Marcia got to the bottom of the stairs and headed towards me with an evil grin. The limp bunch of red and purple wildflowers she handed me looked like the floral equivalent of roadkill.
“Pum pum de pum,” she deadpanned, and Ryan giggled.
“Pum?”
Marcia looked at me disgustedly. “Oh God, you really aren’t the brightest bimbo on the beach, are you?”
“C’mon,” Ryan said, tugging on my hand. He shot an exasperated look at Marcia. “Dad said no talking, remember?”
I clutched his hand and let him lead me to Tarzan and James, while Marcia followed behind. Tarzan was wearing his dog collar but I didn’t pause to tease him about the black Bermuda shorts. I was too busy staring at James. He stuck his hand in his pocket and took out a ring. I looked at him sharply. Could it be?
My voice trembled. “No restaurant meal?”
“They’re closed for siesta.”
I looked at the sea, a tide of joy beginning to rise inside me, but new sharks circled dangerously. Marriage and Paisley Benton? And what’s more, marriage to James Xavier Scott-Thomas? Hell, I was grateful when I woke up every day and found he still wanted me, that he hadn’t come to his senses and realised I would never be the sort of woman he should want.
What if I said yes and then he regretted it? What then?
James took my face in his hands. He stared down at me as though he’d never get enough of seeing me. Of knowing who I was and wanting me because of it, not because it was part of the package deal. Scars and all. His forehead touched mine and I felt him tremble.
<<Say yes, you bloody woman.>>
Not the way I’d ever imagined being proposed to but somehow it felt right. I stared at him and saw that he was just as afraid as I was, that the thought of losing me made him raw. I’d never imagined that he’d want to marry me, but I should have remembered that James was a traditional man at heart. A man who wanted to give me his name as well as his body. The corners of his eyes crinkled.
<<Definitely my body.>>
<<In that case... I’m yours.>>
The tension in his shoulders eased and he took my hand, sliding the ring firmly onto my finger. It was a dark green emerald set in gold. I met his penetrating look with an ecstatic smile. Then Tarzan did his thing. I’ve seen him in action before so I know he did a good job, but I couldn’t concentrate on a word he said because of the conversation James and I were having right in front of him.
Emerald green on sapphire blue.
Now I knew why James never peppered our lovemaking with declarations of love. There was love in his gaze, yes, so much I thought I might be consumed by its intensity. But there was more than that. For him I existed in a place where one simple, four-letter word didn’t cut it. A place beyond reason and beyond labels. He looked at me, filling even my fingertips and the ends of my hair with his joy. I swayed, thinking I would split apart with the force of it.
James steadied me with his hands and a small bolt of energy raced along his body and into mine, settling into my skin like a heated caress.
A promise.#p#分页标题#e#
Then Tarzan pronounced us caveman and woman—I mean, husband and wife. The people I most loved in the world clapped and whooped and kissed us. James lifted me by the waist and twirled me around. He sealed the deal with a kiss that promised I’d get no more sleep that night than I had the night before. Marcia and Tarzan chased Ryan and Fleur Anise to the water’s edge.
I cocked my head at the stairs. “You carrying me up?”
“The car is parked down the beach.”
When Marcia suggested a BBQ we headed back to the house. While James and Tarzan went to hunt for meat at Supermercado Costa with the kids, Marcia and I gathered veg for a salad.
“Mrs James Xavier Scott-Thomas...” she said, eyeing my ring.
I looked at her and grinned. “Quite a mouthful.”
“Hey, no dirty talk before the consummation.”
We worked in silence, a silly little smile on my face. I let out an incredulous laugh, thinking of the sneaky arrangements James had made for a civil ceremony the following day. True to form he was a stickler for legalities. I wasn’t surprised he’d thought of everything, including getting copies of my birth certificate and all the necessary documentation.
“Don’t blow it like I did,” Marcia said. Her sadness was swiftly concealed.
“Give Tarzan a chance, Mar. He’d never hurt you the way Trevor did,” I said softly.
She took out a non-alcoholic beer, swallowed, and looked at the label disgustedly. “Same shit, different name.”
“Tarzan’s a great kisser,” I said slyly.