Page 49 of B-Side

"Yeah. I don't think it's over yet, but it seems like good news so far."

I nodded. "I agree. I'm glad it wasn't more of an ordeal finding her."

He made a sound of approval in his chest and I heard it clearly since I was lying directly on it. I sat there in silence for a few long seconds. "Wow, a lot happened while we slept," I said finally.

"I was thinking that, too. I'm glad we took a nap. It almost feels like a new day."

I sat up, gathering the plush comforter and propping myself onto a fluffy ball of it. "Let's go to the beach."

"What beach?" he said.

"Any beach. A sand beach. We can get some sand between our toes, and then we can get dinner somewhere. I don't have to be up until nine o'clock in the morning. I can stay till midnight."

He reached up to touch my hair, smoothing it and tucking it behind my ear in a slow, patient movement. "How much longer till you don't have to go home at midnight like Cinderella anymore?"

"You mean spend the night?"

"Yes."

"I know it doesn’t make much sense seeing as how we already… but I'm going to wait, you know, until we're married, to even spend the night."

He grinned at me like he was amused. "I know you're not spending the night until we're married, Grace. I'm asking when we're going to get married."

I stared at him. There was a burning flame inside of me. I loved Alec with all my heart. I wanted to fall into him and physically become one person.

"We can whenever, I guess," I said in a dazed tone. "This morning, on my way over here, I was feeling intimidated. I was planning all sorts of things I could say to you to make you know how I felt. This morning, I came over here as your friend, and now I'm waking up in your arms and you're casually mentioning getting married."

"I'm not casual about anything," he said. "There's nothing casual about me saying I want to marry you. And I wasn't trying to be your friend this morning, either. I've been over that friendship thing for months now. I was just waiting on you."

"Are you mad that I took so long?" I asked, staring down at him.

"I'm definitely not mad," he said. "I deserve to wait longer than this."

I gazed down at him as he was lying on the couch, and it was a spectacular view. His t-shirt was tight and thin, and I saw the lines and shape of his body even though I wasn't looking directly at it. I met his eyes for a moment and then I studied his face. The two of us sat there and looked at each other for what must have been a full minute. Finally, I reached out and put my hand on his chest.

"You don't deserve anything," I said. "You can stop saying that. You don't need to be punished for choices you made when we were kids."

"I made them up until a year ago, but thank you for the forgiveness."

I gave him a sweet smile. "You don't deserve to keep asking forgiveness or to have to wait a certain amount of time," I said. "We all make choices in life, and our choices, the good, the bad, and the ugly ones, they led us to this very moment, right here."

"This is not an ugleigh mohmenht." Alec was being playful. He pronounced the statement in a thick Scottish accent, shifting the covers, grabbing me, and holding onto me again, locking me into his tight embrace. He wasn't great at any accent for very long, but he could imitate a few words here and there and sound authentic for a phrase or two.

I laughed at his impression which sounded, one hundred percent real and accurate. I felt like I was being tackled and tickled by a big Scottish guy.

"It's a great moment," I said.

"The best," he agreed. "Now let's go, and I'll take you to the beach."

I moved to get off of him when he said that, but he didn't let me—he didn't unlock his arms. I relaxed, not resisting. "I'm good with staying here," I said.

"We can go. I was just messing with you. You can get up now." I knew Alec well enough to know that he was tricking me again. He was going to hold me if I tried to get up. I could tell by the teasing tone of his voice.

"I don't want to get up," I said letting my body go totally relaxed and limp. I was planning to take him by surprise and lie limp until one special moment when he was least expecting it, and I would slip out of his arms and tease him that he had lost concentration.

But before I could do it, Alec said, "Come here," again.

He said it in that exact same way he said it before. I lifted my body enough to lean up and kiss him.

Source: www.allfreenovel.com