CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Margo tightened her legs against Simon’s outer thighs, hoping to hold him inside her just a little bit longer. His lips grazed her shoulder, his heart still rocketing against his rib cage hard enough that she could feel it. But her body was cramping and her leg was pretty much numb.
Instead of moving, they both tipped to the side with a laugh. Pillows scattered and Simon stretched out on his back. His chest heaved as if he’d run for miles and hers wasn’t much better. She propped herself up on her forearm, tracing the tip of her nail down his chest into the light fur that whorled over each of his pecs.
He caught her hand when she went for his nipple ring. “Shameless.”
She grinned down at him. “Happy.”
He shifted up on the bed and gathered the pillows to stuff behind his head. The air conditioning was blasting and she shivered. He snapped the sheet around them until they were a jumble of skin and cotton. “Just how happy?”
She rolled onto her stomach and folded her arms across his belly. “Depends on the plan percolating in that brain of yours.”
His eyebrow rose and the smirk she loved slid across his face. “I have a very active and detailed imagination.”
She propped her chin on her arms. “This, I know.”
“You love me, right?”
“Uh oh.”
“I’m being serious.” He dragged her up his body. And her heart rate bumped. She really didn’t have a problem with the workouts he’d been doing. At all.
He groaned when her breasts flattened against his chest. She grinned at him when the sheet rose.
“I want to ask you something.”
She dragged the back of her fingers over his best renewable resource. The man definitely had good recovery time. She started to inch down his body again. “Oh?”
He groaned. “No, ignore that. He can’t help it.”
She laughed. “He’s not actually a separate personality. You know that, right?” His eyebrow rose in answer and she giggled. “Okay, so maybe it does.”
“I’m trying to be serious here.”
She pressed her lips together against an even bigger smile and settled back against his chest. “Yes. I’m sorry.”
He lifted her left hand, toying with her fingers. “I want to ask you something, but I want you to have an open mind.”
“We’ve pretty much done everything but put rings in the ceiling or make a separate room…for things.”
He barked out a laugh and tipped his head. “Really? That’s where you’re going with this?”
“Sorry. We’re naked and Simon Senior is as happy as you are…” Did she miss something?
“Look, you in the room pretty much makes Simon Senior happy.”
“I see no problems here.”
He struggled to sit up and she slid off of him. His face was serious—far more serious than the moment warranted.
She followed suit and pulled the sheet up. At his frown, she laid a hand on his thigh. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to get you upset. You can ask me anything.”
He snorted. “Yeah, I don’t know about that.”
“Honestly. After what we talked about today, you could really think that?”
“More so than ever.”
She moved her hand to his chest and lowered her face until he met her gaze. “What is it, Simon?”
“Open mind.”
“Open mind,” she agreed.
Again, he picked up her left hand and played with her fingers, finally settling on her ring finger. “I want to put a ring here.”
Her breath stalled. “What?”
“I get that marriage is something that you’re not all the way okay with.”
The room narrowed and the fading light from their huge window seemed to fuzz at the edges.
“And if you want to call it something else, I’m okay with that. But I want everyone to know you’re mine. I want you to know and believe you’re the most important person in my life.” He let out a shaky breath. “Will you?”
She rolled onto her knees and grabbed his left hand. “You’d do that for me?”
He laced his fingers with hers. “I’d walk into a church, a justice of the peace, a fucking Buddhist temple—anywhere. I’d marry you right now. Right now—this second.”
The room shimmered and his beautiful face turned into a watercolor of inky mussed hair and silver blue eyes.
He brought their joined hands to his chest. “But I get that word is more terrifying and ugly than beautiful for you.”
She brought her other hand up to her mouth to stuff the sob down. How could this man get her so completely? No one in the world ever had before him.
“I don’t care what we call it. But I want you to know it’s forever.”
She swallowed down the lump that was taking over her throat. At least enough to speak. “So, you’d wear a ring too, right?”
“Well, not a matching one.”
The lump popped into a laugh and bubbled out. “And why not?”
“Well, if you saw the ring—” He cut off. He crowded into her. “Wait. Yes? Yes, you’re saying yes?”
“I…” Her heart pounded between her ears and the world got eerily clear. This man would do anything for her. The fact that she so completely ignored the signs in favor of what he used to be—what the press and the papers created his persona to be. That was on her.
“You…” he prompted.
“I want that forever, Simon. I’d wear your ring. The marriage part—we can work up to maybe?”
“Holy shit.” He pushed her aside and stumbled off the bed. His leg twisted in the sheet and he slipped down the steps of the dais, sprawling across the hardwood.
“Simon?” She gripped the side of the bed. “Are you okay?”
He popped up, completely naked. “Good. Fine.” He started for the door, then came back and kissed her. “Holy shit.” He held his arms out, pointing at her. “Stay there.” He turned on his heel and rushed through the door.
She tugged up the sheet and laughed, tears dripping down her face. “Where are you going?”
“I’ll be right back,” he shouted over his shoulder.
A crash and muttered curse words made her tuck the sheet tighter. “Simon?” She crawled to the end of the bed.
He returned, skidding down the hall—still naked.
She laughed and fell back onto her butt. “Simon.”
“I got it. Got it.”
She slapped her hand over her heart at the jeweler’s box in his hand. “You’ve had that?”
He nodded. “Yeah. For a while.”
She met him at the end of the bed. “For me?”
He went down on his knee on the stairs, elbows pressed into the mattress. “Of course for you.” He flicked open the box. “See? The sapphire just doesn’t go with my look.”
She blinked away the tears that kept rolling out. Her hand went to her mouth. A huge princess cut sapphire sat tall on a twisting coil of diamond and sapphire-encrusted platinum. It was unusual and staggeringly beautiful. The coils came up the sides of two corners of the larger gemstone, holding it in place.
He pulled it out of the box with shaking fingers. “So, that’s a yes? To whatever wacky version of a commitment ceremony we do?”
She nodded.
“Words, Violin Girl. I need them.”
Here and now she was the one without them. She whisked away the tears. “Yes. One hundred percent yes. I’m yours.”
“Thank fuck.” He reached across the bed to drag her closer. He sat on the corner of the mattress and held the ring in one hand, shaking out his other. “Okay. So, I haven’t ever done this before.”
She laughed. “Me neither.”
He took her left hand, pressed a kiss into her palm. His eyelashes were damp as he smiled into the kiss. Then he kissed over to her fingers and finally slipped the band down her ring finger.
It was a little tight over the last knuckle but then just sort of settled there. Sparkling fire and the liquid blue of the water at sunset. The time of day they loved so much.
Perfect. Different and perfect, just like them. Classy with a bit of rock star flair.
“It’s perfect.” She wound her arms around his neck and held onto him. “I love you so much, Simon.”
“Good deal. Because I can’t live without you, Violin Girl.”
She pressed her mouth to his cheek then to his mouth, where she tasted salt and joy. “Now I think you should definitely make love to me, Singer Boy.”
“If you insist.”
She laughed. “How handy that you’re already naked.”
He rolled her onto the bed. “Like I could propose to you any other way?”
“No.” She laughed and dragged him on top of her. “No, you wouldn’t.”