“Where’s your surfer buddy?” I asked while I sat on my board, watching the waves roll into shore.
“Flex?” He looked down the coastline. “The waves sort of suck today, so he’s likely not in this spot.”
“Hmm,” I said, looking at the shoreline. “Well, they’re perfect for me.”
“That’s why we’re here. Are you enjoying yourself?” he asked.
“I really am. I still got it.” I splashed him with water. “You don’t look too bad yourself. Though, that wipe out was pretty gnarly bro,” I teased him.
As the sky turned a lighter hue of magenta, I smiled, looking up. “You’re right. It’s amazing being out here. It’s like we’re the only people in the world.”
Jake unzipped the side of his wetsuit, popped off his board, and swam to the front of mine, gripping the tip.
I instinctively gripped the board. “What are you doing? Dumping me?”
“Do you trust me?” he asked with a smile.
“Depends?” I said, brushing my hair out of my face.
“I have to know.”
“I wouldn’t be here with you and wouldn’t have left that club with you if I didn’t trust you, Jake. Now, what the hell are you going to do, dump me off the board?”
I covered my chest when a soaked, bright blue velvet box was opened in his hand, his other still holding the board. “Marry me,” he said, his eyes so brilliant in their blue hue reflecting off the ocean. “I know this isn’t the ideal way of proposing. Trust me, I went over a million different scenarios in my mind after Jim and I shopped for this ring together. It all went to hell soon after I bought it, but this morning before asking you out here, I could think of nothing more than needing you in my life and knowing I could never let you leave me again, Ash.”
“Jacob.” I chuckled at this moment with him. He looked so vulnerable, adorable—almost like a young boy in the water waiting for the answer he was pleading for. This was the man I had fallen in love with.
“Ash.” He spit out the water and shook his head from a wave that had slapped him in the face. “I’m as close to a submissive position as one can be while getting down on a knee and asking the woman he loves to marry him.”
“You are the biggest nut I’ve ever met in my life.”
“Let me make you the happiest woman in the world. You’ve already made me the happiest man. I love you more…” another wave smacked him again with the chop of the water. “Jesus, I’m going to drown out here. Throw me a bone or something.”
“Yes, Jacob.” I slid off my board and over into his arms. “I love you. I can’t imagine leaving you either.”
“You’re the love of my life—you are my life.” He pulled the ring onto the tip of his finger. “Here, this will seal the deal,” he said. “Put it on quick before I have to dive and pick it up from the bottom of the ocean.”
“My God,” I said as he slipped the ring over my finger. “This is gorgeous,” I said, staring at the platinum band that revealed a massive square-cut diamond.
He held onto the board with me in his other arm, “Hell. I should have thought before I put that thing on you. Your tiny little ass is going to sink straight to the bottom now.” He kissed me. “I love you, Ash.”
“Love doesn’t even begin to describe how I feel about you. Shall we go celebrate?”
He nipped at my chin. “I have just the place in mind,” he said.
“Oh, yeah?”
“It’s a gift, and it better be done by now, or I’m going to look like an asshole.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Let’s just say Clay and Joe had a superb idea to get you back into the city. It’s why they invited you down. Me showing up last night was just wishful thinking that we’d get back together. Those guys are the craziest nut jobs I’ve ever met.” He laughed.
“They’re a lot of fun. I’ve missed them.”
“Well, let’s get into shore, and I’ll give them a ring. A couple more phone calls, and we might pull off one of the best days of my life.”
“What are you up to?” I laughed.
“Get on your board; you’ll see.”
By two o’clock in the afternoon, watching Jake more nervous than I’d ever seen him, we were back in his Jeep and driving down the coastline.
“Well,” I said, trying to keep a straight face to his concerned one, “one might think that you had pulled another rabbit out of your hat, and we’re heading to our wedding.”
“What makes you say that?”
I laughed. “You’re acting like the end of the world is waiting at our final destination.”
