AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“That’s three, but they’re good, so I’ll allow them.”
“I think so.” I tap his thigh. “Your turn. Why do you stay with me?”
There is no hesitation when he answers. “Because there are three more things I want to do together that we haven’t finished yet.”
“Huh?”
“There are three more things I want to do together,” he repeats. “I intend to see them all through.”
It’s definitely something I’ve learned about him in the last year. When Kirill gets an idea, he sees it through to the very end. I am happy to hem and haw over paint colors for weeks, but Kirill wants to get from A to Z as efficiently as possible. It’s what makes him such a good leader.
I nod, suddenly dubious. “Right. But that’s a weird thing to say about a relationship. Is this your way of telling me you’re planning to leave soon? Three things isn’t very many.”
After a year together, I thought I’d gotten over the fear that Kirill would leave me. Apparently, it’s still there, buried under the last twelve months of love and good times.
“It only sounds that way because you don’t know what they are.”
“Then enlighten me before I have a heart attack, please and thank you.”
“Okay.” Kirill stands up and shoves his hands in his pockets. “From the bottom. Number three, I want to die with you.”
“Oh. How macabre. Though still kind of sweet.”
“My specialty.”
“Are the rest of them macabre, too?”
“Quiet. I’m still going.” Kirill holds up two fingers. “Number two, I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”
Instantly, my throat constricts. I press a hand to my chest and fight back a sudden onslaught of tears. I’ve been hyper emotional lately anyway, so this kind of sweet talk is not doing me any favors.
“Kirill,” I gush, “that isn’t macabre at all! That’s really sweet.”
“Glad you agree.” The lights around the edge of the boat reflect in his green eyes and a grin splits across his chiseled face as he drops to one knee in front of me. “So, as far as I see it, the best way to ensure numbers two and three happen is to ask you number one: Rayne Garner, will you marry me?”
The moment his knee hit the deck of the yacht, I was blinded by tears. Blubbering, I launch myself out of my seat and wrap my arms around his neck.
Kirill, always steady and strong, is so surprised he wobbles backwards. It takes him a second to regain his stability and hug me back.
“Is that a ‘yes?’” he laughs, rubbing my back.
I grab his face and kiss his full mouth again and again, only stopping when I finally feel like I have control over my vocal chords again.
“Yes,” I gasp, wiping tears off my cheeks. “Yes, Kirill, I’ll marry you.”
He brushes his thumbs over my cheeks. “You’re crying an awful lot for someone who is excited to get married.”
I wave him away. “That’s just the hormones talking.”
Kirill stills. “The what?”
I ignore the question and keep talking. “The only thing to decide now is when to get married. We can do it before or after the baby, but if we do it before it has to be soon. I don’t want to wear a wedding dress with a baby bump.”
“What?” he asks again, though I’m positive he caught the announcement this time. “When did you find out? How did you hide it from me?”
His hands are roving all over my body like he might find the answers to his questions hiding on my skin somewhere. But if that was the case, he certainly would have found them when we went below deck after dessert earlier.
“I don’t know, Mr. I-Don’t-Miss-Anything,” I tease. “I thought you were going to figure it out when I almost gagged at the sight of that sushi two nights ago.”
