Chapter Eleven

 

* MEGAN *

 

“This is your big surprise?” I looked at Trent skeptically. “Taking me to see the land Zach Evans has been fighting to buy for the last several years?”

Trent grinned at me with the satisfaction of a cat that had just swallowed a mouse. “The land’s been sold,” he said matter-of-factly. “That’s the surprise.”

My heart dropped, and I felt even more confused. “Sold? Did Zach finally convince the council to sell? But…they were so against expanding the resort. And why would I want to come here to see it just to have you tell me it was sold? That doesn’t seem like a very good surprise. Honestly, whose side are you on?”

I was talking a mile a minute and growing more agitated with each passing second. Trent had been amazing in the last few weeks, working with Logan and making plans to boost up local businesses. He had convinced me that he truly did care about the locals and the local economy. But maybe I’d been too quick to agree that he’d left his big business ways back in California. Why was he so happy about the land beside the resort being sold?

“Megan!” he said in an exasperated voice, and interrupting my mini-tirade. “The land has been sold to me.”

“To you?” Now I was even more confused. “But what are you going to do with a resort?”

He let out a loud sigh. “I’m not building a resort here. I’m building a house.”

“But I thought this land was zoned commercial?”

He smiled. “It was. And one small portion of it still is. But most of this giant piece of land is now residential, and I’m going to build us a home on the most beautiful stretch of beach, right here. It’s far enough away from the resort that it’s totally secluded. Our own private paradise.”

My jaw dropped, and I looked out at the beach in front of me in a way I never had before. The shimmering sand and deep blue water was pristine here. No wonder Zach Evans had wanted to buy this land for a resort expansion. But now, he couldn’t. Now, this belonged to Trent, and Trent wanted to build a home here with me. It all felt like a perfect, giant fairytale.

“Wow,” I finally managed. “I don’t know what to say.”

“Don’t say anything, because I haven’t even told you the best part yet.”

“Okay…” I raised an eyebrow at Trent. He had an excited gleam in his eyes unlike anything I’d ever seen before.

“When I made the deal with the City Council about this land, I convinced them to leave one small portion of land right next to the resort zoned for commercial use. And I would say that land is the perfect size for building an art gallery.”

It took me a few moments to process what Trent was saying. “You mean…” I trailed off, not daring to say the words out loud in case it wasn’t true.

“I mean that we’re going to build you an art gallery on our land, right next to the resort. And I guarantee you, all the tourists will be eager to buy. Wealthy people love local art, especially when that art is exceptional, like yours.”

I felt my cheeks heat up. “I’m not sure it’s that exceptional.”

Trent stepped closer to me and put his hands on my cheeks, tilting my face up so that I was looking directly in his eyes. “Your art is amazing, Meg. Just like you.”

He leaned down and softly kissed me. There was so much tenderness in that kiss that I could have melted right then and there. It amazed me that the same man who could drive such a tough business bargain could be so gentle when he was alone with me. And we were definitely alone. The land he’d bought took up a huge portion of Driftwood Island’s coastline, and we were miles from the resort right now. We could do whatever we wanted out here, and no one would interrupt us. The thought excited me, and I leaned in to Trent’s kiss a bit more, pushing my tongue past his tongue and reaching down to grab his huge cock, which was already stiffening into a steel rod.

But Trent took a step back and shook his head. “Wait just one minute,” he said in a husky voice. “You know I love making love to you, and you’d better believe we’re going to christen this land before we head back to town. But first, I have one more thing to tell you. To ask you, actually.”

“Well then hurry and ask so we can get on to the good stuff,” I teased.

He smiled back at me, the sun brilliant on his chiseled face. His eyes looked so blue today, like they were reflecting the very color of the ocean. I thought for the thousandth time today how lucky I was that my man was so gorgeous, kind, and smart. He was the perfect package rolled into one incredible human being.

And right now, he was getting down on one knee.

“Trent!” I gasped as he reached into the pocket of his shorts and pulled out a little black box. “What are you doing?”

He grinned up at me, his teeth shining brightly in the waning evening sunshine. “I’m doing what I should have done eight years ago, but I was too much of an idiot to realize it. I never should have left you Meg. I’m glad for the experiences I’ve had and the things I’ve learned along the long, winding road to get back to you, but now that I’m back, I realize that life has never been complete without you in it.”

I clapped my hand over my mouth and felt tears beginning to form in my eyes as he opened the little black box. A huge diamond glittered in the sunlight, sending rays of colored light back out across the sand all around us.

“You said you want to get on to the good stuff,” he continued. “But let me tell you something: every moment with you is the good stuff. Even the hard moments. I wouldn’t want to share them with anyone else. All I know is that you complete me in a way I never thought possible, and I want to spend the rest of my life loving you, protecting you, and enjoying you. Megan Reed, would you do me the incredible honor of being my wife?”

I stared at him in shock for several seconds before realizing that I needed to actually answer him.

“Yes!” I shouted. “Yes, yes, yes! Nothing in the world would make me happier.”

Ecstatic relief crossed over his face, and he jumped up to pull me into his arms for a deep, passionate kiss. Then he pulled back and took my left hand, sliding the dazzling ring over my finger. It fit perfectly, and I stared down at it in awe.

“Trent, this is too much. It’s too big. Too beautiful.”

“Nothing is too much for you, Love. I hope you know that being married to me means you’re going to be spoiled rotten. I won’t be able to help myself. In fact, wait right here. I have one more surprise for you.”

Before I could say anything, he bounded across the sand back to his car. He opened the trunk and reached in to pull out a giant picnic basket and a blanket. When he got back to me, he spread the blanket out and ordered me to sit.

“We can’t get engaged without toasting the occasion,” he explained. He pulled out two champagne glasses, a bottle of champagne that I knew must have been very expensive, and a small white box that had been carefully packaged on top of some ice packs. He opened the box to reveal about a dozen beautiful chocolate covered strawberries. He pushed the box toward me and I gladly took the hint, popping one of the strawberries into my mouth while he uncorked the champagne.

While the sweetness of the strawberry was still on my tongue, he handed me a glass of champagne.

“To us,” he said, holding up his own glass for a toast. “To our future, and to taking this crazy ride called life together. There’s no one else I’d rather share it with.”

He clinked his glass with mine, and then we both took long, satisfying sips. The champagne was cool and tickled my tongue. I closed my eyes to savor the flavor, then opened them again to take in the sunset, which was growing more brilliant with every passing moment. Trent took my hand, and we watched the sky’s show of orange and pink until we had both drained our glasses of champagne.

Trent took the glasses of champagne and set them aside in the picnic basket, along with the box of strawberries and the champagne bottle itself. Then he turned to me with a hungry smile and said, “Now, on to the really good stuff.”