Page 101 of Isla

"When you guys first came to the house. And the weeks after that."

"Oh, you mean when Feisty Isla came out to play?" he asks, grinning.

I raise an eyebrow. "If that's what you want to call it."

"What wouldyoucall it?"

"Being a total bitch," I say honestly.

"You could never be a total bitch, Isla. You care too much about people."

"But I was, Theo. I was awful to you."

"Only because we ripped your life apart. Plus, I like that side of you," he admits, closing the door behind us. "You can knock a croissant out of my mouth anytime."

I do a horrible job of hiding my smile as we scramble down the path to the beach.

"There's no way you liked me back then."

"I assure you that I did. I had to rub one out in the shower that night just to get you off my mind for two seconds."

"You did not!"

"Did, too. Just talking about it is making me hot." He flattens my hand over the bulge in his pants, proving his point. "You're blushing," he says softly, pressing me against a rock and wedging his knee between my thighs. He nudges my chin up with his knuckle, holding my gaze. "I like every mood because it means I'm still by your side. And that's the only place I want to be.”

"Theo–"

"No. I mean it, Isla. You're it for me. There is no other woman on the face of this earth that could ever mean as much to me as you do. You give me purpose." He wipes a tear from my cheek, licking it off his thumb before capturing my lips with his. When we finally break away from each other, he presses his forehead to mine. "Marry me, Isla."

Shock rushes through my system, the world spinning around me as I struggle to remember to breathe. "We barely know each other," I protest, my voice raspy.

"That's a lie."

"It hasn't been long enough–"

"Says who?"

I stamp my foot, beyond frustrated. "This isn't the way I imagined my proposal, Theo."

"You wanted a ring?" he asks, dropping to one knee and pulling a tiny box from his pocket.

Fuck. Suddenly, this is exactly how I wanted my proposal to be, with the ocean waves providing a soundtrack to one of the most important moments of my life.

"Isla MacLeod, you’re everything I never knew I needed. My best friend. My hope. My light. Please say you'll marry me so we can spend the rest of our lives annoying the shit out of each other."

"Yes, Theo." The words slip from my lips before I can even think about them because if there’s one thing know, I know I don't want a life without him in it. "A thousand times, yes." He opens the box and pushes the ring on so fast I don't get to look at it before he sweeps me into his arms, spinning me around and around.

"What do you think?" he asks the second my feet touch the sand.

"I haven't even seen it yet!" I laugh, holding my hand out and taking my first glimpse. It’s the most beautiful ring I've ever seen. A large starburst cut green pear-shaped sapphire is set in the middle, flanked by diamonds on a simple gold band.

"I knew the second I saw it that it was the one. I've never seen a stone the exact color of your eyes. It's made for you."

"It's beautiful, Theo." I want to say more, but I'm at a complete loss for words. It's perfect.

"I've been carrying that with me just in case the right moment presented itself."

"And this was the right moment?" I tease, pushing up on my tiptoes to press my lips to his.

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