Page 48 of Beach Bum Billion-Heiress
His hands traced lightly down my legs and the mattress dipped as he moved off of the bed.
"These long legs make me crazy." His voice was rough.
I heard him walk to the side of the bed, my eyes squeezed tight so I remembered to keep them shut.
"Open them now."
I fluttered my eyes open, turning my head on the pillow to see Jax on the floor, down on his knees by the bed.
"Wha--"
"Sage," he cut me off. From the look on his face, he needed to get something out. "I can't wait any longer. I planned all kinds of ways to do this, but when it comes down to it, just you and me together, that's all that matters."
My heart sped up and I reached for his hand. I wracked my brain for what was happening here or what he could possibly be trying to tell me. The look on his face was so serious I couldn't imagine that anything good was to follow.
"Just spit it out, babe." I rolled over and sat up on the edge of the bed, his hands landing on my thighs. I needed to be upright to handle whatever blow he was about to deliver. The fact that I was naked didn't factor into my thoughts.
He ran a hand through his hair, looked at me for a moment, then reached over and opened the drawer to the nightstand, grabbing something and holding it in his hands. I was staring at his face, trying to figure out what his expression meant. I'd never seen Jax look nervous like this, like he couldn't make a decision or didn't know how to talk to me. The pit in my stomach, the one I thought was gone after I dealt with my father yesterday, was back in full force.
"Jax," I merely whispered his name, but it was a plea. A plea to put me out of my misery and tell me already. Whatever it was, we could fix it, make it better. I was certain of it.
"Sage." Then he smiled, full out, the joy radiating off of him. "Sage Vanderman, I love you. I think I loved you that first time you cut me off on PCH in your ridiculous VW like you didn't have a care in the world. You're smarter than anyone I know, you bring light and peace to every situation, you smell fucking fantastic, you make me laugh, you move that beautiful body of yours in ways that bring me to my knees, you make every day an adventure, you make me hope for the future, you give me a reason to want more. I can't wait to see what you do with your life. And I just hope to God you'll let me be there by your side to see you tackle it. Marry me, Sage. I can't offer you a fancy house or trips around the world, or even a diamond ring, but I can offer you my love, my respect, and my devotion every single day for the rest of our lives."
Time froze and I heard his words echoing through my mind, snagging on those two words, 'marry me'. My eyes widened, trying to discern if this was really happening. My jaw dropped and I sucked in a breath, trying to stop the dizziness preventing me from being present while my hottie lifeguard proposed to me.
"Sage Vanderman, will you marry me?" My gaze dropped and I spotted a black box that Jax opened and placed on my thigh. A thin gold band rested in the box, the gold worn with age and use.
"I-I know it's not much, but--"
The light was suddenly bright, even though the windows were still covered. The seagulls were calling outside and the ocean waves were crashing in my ear. Everything was brighter, louder, and clearer, magnified and frozen to this moment.
Jax wanted to marry me.
I leaned forward and shut his mouth with a kiss meant to convey my answer. I didn't give a shit what ring I wore as long as it meant I was his wife and he was my husband. For a brief second he didn't respond, but I paid no heed, wrapping my arms around his neck and tackling him. He fell back to the floor, with me on top of him, my laugh bursting out of our kiss.
We kissed again, the laughter and the kissing running into each other and mingling, the joy of the moment too much to contain. I finally backed away and found his eyes, my own filling with tears now that the laughter had faded.
"Yes, Jax Stern, I will marry you."
The next few moments were a blur of Jax rolling me, the ring being jammed on my finger, and my hands pushing Jax' pants down around his knees. It was a frenzy of two people in love, needing skin to skin contact more than the words, more than the symbol on a finger.
He was inside me then, our bodies stilling, finding what they needed: each other.
His forehead dropped to mine, our gazes locked on each other. My arm was jammed between our bodies and the end table, his shoulder scrunched against the side of the bed. We neither cared nor took much notice, the excitement of our intention to be together forever too big to be concerned with those little annoyances.
"I love you," he whispered, his breath mingling with mine.
"And I love you, Jax," I whispered back.
Then we made love, gently and slowly, with a tenderness I didn't know Jax was capable of giving or I of receiving.
Afterward, we lay back on the bed, our limbs wrapped around each other, rose petals stuck to our damp skin. He played with the ring on my finger and told me the story of his parents and how happy they'd been before his dad passed away. I would have worn any ring Jax gave me, but knowing this particular one had seen so much love and joy made me happy he'd shared it with me.
"I can't believe I even considered marrying someone else. You gotta know, Sage, it was never like this with my ex-girlfriend." Jax kept playing with my ring, not realizing I'd frozen. I wasn't sure I wanted to hear about the girl Jax had loved. Maybe it made me a jealous woman, but hearing about her made my stomach drop.
"I honestly thought at the time that her leaving was the worst thing that had ever happened to me. I was devastated. But now that I see what you and I have, it makes me wonder what I ever saw in her, you know?" He glanced up at me, then leaned over to kiss me. "Baby, forget whatever is in your head right now. Her breaking up with me was the biggest gift she could have given me. I had no idea what a loving, trusting relationship even was until I met you. I will forever be grateful for her callousness because it led me to you."
He pulled me in for an even tighter hug, his head burrowing into my neck, his lips tickling me, helping to pull me out of my funk.
