hand and kissed it.
“You’re going all romantic on me.”
“Will you marry me, Ivy?” he asked, his eyes soaked in sincerity.
“Oh my God,” I said. “You’re serious?”
He nodded. “Really serious.”
While my hand remained wrapped around his warm fingers, I asked, “Is this your father again? Threatening to cut you off?”
He shook his head. “No more repeats of that shitty episode. Promise.”
“But we’re good the way we are, aren’t we?”
“You don’t want to marry me?” He frowned, looking confused.
I thought about that for a moment. In truth, I couldn’t imagine my life without him. “What about the hotel?”
“That’s a part of us. You’re in there, aren’t you? You promised to take the job as entertainment coordinator.”
I smiled at the prospect of my new role booking acts for the new ballroom at the yet-to-be-named destination hotel Chase had been working tirelessly on that year.
He was no longer barhopping. Most nights, we were in bed by ten o’clock, and he was up at six.
A new man. A good man. And now, my man.
I helped him off his knee. “Come on. Let’s go back to the house. Give me some time to think about it. I might call your dad.”
He stopped walking, and his face crumpled.
I laughed. “Kidding.”
