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* * *
Lake Mead was breathtakinglyblue against the arid desert that reminded him so much of the base back in Ghazni. Rock, sand, and gravel was everywhere… and the heat oppressive feeling already, for this time of the year. He couldn’t imagine how sweltering it would be in late August.
“Ohhhh John…” Emily whispered, leaning forward and staring at the windshield as she rested a hand on the dash in amazement. Just hearing that breathy sound gave him a shot of joy racing up his spine, making him remember all those intimate moments yet all over again.
Her voice was something he wouldneverforget…
“It’s so beautiful, so vivid, like a dream…”
“I know what you mean,” he admitted, staring at her, realizing that he was going to be a mess when it came to her.
The guys back in Ghazni were going to give him such a hard time about this, because he always said he wasn’t getting married… and then had joked with Hot Cakes that ‘the first girl who ate peas and ‘taters – he was going to marry’…and he had.
Famous.
Last.
Words.
Hot Cakes was now his brother-in-law by marriage… and if things were going as good as what Vapor claimed? He’d be related to that guy, too.
“Oh my gosh…” he whispered aloud, stunned, and put a hand to his forehead in alarm, realizing that the team would indeed have a field day with this change in status.
“Is your head still hurting?” Emily asked, looking concerned.
“Yeah,” he croaked and nodded. “And the day is getting away from us. Let’s go.”
* * *
Twenty minutes later,papers signed, and on the pontoon ‘patio’ boat… John started the engine and began to guide them out of the marina. The patio boat gave them a small place to sit under cover, as well as an area to walk around or dive off the back into the blue waters below them.
“Where to, my love…” he called out, only to have Emily walk up behind him, laying a hand on his shoulder.
She was gazing out at the water with this breathtaking smile on her face… and he realized that she was indeed the best thing that had ever happened to him. There was such happiness, such unabashed joy in her eyes, that he couldn’t help himself.
John leaned over and kissed her cheek, causing her to look up at him.
“What was that for?”
“I just felt like it. Which direction do you want to go?”
“Anywhere…” Emily told him, before moving her hand and wrapping it around his waist. “I’m just happy to be here with you.”
He drew in his breath and nodded, feeling such an incredible sense of pride and light stealing into his soul, realizing that she was indeed happy with this change between them…
“Why don’t you get into your swimsuit, and I’ll take us out a little closer to that outcropping of shore over there…” he said, pointing at several upraised rocks that looked almost like monoliths in the distance. “It’s not as crowded and…”
“Anywhere you want,” she said from behind him – and he realized she was shedding her clothing that she’d worn over her swimsuit just as he’d instructed.
He steeled himself against turning around to ogle her… only to see her return to his side in the swimsuit that had haunted his dreams for nearly two weeks since he’d gotten that photo she’d emailed to him.
He was sooo done looking at the scenery.
Forget the ruddy rocks and golden sands in the distance. He couldn’t care less at how blue the water was, or how it lapped gently around them. Nothing mattered anymore except the expanse of ivory skin against that black swimsuit on the woman that was now his wife… who was smiling at him like he was the only man in the world.
“Dear God, you are incredibly breathtaking…” he whispered, looking down at her before cutting the engine blindly. “We’ll stop right here, if that’s okay with you.”
“Sure,” she smiled up at him. “Now what?”