“I’m sorry. Just go with me on this. The brunch was good, though, wasn’t it?”
“It was delicious. That restaurant was adorable,” I said about the beachside cafe he’d brought us to.
“It was,” he said, changing lanes, and then we were turning toward the ocean where beachside businesses were. “Okay,” he sighed, and for the first time since his ocean proposal, he smiled.
He pulled the car into a parking lot. “Here goes.”
I stepped out of his car and looked at the storefront that was completely blacked out. “Are we going shopping?”
He took my hand. “Already done,” he said as he entered a security code and unlocked the glass doors, pulling them open. “I bought this after the floating gallery was a hit,” he said, turning around to face me. “I had staff hired, and after I got your written permission, I wanted to gift this form of revenue to you. Little did I know I’d be standing here with you as my fiancé,” he smiled as he hung onto that word, “and showing it all to you myself.”
“A gallery in Malibu?” I said, seeing what was hidden behind the glass.
“Yes.” He smiled. “Jim and I discussed it after Lillian’s business tanked, and we wanted to see you take the woman’s place. At the time, we didn’t think you’d leave Southern California, but we also didn’t think that we’d have numerous requests for more of your work, either. Jim was going to talk to you personally about working and running the business for Mitchell and Associates, but I told him to hold off. I guess I had hope that somehow this moment would happen. Babe.” His kiss was soft, and he pulled back his thumb rubbing over mine. “This gallery is yours. We haven’t named the business yet or given it an opening date, but it’s close to the beach house—your home—and an easy commute.” He nodded to the ocean behind me. “The ocean is right out your front windows. You also have a client list that’s pretty large after the auction.”
“This is the most tremendously generous and thoughtful thing anyone has ever done for me,” I said, wiping the tears of joy from my eyes. “But I can’t paint fast enough to keep up with a client base.” I sniffed and smiled at his light expression.
“After selling your originals on the yacht,” he answered with a joyous smile, “we had prints curated to replicate the originals and bring them into editions for the time being. Those are already hung in the gallery. It’s why I had to call Clay and Joe. This was partly their doing as well,” he said. “Go inside and tell me what you think.”
I walked in alone, and the soft sounds of soothing harmony played softly in the entryway. It was heavenly in here. The pictures were hung to be displayed under that same lighting Jake had in his living room on that one portrait he kept. The entire room’s ambiance was serene, and even though these were mine, it didn’t feel real. Nothing felt like it was mine in this place—there was no way in the world that these gorgeous prints came from me.
Glass cases held sea art and crystal-like creations that complemented the theme of the rooms I quietly walked through. This was beyond any gift or anything I could have ever accepted. This was too beautiful to be mine.
“Clay was the brains behind all of this,” Jake’s voice slid into my thoughts, and oddly enough, the way he spoke blended well with the space. “The guy is a wizard when it comes to getting stuff done. He redecorated my place, and he also designed this in a day. He also hired people to get the job done, and voila, you’re looking at your masterpieces all together. What do you say?”
“I don’t know what to say,” I answered. “I have the best guy,” I leaned into where he held me from behind, “and the best friends I could ever ask for.”
“Will you take this on? Is it something you’d like?”
“I couldn’t say no to any of this if I wanted to.”
He kissed my cheek. “You’ll have to schedule it outside of when you’ll paint, of course. Perhaps our vacations of all the oceans we’ll be traveling to. That is why it will be staffed well enough.” He pulled me around to face him. “And of course, we’ll plan your grand opening after we get back from our trip to Cabo. You still owe me that, remember?”
I laughed. “Yes.”
“Perhaps we honeymoon in Cabo?”
“Dr. Mitchell, do you rush your heart surgeries like this?” I teased.
“I run my heart surgeries with precision and to perfection. I will settle for nothing less when it comes to ensuring my angel is the happiest woman alive.”
“So, when do you plan on the grand opening?” I asked, seeing that dark and sexy look of want in his eyes now.
