Page 92 of Rating the Book Boyfriend

“Huh. Never thought about that,” Joe says, scratching his scraggly beard.

“Sorry to interrupt, but we’d better get out on the water if we don’t want to miss the sunset.”

The smile she shines up at me is luminous and still has the power to stop my heart, even after being together a little over a year. I’m not sure this feeling will ever go away.

Thirty minutes later, I drop the anchor and take in a deep breath of salty air. Walking up behind Libby, I curl my arms around her and kiss the back of her neck.

“Darryl said the flounder were biting today. I thought we’d do a little fishing.”

Little rivers of wrinkles appear on her forehead when she turns to face me. “But we’re all dressed up,” she says, indicating her sparkly gold top, black leather pants, and sexy matching jacket, as well as my dress pants, white shirt, and blazer.

Shit, I didn’t think about that.

“Just for a few minutes. I’ll handle the bait so you don’t mess up your pretty clothes.”

Her face is coated in confusion at my insistence. “O-kayyy.”

“Just stand over there, and I’ll get everything set up.”

Giving me another perplexed look, she does as I ask while I go to the cabinet and find the fishing rod. I check to make sure thething is on the thingand attempt to swallow my nerves.

Here we fucking go.

I hand Libby the rod and keep my eyes trained on her face, waiting for the moment she seesthe thing. She turns toward the water and grips the pole.

“You might want to check the rigging and make sure it’s to your liking,” I suggest, and she blows me a kiss over her shoulder.

“It’s okay, I trust you.”

And then to my horror, she rears back, ready to cast.

“Libby, stop!” I yell, and she startles, letting out a little yelp.

“Shit, did I hook your ass again?” she screeches, and like a slow-motion flashback, I watch as she pivots, completely releasing her grip on the rod, and it falls into the Gulf of Mexico.

“Fuck!” Without a second thought, I dive into the frigid water and wrap my hand around the handle as it begins to sink.Thank Christ.

I resurface to find Libby leaning over the edge of the yacht, her mouth agape at my apparent stupidity. “Riggs Romero, are you insane? That water is freezing.”

“I’m aware,” I say wryly, feeling the cold in my bones as I swiftly swim aft and climb back onto the boat with my rescued treasure in my grasp.Holy fucking shit, that was close.

Libby is there with a towel and immediately begins rubbing my sopping wet hair and face. “You have completely lost your mind,” she scolds. “You could have died. A fishing rod is not worth losing your life, Romero.”

“It’s not the rod,” I tell her, my teeth chattering as I strip off my now-hundred-pound jacket. “It’s what’s on it.”

“What do you mean?”

In answer, I hold up the pole and dangle the line directly in front of her face. Her eyes follow like she’s being drawn into a stupor by a hypnotist as the engagement ring swings back and forth. Thank god Darryl knows how to tie a proper knot.

“Riggs, that’s… oh… that’s… and I almost…” Her eyes are wide and filled with dread.

“This isn’t exactly how I had this planned,” I tell her as I drop to one soggy knee on the deck and grin up at her with lips that I’m sure are quite blue at this point.

Libby covers her mouth with both hands, and I attempt to untie the ring from the end of the fishing line. The task proves impossible with fingers that are trembling from the cold. “Fuck, I can’t…”

She lets out a hysterical giggle before turning to the tool cabinet and grabbing a knife. Gripping the ring between her finger and thumb, she cuts it loose before handing it back to me.

“Christ, this is officially the worst proposal ever,” I grumble. “I wouldn’t blame you at all if you said no.”

---