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She stared at him, and Ty wanted to press on the accelerator and ram the SUV into the back of the car in front of him.
“You don’t have to say it back,” he said. “I fell in love with you on my birthday, and I’m tired of keeping it to myself.” He looked over to her, his smile growing as hers did too. She wassmiling.
“Do you believe me?” he asked.
“Do I believe that you love me?”
“Yeah.”
She took his hand and squeezed it tight, tight. “I wish you weren’t driving, so I could kiss you.”
“Would that kiss tell me that yes, you believe I love you?”
“Yes,” she whispered. “I believe you.”
“Great.” His lungs finally operated normally, and his grip relaxed on the steering wheel. He drove into downtown, the streets tight and narrow and crowded. “Sage, I just have to know one more thing.”
“You don’t need to ask.” She stroked her thumb across the side of his. “You want to know about marriage.”
He thought of the diamond ring he bought almost two months ago. The one he’d packed and brought along on this trip. “It’s been on my mind, yes.”
Sage looked out the windshield. “I’m…” She sighed. “Ty, I love you.”
He chuckled before he realized what she’d said—and that she meant it. “I really wish I wasn’t driving right now.” He spotted a parking lot ahead that went to the beach, and he flipped on his blinker.
After pulling in and parking, he reached for her, and kissed her. “I’m a little shocked,” he murmured.
“Join the club.” She matched her mouth to his again, and Ty simply basked in the moment, trying to commit it to memory. She wasn’t his first girlfriend, but he definitely thought Sage was the first woman to truly love him.
She ducked her head and let her breath wash over his collarbone. “Is this real?” she whispered.
“I love you,” he said again.
Sage looked up at him, her eyes wide and wonderful. “I love you, Ty,” she said. “Can we table the topic of marriage so we can enjoy this weekend?”
Ty saw her nerves plainly. He honestly wasn’t sure what he’d do if she told him she just couldn’t get married. But he nodded. “I think I can wait one more weekend.”
She nodded too, and they both looked out the windshield. Since he wasn’t fifteen, and he didn’t need to sit in the beach parking lot to make-out with his girlfriend, he put the car in gear and navigated them to the historic hotel where they’d be staying.
* * *
Ty woke the next morning,the first thing he saw the white wall of the hotel room where he’d slept last night. Sage slept in the next bed over, and it had been awkward for a few minutes last night as he’d settled down to go to sleep. It had taken longer than usual, but he’d managed.
He rolled over and found her still asleep, her beauty only enhanced by the softness in her face and the golden morning light. He got up and took some clothes into the bathroom, feeling like he was back in college and traveling with a group of friends.
Except he was thirty years older now, and he wasn’t with a friend. He was with the woman he loved. Yeah, it was awkward all around.
He got dressed in the steamy bathroom, then left for long enough to grab his wallet. He looked at Sage, still snoozing in her bed, and he stepped over to her. He leaned down and kissed her cheek. “Baby, I’m going to go find us some breakfast.”
“Mm.” Her eyelids fluttered, and then she opened them sleepily.
Ty smiled at her. “I’ll be back in a bit.”
“Okay.”
He touched his lips to hers in a chaste kiss and left the room. They’d planned to do whatever struck their fancy today—maybe the beach, maybe a walking tour of the historic downtown area of Charleston, maybe a museum visit—and then go visit his parents tonight.
He exited the hotel to the fall morning and straightened his shoulders. This weekend was going just fine. Better than he’d even thought it would. “You’re not going to ask her to marry you, though,” he told himself.