“After we’re married, two to three weeks of a honeymoon on your yacht…” He smirked.
“Sea Angel?” I ran my fingers on his cheek. “How drunk were you when you came up with that name.”
“You’d rather have the other name back? I mean, I had to go through a shitload of maritime superstition laws of renaming a vessel that size and rededicating the damn thing.” He laughed. “I’ll say if you don’t like it, you’re renaming it and going through the rituals with Flex performing the ceremonies.” He laughed.
“I love it, and I love you. I’m speechless.”
“Tonight, we announce our engagement. I’ll put in for my vacation with Saint John’s after you agree to marry me at our beach house or on the yacht—I don’t care where, but I know you love the ocean and you’re going to be Ashley Mitchell before the week is over.”
“Holy hell, Jake.”
“I’m more than ready to spend the rest of my life with you. I’d marry your gorgeous ass right here and now if I could.”
“Clay’s a legal minister.” I bit my lip and laughed at his expression.
“Do you think this is too much too fast? I mean, do you want to plan a wedding that some little girls dream of having? Perhaps something to—”
I silenced him with my finger. “I just want you. I’d be proud to have your name too. I love you, and I love us. Yes, we’re moving too fast, but we’re moving fast in the right direction. Let’s do this.”
“We’ll plan the details tonight. The guys and your friends will be there. For now,” his eyebrow arched, “the doors are locked, and I’m the only one with the key. I believe you and I are going to have to christen this gallery ourselves.”
I laughed, and within seconds, Jake and I were back in each other’s arms, naked and molding our bodies and souls together. I loved this man, and I couldn’t believe I’d almost lost him forever.
We lay on a sofa that was situated in an alcove, both of us catching our breath after another satisfying round of fantastic sex.
“Well, there goes this couch.” I laughed, his lips still caressing my neck.
“I didn’t like the color anyway.” He chuckled.
“So, what happened to the portrait like the one you have at your house in the Hills? Or what about the sailboat one I recreated as a joke for you?”
“Those were priceless, but only on display and never for sale. They’re mine with no prints available to the public. Sorry, but I wasn’t sharing those two prints.”
“I’m so amazed that you’ve done all of this. I mean, I expected you to hate me after I was so harsh to you.”
“I could never hate you.” He kissed my cheek. “I understood everything. I hurt you, and I only hoped you didn’t hate me for this. It also took a lot of convincing from Carm, your dad, and your friends for me to do any of this. How in the world could you ever dump those portraits?”
I pinched my lips together. “I guess I just didn’t see them like this.”
“Who’s the crazy one now?” He winked. “Let’s get back to the house. We’ll enjoy a nice hot shower, and we can go out tonight, or I’ll have a small party catered at the beach house for you. There’s time to invite your dad and Carm down too?”
“That sounds good,” I said. “Let me call them.”
“Shit,” he said. “I forgot to ask him…”
I elbowed him as we got dressed. “My dad loves you more than he loves me, I think. Let’s just get them down here. I think they’ll love your place.”
“The house is large enough to keep them with us for the week.”
“You honestly plan on marrying me before the week is out?”
“Don’t push it. I might pull Clay in and have an impromptu ceremony tonight.”
“Carmen and Dad would love the beach house,” I said. Then the excitement of everything truly set in. I reached over and pulled Jake into my arms as he was bent over, putting on his shoes. “We’re really doing this.”
He chuckled. “Thank God that your mood finally shifted into this. I was seriously beginning to worry that I was going too hard and too fast for you.”
“When have I ever complained about you going too hard or too fast? In fact, I love it.”
Jake studied me. “I swear I’m fucking you all over at that house before tonight. Hard and fast.” He winked and then offered a hand to pull me up. “Let’s go share the fantastic news with everyone, shall we?”
“Already calling Dad,” I said, overjoyed to inform him about what took place in less than twenty-four hours since I’d left them and come home to Jake.
