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“Oh…” he says, taking my hands. “You look absolutely amazing.”
I blush. “Thank you.”
He lifts my hands to his mouth and kisses my fingers. “You are so beautiful. I’m the luckiest man in the world.”
“I’m blessed, too,” I comment, looking him up and down. He’s wearing a white dress shirt and cream chinos, and he looks young and healthy and so incredibly sexy that I’m close to pushing him onto the bed and doing him right there and then.
But he says, “Okay, we should get going,” so I have to shelve my lust for now.
We head out, and walk slowly along the waterfront. People are sitting at tables on the grass, having dinner, while boats sail to and from Paihia to the pier.
I glance at Saxon. He’s quiet, and seems a little nervous, which is unlike him. Hmm. What does he have planned?
He glances around, and then his face brightens. “Come on, I want you to meet someone.”
He takes me across to a couple who are waiting by the steps into the hotel. The guy is tall and big, like Titus, with handsome boy-next-door features, and a pleasant smile. The girl, whose hand he’s holding, is tall like me and striking with long dark hair in a braid. They’re both well dressed, him like Saxon in chinos and a shirt, her in fawn wide-leg pants and a pretty long-sleeved cream blouse.
“Hey,” the guy says as we walk up. “Saxon.” The two of them grasp hands and do a manly shoulder bump, and then Saxon kisses the girl on the cheek.
Finally, he puts his hand in the middle of my back. “Catie, this is Hal King, a good friend of mine, and his wife, Izzy. Guys, this is Catie.”
“Hey, Catie.” The two of them shake hands with me. I’m so surprised that I just smile. He hasn’t mentioned them before. Why are we meeting them today?
“Ready?” Hal asks Saxon with a grin.
“Sort of,” he says, and laughs.
“Come on, then.” Instead of going into the hotel, Hal leads the way down the road, taking his wife with him.
“What’s going on?” I whisper as I follow Saxon.
He smiles but doesn’t reply. We walk past the people having dinner, a few hundred yards along the road above the beach.
There, Hal slows to a halt and looks back at us. I let go of Saxon’s hand and walk a few steps past them.
On the sand is a simple wooden frame around which white tulle has been twisted, and the corners are decorated with bright orange flowers, not dissimilar to those on my dress. Under the frame is a small table, draped in a white cloth, with more flowers on it. A man stands behind it, dressed in a suit. A few people have gathered along the roadside, and some are sitting on the sand, obviously waiting to see what the fuss is about.
Izzy runs down, says something to him, picks up a small bouquet of the orange flowers, and brings it back up to me. I hold them, heart racing, and turn to look at Saxon. He takes my hand and leads me down onto the beach and up to the man in the suit.
“Hey,” he says, holding out his hand, “I’m Saxon Chevalier, and this is Catriona.”
“Lovely to meet you,” the man says, shaking hands with Saxon. I hold mine out automatically, and he shakes that, too. “I’m John Henare, and I’m a celebrant. It’s a beautiful evening for getting married.”
I stare at Saxon. He glances at John, clears his throat, and pulls me to one side.
“Catie,” he says, “don’t freak out. I want to marry you, but I know you’re terrified about the idea of a big white wedding with lots of guests and fanfare. So I thought we could do it here, just me and you. Hal and Izzy organized it for me, and they’ll be our witnesses. It’ll be quick and quiet, and then we’ll be man and wife. So what do you think?”
“What?”
“Are you going to faint?”
“Maybe. Are you kidding?”
He looks at the altar. “No.”
My jaw drops. “You really want to marry me?”
He rolls his eyes and lifts my hand to show me the diamond ring I hardly ever take off.
