“You look hideous, too,” I said. More kissing. Then he looked up. “Wait. Is this the famous lemon tree?”
“It is. But we didn’t get to share our first kiss here.”
“We did,” he said, kissing me on my temple. “It was our first kiss since you said that you loved me, and that’s just as good.” He played with the ends of my hair, and I leaned into his hand. “By the way, would you mind saying that again? I want to make sure I didn’t imagine it.”
“That again.”
I giggled when he rolled his eyes. “Limone!”
This time I held his face in my hands, making sure that he could see it in my eyes, and then I told him with my voice. “I love you.” Then I made sure to show him with my lips.
When that kiss ended, he again held me tightly, like he never wanted to let me go. “Why did it take you so long to get here?” I asked.
“There was a huge storm that grounded us, but first I had to deal with production issues. I wanted to come after you immediately, but Matthew Burdette started screaming about everything and threatening you and saying how he was going to ruin your company. I couldn’t let that happen. I told him I would stay and finish filming, and that I had proof of his affair with Abigail and that if he was smart he’d do whatever he had to do to keep you happy.”
“You blackmailed someone for me?”
He pulled my hand up to his lips and kissed it. “Technically it was a bluff, because I don’t have evidence, but he doesn’t know that. And I would blackmail the whole world for you. I think now I have finally completed my last quest by saving your company, and truly proven myself worthy, don’t you?”
I did. He really was my knight in shining Armani.
He put my hand back down and looked at me intently, seriously. “I would give you the world if I could. I would do anything for you. Because you’re going to be my wife.”
“What?” I was both elated and terrified. “Let’s not put the cart before the horse. I just put my parents through all this mess. I don’t think I should be discussing marriage to anybody right now.”
“But you will marry me.” He sounded so confident and sure.
“That doesn’t sound like asking.”
“I’m not asking. Every time I ask you for anything you say no. So now I’m telling. You will marry me, you will be my princess, we will have babies, and I will have my nightclub and you will have your PR firm and we will live happily ever after in our palace.”
I should have been mad. But he was right. We totally would.
“I know it’s scary for you, but if you do me the honor of giving me all of your trust and all of your love, I promise you will never regret that choice.”
Shaking my head, I stopped him. “You don’t have to say anything else or promise me anything else. This time it’s my turn to promise you. I promise to always believe in you. To always assume the best. To always trust you. To always, always love you.”
He had that mischievous glint in his eye. “Those sound a lot like marriage vows.”
“Hush,” I told him. Then I made sure he couldn’t talk.
Snoopy pounced on us, apparently tired of being left out of the affection. We petted him, but never took our eyes off each other. “I forgot to tell you that Rafe said he apologizes for anything that he might have done to upset you, and he promises to never do anything else that will make you angry ever again. He also said that if I cared at all about my own personal safety, I should be careful to never make you mad, either. So recognizing that I’m taking my life into my own hands here, I have something for you and I’m not sure how you will react.”
He reached into his pants pocket and pulled out a black velvet ring box, making my breath hitch. Giddy excitement bubbled up inside me, my pulse skyrocketing out of control. My hands trembled in anticipation. He opened it up to reveal an enormous pale yellow diamond ring in an antique silver setting. “You don’t have to say anything yet. But I got this from my mother’s vault when we were in Monterra visiting my family. It was my great-grandmother’s ring.”