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“No,” she admitted, her mind reeling. He would let her call the shots, if she chose to. “… And if I said that I wanted to keep my maiden name?”
“Then maybe we can hyphenate it on the marriage license,” he shrugged.
“How are you so easy, so flexible, on any of this?” she asked in disbelief.
“Because if you say ‘yes’… then I have my best friend, my soulmate, as my wife,” he said tenderly. “And if you say ‘no’, then I still have you in my life, and need to try a little harder to win you over.”
She stared at him, and couldn’t help the smile that touched her lips. He really believed that any hesitation on her part was because he hadn’t ‘won her over’ and needed to ‘try harder’.
He would give her anything as long as she included him in her life… and that was so far opposite from her prior marriage that it left her incredulous.
“If I said I wanted to get married at nine in the morning?”
“Then we’ll be at the courthouse at eight-forty-five,” he countered softly, his eyes warm and gentle.
“And if I wanted to marry you by four this afternoon?”
“Then I need to find a courthouse close by, because we have almost a three-hour flight back, and I still need to buy wedding bands,” he smiled. “You know both of those statements imply that you are agreeing to marry me. Am I okay to get my hopes up? Does this mean you are saying ‘yes’?”
“If I want to come back to the beach someday?”
“Then we’ll come back… and bring our children,” he whispered softly, not looking away from her. “Anything you could ever want; I will do everything I can to provide it – just say the word and it’s yours.”
She felt such overwhelming love in this moment, because she knew he was telling her the truth. He would do anything for her, just to make her happy. Jax was so kind, so sweet, so incredibly loving in so many ways – and knew that he would be the same when he finally made love to her.
He would treasure her – and put her first.
“And if I want to have my husband in my bed tonight…” she asked hesitantly, not looking away from him as he caught his breath at her bold words.
“Then we need to get moving and find a hotel, because what I want to do isn’t appropriate for that little couch you have at your apartment,” he said huskily, smiling tenderly at her.
Mary pressed her forehead against his and felt herself laugh at his open, genuine, honest answer, touching his cheek, and wondering what she could have ever done to deserve such a good man.
“What time is it?” she asked softly.
“Nearly noon…”
“Think we can make it?”
“We are taking off in less than sixty seconds,” he grinned, leaping to his feet and helping her up. “Let me check the plane, and we are outta here!”
CHAPTER16
MARY
Seeing Jax’s enthusiasm,the way he was completely serious and driven to get them back, was encouraging. She actually was starting to feel excited about this, instead of trepidation. Getting married wasn’t something that she’d ever thought of…
Unless this was the interpretation of her wish,she mused, looking at him and smiling. He was there, beside her, wearing his headset and sunglasses, his hands fumbling slightly as he yanked off the plane’s keys from his chain before dropping his dog tags back into his shirt.
“Ready?” he asked simply.
“Waiting on you,” she replied playfully – only to hear his laugh, as they rolled down the slightly bumpy natural landing strip and took off within seconds.
The flight back was different; instead of peering out the windows and looking around, she couldn’t take her eyes off of him. There was such joy radiating from him, such a lack of fear or hesitation, that she was envious. It was like he put himself out there fully in whatever he chose to do… and he wanted her.
Those long-ago moments with Joe would always haunt her, but seeing this beautiful, shining being before her? It was stark, the contrast between them of what was right and wrong – and she could see it clearly.
Jax truly cared, and she knew he would be reaching out, calling, writing, and visiting as much as possible… and while the thought of her husband, her partner, being gone so much was a little intimidating? It was strangely comforting too. It would give her time to get used to this idea, to affirm if she was making the right decision.
