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I frowned. “Of course. Why?”
She blushed a little. God, I loved that blush. “You were staring.”
I flashed her a cute grin. “I can’t keep my eyes off of you. You look beautiful. Takes my damn breath away.”
Her cheeks warmed even more. My heart thumped crazily in my chest at the sight. God, I loved this woman so fucking much.
“Alex has been asking me about when I’m making you my wife,” I told her, smiling at the waitress as she took our dessert plates away. We were headed back to the dock already.
She bit her lip, looking out at the water. I waited patiently. Finally, she turned back to look at me, and she drew in a deep breath. “Would you be alarmed if I said I didn’t want to wait?”
My eyes widened in shock. I’d been hoping to talk her into setting a date. I hadn’t expectedthis.
“I’m surprised,” I said honestly, “but I’m not alarmed. Are you sure you don’t want to take your time, Tawney?”
She drew in a deep breath and reached across the table to grab my hand in hers. I kept my gaze steady on her pretty face, waiting for her to tell me whatever was on the tip of her tongue. “For the past seven years, I’ve been living in fear of losing another person so close to me. I’ve been living with one foot in the door of my sanctuary and one foot out, too terrified to truly allow myself to live again, to love again.” She blinked back tears. My throat closed up. “But then you stepped into my life, and nothing has been the same since. You’ve shown me it’s okay to love again and to live again. And you’ve been so, so good with Alex.” A tear slid down her cheek. “So, Slater, I don’t want to wait. If it’s okay with you, I want to get married as soon as possible so we can begin the next step in our lives. I want to begin truly living again, and I want to do it withyouby my side.”
I gently cupped the side of her neck and pulled her lips to mine. “Then we’ll get married as soon as possible, baby girl.” Then, I kissed her harder, giving her a kiss that I knew for certain wasn’t appropriate for a public setting, but I didn’t give a fuck.
* * *
I tookthe next day off, and then I spent my morning trying my hardest to get an appointment booked for today at the Sizzle Beach Wedding Chapel. If she wanted to get married as soon as possible, then I was going to do my damnest to fucking make it happen.
I rubbed my temples. So far, I hadn’t had any luck. I wanted to get married on the beach; the ocean was something special to both of us, but because they were booked out so far, it looked like Savannah was next on the list.
Just as I was getting ready to call a chapel in Savannah, my phone rang, the number from the Sizzle Beach Wedding Chapel on my phone. I quickly answered. “Hello?”
“Mr. Kennedy?”
“This is him,” I said, smiling at Tawney as she glanced over at me from her office. I waved at her, letting her know I was fine. We didn’t have any customers, and if we did while I was still on the phone, I’d switch with her.
“You’re actually ina lotof luck. I just had a cancelation for today. The bride is sick, so they’ve canceled. Do you want it?”
“Hell yes!” I exclaimed, making Tawney shoot her alarmed eyes to mine. “What time?”
“Eleven,” she said.
I glanced at the clock on the wall. Fuck, that was in literally an hour and a half.Shit. Fuck it. Whatever. We’d make it work.
“We’ll be there,” I told her.
“Do you already have your marriage license?” she asked.
I cringed. “Um, no. Is that going to be an issue?”
“Nope. It’ll just cost an extra eighty-five dollars to have it done on sight, which means I’ll need you here ten minutes before your appointment time.”
“Got it,” I told her. “We’ll be there.”
I hung up the phone and looked over at Tawney. “Close the store, baby girl. We’re getting married!”
“What?!” she screeched. She launched herself from her chair. “I didn’t think you’d pull it off!”
I gathered her into my arms as she threw her arms around my neck. Leaning down, I pressed my lips to hers in a hard, quick kiss. “Close up fast, baby. We’re crunching hard for time.”
She nodded and quickly began to lock the doors. Alex popped his head into the store, frowning at us. “Why is Mom closing the store?” he asked.
“We’re getting married today,” I told him.
