Mr. Big Shot: An Enemies To Lovers Romance (Kinda Cocky Book 1), стр. 49
They were curves that had grown before my very eyes with the food we took in from our adventures.
“It’s getting a bit tight, you know,” she said as she kissed my cheek.
“My God, you’re breathtaking.”
She blushed. “You’ve always had a way with words. You know that?”
“You bring that out in me.”
She sat down in front of me. “I’ve always loved this little beach shack. But, why are we staying at the bungalow resort when we could be--?”
I took her hand. “I thought a redo of this place was in order. You know, since we had such a rough start here.”
“A do-over, of sorts?”
I nodded. “Of sorts.”
Her eyes turned toward the water. “I love the view from this place.”
I kept staring at her. “Me, too.”
“I could sit here all night and watch those waves.”
I saw the ocean reflecting in her emerald eyes. “Me, too.”
“I know you’re still staring at me.”
“Me, too.”
She giggled. “You’re crazy, you know that?”
“Crazy for you.”
She looked back at me. “I love you too, Zane.”
Nerves gathered in my gut as I held her hand across the table. The bartender winked at me as he placed our drinks down. A Pineapple Doozy for her, and a whiskey on the rocks for me. I watched her sparkling eyes turn back out toward the ocean. Witnessing, her worries melt away with every sip of that drink brought me a great deal of pride. I knew both of us needed to get away. After all the stress of moving her into my place and helping her on board with her new position, things had been crazy.
It felt nice to simply relax.
“How do you like your new job?” I asked.
She giggled. “You mean, how do I like heading up your H.R. department?”
I shrugged. “I mean, you were well-qualified for the position.”
“And your former head of H.R. was embezzling from you.”
“I’m sure you won’t do that, though.”
“To be honest? She didn’t strike me as the kind of girl that was smart enough to embezzle. I’m a bit impressed.”
I chuckled. “Brenden was too, to be honest.”
“I think you guys went too easy on her.”
I shrugged. “She only embezzled a thousand bucks.”
“Still! I think you should’ve pressed charges.”
“I made that money back thirty minutes after she was fired.”
“Go ahead. Boast about it more, handsome.” Karina rolled her eyes.
“I mean if you’re giving me permission.”
She barked with laughter. “This is the most relaxed I’ve felt in weeks. Let’s not ruin it with work talk.”
I didn’t feel relaxed. “Take a walk with me.”
She looked over at me. “Do you ever ask for anything?”
I stood up, her hand still in mine. “Get your drink, and take a walk with me.”
I picked up my whiskey and threw it back as I helped her stand from her seat. Nervousness racked my gut as we walked away from the beachside cabana-restaurant and along the wet shoreline. I slid my free hand into my pocket as Karina mindlessly sipped her drink. The firelight came into view, and I saw her eyes narrow, trying to figure out what it was.
A voice wafted over the ocean waves. “Karina!”
She paused. “Is that--?”
“Girl! Finally! We were wondering when you’d get here!”
“Kelly? Roxy!?”
Karina looked up at me, and I smiled.
“Go get ‘em,” I said.
She handed me her drink before she gathered up her dress. She took off toward her friends, who wrapped her up tightly and spun her around. The closer I walked to the bonfire, the more nervous I became. Just as I had suspected, everyone had shown up. Brenden. Kelly and Roxy. Karina’s parents. Traditional Hawaiian music played in the background as the bonfire crackled with a pig roasting on a spit over its flames. A bartender had already doled out drinks to everyone, and I walked over to him, watching him slip me the little red velvet box.
As Karina hugged everyone’s neck, I turned to face her, drinking her in one last time before I made a decision that would either make us or break us.
“Zane? What in the world?” Karina asked.
She trotted up to me in the sand, and I decided now was the best time. So, as she approached me, I sunk to my knee.
Her hands flew to her mouth.
“Zane,” she gasped.
I held up the small red box and cracked it open, revealing a sparkling canary diamond surrounded by emeralds that sparkled like her eyes.
“Oh, my--.”
I swallowed my nerves down. “Karina Rosehill, I love you. In some ways, I’ve loved you since the moment I laid eyes on you in that club. I’ve loved you since the moment our lips first met. And even through the moments when we both wanted to walk away, I’ve loved you still. More, and more, with each passing day. The truth is, I can’t be without you. I can’t live this life without you. I want you to have everything you’ve ever wanted in this life. I want you to have your white picket fence. I want you to have your perfect home. I want you to have the average two-and-a-half children with a rocking chair on the front porch. I want you to have everything you’ve ever needed from this life, and then some. And I want to be the one to give it to you.”
I saw tears dripping down her cheeks as the entire world silenced itself.
“So, Karina Rosehill. Will you marry me?”
She didn’t even hesitate. “Of course, I’ll marry you!”
She threw herself at me as everyone clapped and cheered for us. I held her in my grip against my body, feeling her fluttering heartbeat in time with mine. I kissed her cheek and her neck. I kissed her shoulder and her arm. I kissed any patch of skin I could until she leaned up, and then I captured her lips.
“I love you so much,” she whispered.
I plucked the ring from the box