Page 136 of Implode

“You know it,” he answers sheepishly. “Now let’s get you out of here so we can pack up your bags.”

“Are we going somewhere?”

“Yes.”

“And I should expect you to be mysterious about this?”

Nic gives me a boyish smile. “You should expect to be pampered and relaxed at all times while we are there.”

“Good. It’s about time you start taking care of my needs,” I joke.

Nic tickles my sides, and I laugh until I cry. Life is going to be so much better with him in it. And I can’t wait to start this next chapter with him.

34

NIC

I watch from the wooden boardwalk as Claire’s hair blows in the wind. She is looking out at the ocean as the setting sun paints the sky with orange, purple, and pink hues. It is like I am living inside of a watercolor painting. We are at my family’s beach house in northwest Florida, bordering the shore of the Gulf of Mexico.

After the trauma she endured at the hands of Dan King, it was an easy decision to whisk Claire away for some much needed relaxation. I used Graham’s chartered jet and took some time off work. Claire doesn’t know that I also invited our friends and family to join us in the morning for brunch. But right now, we need this time to just be us.

My bare feet step onto the warm sand, and the smell of salt fills my nostrils. The pant legs of my beige linen pants are cuffed at the bottom, and my white button-down shirt is tucked into the waistband, secured with a brown leather belt. Claire feels my presence and turns around, her hand waving at me and her smile making her eyes crinkle. Her skin looks even more golden against the contrast of her white cotton dress. I have never seen a more perfect image of her, and I can’t help but stop in my tracks to stand in awe of her beauty.

Damn, woman, you take my breath away.

She gets up from her place in the sand and places her book down on her towel. She turns toward me and starts to jog. I join her in a run and catch her as she throws herself into my arms. Spinning her around, I feel the mist in the air from the waves kissing the shore.

“You enjoy some solitude?” I ask, putting my girl back on her feet.

She nods and then stretches up to kiss my lips. “But I much prefer the time we have together.”

“Well, lucky you, I’m never letting you go.”

“Promise?” She got some sun today, and I can see little brown freckles popping up on her nose. She is adorable.

“With everything that I am. What I feel for you is greater than a moment. You are my dream but also my reality. I want to wake up each day and go to bed each night with you beside me. Claire, I’m not even sure the word love is grand enough to describe what I feel for you. The way I feel right now is the way I feel when I believe there is a future for me. A really damn good future.”

“You are my once in a lifetime.”

“I know that what we started out as was a trip down an unforeseen path of self-discovery. But during the journey, I found you, Claire. And as much as I wanted to deny what your presence has done in my life, I know now that the only way to keep you is to be honest—with you and with myself. My feelings for you have evolved, baby. I’m not falling in love with you, Claire. I am immersed in it. Head over fucking heels,” I say, smoothing her hair that is blowing into her face. I cup her cheeks and relish in the softness of her skin. “I love all your layers. And baby, you have many. You keep me intrigued, and I want to get to know every part of you—not just your body but also your mind and soul.”

“I used to wish for the man of my dreams to come rescue me from a life I once thought was empty. But you are not the man I used to draw in my mind. You are better than anything I could have ever dreamed up or imagined. You, Nic Hoffman, have changed my life. You helped me to see myself through a different lens. Your love has changed me for the better. Thank you.”

“Sometimes the best moments are the unplanned ones. I never expected to fall in love. I never could have predicted that I would love you more than I did a moment ago.”

I kiss Claire on the forehead and then bend down to one knee to kiss the swell of her belly. I look up at her, the sun casting a beautiful glow to her features, and then pull out the ring from my pants pocket that I have been holding on to for several days—just waiting for the perfect moment to show her.

“Claire, I can’t promise to not make mistakes. I can only promise to spend the rest of my life trying to be the man you deserve. I vow to love you as my best friend. I vow to love you as my partner. I vow to love you as the mother of my child. And I would be honored to spend the rest of my days loving you as my wife. Please do me this honor and say you’ll marry me.” I hold up the two-and-a-half-carat platinum ring for the sun to catch the angles and make it sparkle. The center princess cut diamond is the main focal point, while the six round diamonds on the band make the ring elegant, but still one of a kind.

Claire’s hands cup my cheeks, and she falls to her knees onto the sand. Her lips crash into mine, and the sheer force knocks me back. I laugh against her lips and slide the ring back into my pocket, so I don’t lose it in the sand. She crawls on top of me and kisses me with such passion that my skin tingles. My arms wrap around her, and I hold her close to me like she is the most precious gemstone in the entire world.

I love us like this…unfiltered and deliriously happy.

“Claire?”

“Hmm?”

“I’m waiting.”

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