Her eyes dampened. “Caden.”
“Let me finish, please.” He touched his forehead to hers. She sighed, and when he pressed his hands to her cheeks and lifted her face so he could look deeply into her eyes, a warm tear slid over his thumb.
“I love you, Bella. I love your strength, your loud laugh, the way you think of Evan even when you should be thinking about your work. I love the way you love your friends and your hidden adoration of all things pink. I will always love you, Bella, and I want you in our lives.”
He sealed his lips to hers, and all those empty spots that had appeared over the last few days filled with Bella.
With them.
When they drew apart, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of paper the size and thickness of a business card. “I wanted to give you something to show you that I’m serious about my commitment to you.”
He put the paper in her palm and folded her fingers over it; then he pressed a soft kiss to the back of her hand. Caden kissed her forehead.
“Before you open it, please tell me what you’re wearing.”
Bella looked down at her dress and her cheeks flushed. “It’s a prom dress. I bought it to wear to my high school prom, but that was before I realized that girly girls got taken advantage of.”
“So you didn’t wear it?” He loved her so much his heart ached.
She shook her head. “I wore a black dress. But when I saw it in my closet, I remembered how you saw right through me and how you loved that side of me. And how you said to embrace it.” She lifted one shoulder in a shrug.
He kissed her again, and she melted against him.
“Maybe we should go shopping for something from this decade,” he teased.
“Maybe shopping can wait,” she said against his lips.
The sound of tires on gravel drew their lips apart.
“Bella!” Evan dropped his bike and wrapped his arms around the two of them. “You’re here. Jenna said you were in Connecticut, and I thought…” He hugged her again. “I thought you decided to take that job.”
“I missed you, too, Evan.” She ran her eyes between Evan and Caden. “How could I take a job that was so far from my favorite two men?”
He shot a look at Caden. “You’re back together?”
Caden nodded, and Evan did a fist pump. “Yes! Please take him out of here, Bella. He’s been moping around and driving me crazy.”
“Oh, I think I can handle that,” she said with mischief in her eyes.
“Um.” Evan ran his eyes down Bella’s dress. “You might want to change your clothes first. I’m pretty sure that went out of style in the fifties.”
“Nineties,” Bella corrected him.
“Whatever.” Evan headed for the front door.
Whatever, said with a smile. Music to Caden’s ears.
Evan stopped halfway to the door and returned to Bella’s side with a serious look in his eyes. “Bella, I’m sorry for lying to you about being at the campground that day. I was afraid I’d get in trouble, and…well, I won’t lie again.”
Confusion flashed in her eyes. Caden realized he hadn’t even had a chance to tell her everything that Evan had told him yet.
“That’s okay, Evan. I’m glad you did the right thing in the end.”
“Cool. Thanks.” He headed inside.
“Thank you,” Caden said to Bella. “I have a lot to tell you, but I’m proud of him for apologizing. I never asked him to.”
“He’s an amazing kid, Caden.”
Bella unfurled her hand and read the note on the card. She fisted her hands in Caden’s shirt. “A get-out-of-jail-free card? Did you steal this from a Monopoly game?”
“No, but I copied the idea from the game, sort of.” His chest swelled with love for her.
“Don’t you ever compromise your beliefs for me. I love you for your convictions.”
He kissed her softly. “Oh, sorry. That was meant for me. In case you decide to use your fuzzy handcuffs and forget to respect our safe word.” He arched a brow and she laughed.
“Turn it over,” he whispered.
She looked down at the card.
“Read the other side.” He held his breath as she flipped over the flimsy card. He felt her heart beat harder against his chest. She looked from the card to him, then back again.
“Is…?” Her eyes welled with tears again. “Is this a joke?” She read the words again.
Marry me.
“I’ve never been more serious in my life. I love you, Bella. I knew it the moment you fell into my arms that first night. I want to be your YMCA guy. The guy who does or doesn’t fix your deck, depending on your mood. I want to wake up with you in my arms and I never, ever, want another frigging break from you. Will you marry me, Bella?”
“But…Evan?” Her lower lip trembled.
“I’m not asking you to marry Evan, but if you’re worried that he will be upset, he won’t. He was ready to clobber me for messing things up with you. I have only one stipulation.”
Her eyes widened.
“I don’t ever want to be not-a-husband with you. I want the real deal. You in a white dress, me in a monkey suit. I want you to have the wedding you secretly dreamed of.”
Tears streamed down her cheeks. “How do you know I’ve dreamed of anything like that?”
He touched her dress. “Anyone who kept a dress like this, dreams of a real wedding. Please don’t make me wait any longer for an answer.”
“Yes, Caden. I want to be your real wife, and never, ever be your not-a-wife.”
Please enjoy a preview of the next Sweet with Heat novel
Hearts at Seaside
Chapter One
THERE SHOULD BE a rule about drooling over construction workers, but Jenna Ward was sure glad there wasn’t. She sat on the porch of the Bookstore Restaurant, soaking up the deliciousness of the three bronzed males clad in nothing more than jeans and glistening muscles that flexed and bulged like an offering to the gods as they forced thick, sticky tar into submission. Their jeans hung low on strong hips, gripping their powerful thighs like second skins and ending in scuffed and tarred work boots. What red-blooded woman didn’t get worked up over a gorgeous shirtless man in work boots?
Heaven help her, because she needed this distraction to take away her desire for Peter Lacroux, which went hand in hand with summers on the Cape and consumed her in the nine months they were apart. She zeroed in on one particularly handsome blond construction worker. His hair was nearly white, his jaw square and manly. She wanted to march right out to the middle of the road that split the earth between the restaurant and the beach and be manhandled into submission. Right there on the tar. Wrestled and groped until all thoughts of Pete evaporated.
“Wipe the drool from your chin, chica.” Amy Maples handed Jenna a margarita and, pointedly, a fresh napkin, as she settled into the chair across from her. “Good grief, woman. What’s up with you this summer? I swear you’re in heat. I can practically smell your pheromones from over here.”