When Hannah hung up her phone, she splashed cold water on her face and wished there was time to comb her hair. But tangles seemed so unimportant with Carter coming. To her house. To talk to her.
So even though she was hurt and angry and confused, she went out to meet him—out the back door, down the steps to the beach, and across the snow-white sands.
He was running to her. With her heart throbbing so hard it hurt, she waited, no matter how the wind pushed at her to run to him. There was too much she didn’t know and more things she didn’t understand.
As he got close, she looked up at his face that had once been merely handsome and now was the most splendid sight on earth. As he stopped before her, his eyes glinted in the sun, but darkly, like the deep waters. His hands reached for her, but hesitantly. Did he not know how much she needed him to hold her? To make her whole again? She took a step closer and took his hands.
“I’m so glad you’re still here,” he said. “But I would have followed you anywhere to tell you how sorry I am. I was too selfish in my reaction, thinking only of what I felt. But I should have tried to understand things from your perspective.”
“I didn’t mean to hurt you” she said breathlessly. “I just never knew when or how to tell you.”
His fingers gripped hers. “What made you decide to tell me that night?”
“I knew we couldn’t move forward with such a secret between us. I wish I’d told you a lot sooner.”
He let go of her hands and pulled her to him. She went willingly, leaning into his strength.
“Hannah, is there any way you can forgive me? Give me another chance?”
Hannah sighed and relaxed into his arms. “I just want you to forgive me. The last two days have been…hard.”
His arms banded around her as if she might be torn away from him. Laying his head against hers, he said, “It’s killing me that I was such a fool—that I caused you so much pain. I take it back. Don’t forgive me. Not till I deserve it.”
Hannah slid her hands up his chest and took his firm jaw in her hands. “Just tell me you want me.”
“Want you? Of course I want you. Every day, every moment I can grab onto. I once believed that it was impossible to fall for someone so quickly, so easily, because the first time it went so wrong for me. But this is different. Everything I felt for Mandy was superficial. What I feel for you is based on real, meaningful things—like the way you smooth Addi’s hair with a smile on your face and the way you look at the ocean. I love your zest for life and the beauty of your soul. You’re warm and open, but you cut me down to size. And the way your eyes light up when you see me undoes me every time.”
Hannah blushed that he’d noticed that and looked down, but Carter nudged her chin up with gentle fingers.
“Don’t be embarrassed, Hannah. It meant so much to me that I mattered to you. Not my money, not my family—me. Do you remember that the first time we met, you said I should say please and ask nicely when I wanted something?”
Confused, Hannah gave a shaky laugh. “I did?”
“Yes, you did.” He gripped her hands more tightly and knelt down in front of her, his knees digging into the soft sand.
Hannah gasped and waited, breathless with hope.
“So, Hannah Rhodes, will you please find it in your heart to forgive me, and love me, and—if I’m very lucky—marry me?”
She grinned though tears ran down her cheeks. “You really want me?”
“Completely. Totally. Emphatically. Every way there is to want a woman.”
Laughing and euphoric with joy, Hannah tackled him onto the sand, wrapping her arms around his neck as they fell. She grinned down at his surprised expression then kissed him before he got his bearings.
When her lips first touched his, she felt their square, solid shape, and luxuriated in their warmth and the knowledge that they were all hers. But it only took two seconds for him to kiss her back, and once he did, all she could do was hold on.
Keeping his arms around her, he sat up, settling her across his lap while never breaking the connection between their lips. She angled her head as he deepened the kiss, knotting her fingers in his sandy hair. Time faded away, marked only by the pounding of their hearts and the crash of waves.
When Carter pulled back to rain kisses along her jaw and down to her neck, the reaching edge of the rising tide skimmed over Hannah’s toes. It pulled her partially back to reality—but what a very perfect reality it was.
“Carter, your shoes are getting wet.”
“I couldn’t care less,” he said into her ear, his hot breath sending a tremor through her. But after a few more kisses, he sat back and looked at her. Love gleamed in his eyes as he pushed back a strand of her hair. “I don’t remember if you said you loved me back, but I’m pretty sure that’s what that kiss meant. But I do want to know if you’ll marry me.”
“Of course, I love you, cuddle cakes. I don’t roll around in the sand with just anyone. And I’ll marry you on one condition.”
“You’ve done nothing but torture me since I met you. What is your condition?”
“You tell your mom when I’m not around.”
Carter’s face grew serious. “Yes, I wouldn’t subject you to that. The next time you see her, she’ll be fully aware and sworn to behave herself. Try not to worry too much. I think she lost it when I took Addi away from her. I’m hoping she might go back to her opinionated, controlling but less-crazy self eventually.”
Hannah smiled and blushed as a thought occurred to her.
“What are you thinking about?” Carter asked, tipping up her chin.
She laughed. “Oh, just that it might help if she had more grandkids.”
Carter’s eyes flashed and his eyebrows shot up. “I like the way you think. How soon till we can tie this knot and get going on your genius plan?”
Hannah’s brains scattered. “I don’t know. There’s so much to figure out. I went from crushing on you to loving you to nearly losing you in a really short space of time. Don’t you think we should slow down a bit now?”
Carter shook his head. “I don’t. But I’ll try to be patient if that’s what you want. Addi is going to flip when she finds out her wish came true. Come to think of it, so did mine.”
How was it possible that he could make her heart squeeze like this so often? “What wish?”
Smiling, Carter held up his wrist and showed her the band on his wrist. It looked more weathered and natural than the day she put it on him. “Well, they were slightly different, but amounted to the same thing. I wished for you to be mine forever. Addi wished for you to be her mom.”
Gasping at the over-powering emotion that swept through her at his words, Hannah pressed her face into his shoulder. She held him, breathing in his scent and feeling more at home than she ever had. Hannah turned her head and kissed his neck then raised up to meet his eyes. “I love you both so much. That’s the best gift ever.”
Carter smiled tenderly. “I have a better gift to give you, but you’ll have to wait for it.”
“What is it?”
“I’m not telling, but it’s about your house.”
Hannah stiffened. As much as she loved Carter, the house was still a tender spot and a huge sacrifice for her.
Carter’s hands ran over her back in a soothing motion. He leaned forward and delicately brushed his lips over hers. “Do you trust me?”
Staring at him, searching his eyes for some clue as to what he meant, Hannah felt peace settle deep in her heart. “I do.”
He grinned. “Just keep practicing that phrase, sea witch, and we’ll be just fine. Now, I want to meet your sister. She and I have some business to work out.”
As he started to get up, Hannah pulled him back. “Not yet. You said something once about getting me alone without the possibility of getting interrupted. Well, I don’t see any doors around here.”
Carter stood and pulled her to her feet. “True, but what I intended was not suitable for a public beach either. Is a quick wedding sounding better yet?”
Hannah rolled her eyes, “Are you always so determined to get your way?”
“Always. But lucky for you, the thing I want most in the world is to make you happy. Get ready for a lifetime of being spoiled to death.”
She threaded her fingers through his. “I don’t want to be spoiled. I just want you.”
“Sorry, sea witch. When a billionaire loves you, you get both.”