“Hiya.” I plopped down onto the chaise lounge next to hers. “Enjoying the sun?”
“Yes. Everything okay?”
Her voice held a note I couldn’t place. Concern, maybe. I tossed my phone on the chair next to me. “First off, Joyce, Ted, and Sam all took the counseling deal. That was bloody kind of you.”
Ryn shrugged, but I caught how she tensed under my continued perusal. Like I could stop looking at her—she was bloody hot in that getup.
“Didn’t the album drop today…wait. Yesterday?”
“Yep. Selling hotter than we expected. Over a million so far, last numbers I saw. I knew I was on to something when I heard your voice.” I settled on the edge of her chair so I could lean in and kiss her. She responded with the same eager hunger I’d come to expect—her fingers sliding through my hair as she opened her mouth further.
“Mm, I like that,” I said, pressing a kiss to the corner of her lip before pulling back. The flash of light off a telephoto lens made me sigh. “Guess the journo did, too. So much for being incognito.”
Ryn sighed but continued to rest her palms on my biceps. This woman. Her strength drew me. Her sexiness drove me crazy. Her voice tantalized me. No way I could ever imagine a life without her.
“We should get back to the hotel if we want to have enough time to shower and get ready.”
Ryn raised her eyebrows, her eyes darkening with concern, but she smiled. “Sure.”
I helped her up, handing over her sarong. She tied it and slid her feet into her fancy flowered flip flops while I gathered her towel, phone, and water bottle. I grabbed her hand and led her toward our beachfront suite.
Stepping into the room, Ryn’s mouth fell open, and she pressed her fingers to her trembling lips as the sweet, light scent of the flowers hit her. I waited, letting her take in the vases of hibiscus, passion plants, and frangipani in every shade of red, pink, and white the hotel staff managed to find.
“Happy Valentine’s Day. Er. I know I said that on the plane and sorry it’s a little early yet.”
She turned to look at me, her eyes wide and glazed with tears. “It’s beautiful.”
I cupped her cheek. “You’re beautiful.”
“Jake.” She pressed her lips together, her chin trembling. Then she threw herself into my arms, winding her arms tight around my neck, her legs locking behind my back. I grinned, liking where this was going. But first…
“I love you, Lauryn. I love you heaps. Just you for you.” I kissed her lips. “That’s why I planned this trip. I wanted to show you. The first time I said the words needed to be in this place you thought of as magical.”
“I love you, too. Ohmygosh. I’m overwhelmed. I can’t believe you did all this for me.” She fanned her eyes, trying to blink back the emotion welling there.
“That’s not the only reason I brought you here. I mean, it was originally. Just to give you a holiday. But, it became more than that once I realized how upset you were about Dez’s family.”
Her arms loosened and she pulled back, blinking up at me, confusion tugging at her brows. I leaned in and kissed her long and slow and hot enough to leave me panting.
We had a few more items to discuss before I stripped her out of her sarong and swim suit. Just the idea of doing so made my mouth water.
I lowered her feet to the floor, keeping my hands on her hips because I couldn’t not touch her. But we needed to sort this out so we could move forward the way I wanted.
“Do you have something you want to tell me?” I asked.
She shook her head, eyes clouded with concern. Much as I wanted to, I didn’t let her off the hook just yet.
“About going on birth control?” I prompted.
“Oh.” She drew out the word. “Yes, I did. Right after you said the idea of kids freaked you out.”
“I know that. I saw the packs on the counter. Want to tell me why?”
She looked down at her bare feet—her toes were painted the same luscious pink as her lips.
“I’ve heard about women having babies with rock stars. You know, for income. And I didn’t want you to think I’d do that to you.”
“Never did, love, and you got my context a bit off there. I said talking to you about bubs when I’d only known you for, like, three days, freaked me out. Which it did.”
“But your father . . .” Her voice trailed away.
“Was a shithead of the highest order. I don’t like the man and never will.” I closed my eyes and breathed in deeply. “I talked to Murphy and my mum. This is the third convo I’ve had with them about my dad and genetics.”
“O-kay.” She drew out the word, clearly uncertain how to respond.
“You never did ask how I got Alan and Isaac into that flat on the same floor as you.”
Her brows drew low. “What’s that got to do with us?”
I rubbed my thumb across the warm, soft skin of her cheek. “Everything. I bought that place so they’d be near enough for guard duty.”
“Why would you do that?”
“They need to be close. And I didn’t want to give up my chance to stay with you. I-I’ve never been in love before, Ryn. With you, I didn’t recognize it at first because we just fit. When I did, well, I wasn’t sure I could give you what you needed.” I threaded my fingers through the hair at her temples, loving the richness of the strands clinging to my fingers. “Why don’t you ask me how I feel about having a baby with you now?”
Ryn sucked in a long breath, released it slowly. “How do you feel about having a baby with me, Jake?”
I leaned in and kissed her, bringing my right hand up to cup the back of her head as I pressed my palm flat against the upper swell of her bum so she could feel just how much I liked the idea.
“That’s a bloody ripper of an idea. Can’t wait.”
“Wh-what? But that’s so…spontaneous.”
“Not as spontaneous as you think. We’ve been together months now, and I’ve had time to think on it even before I talked to my mum. She told me Dad always had a mean streak—she knew it before she married him—but she thought she could love it out of him.” I closed my eyes, hating how hard life had been for her. “She was wrong, because he didn’t want to change. And, for the record, I’ve never wanted to hit a woman in my life.”
“I never thought you did.”
My lips curled up. “Murphy’s a different story. He likes to press my buttons.”
She pressed her cheek against my chest. “Maybe not having a sibling was best.”
I wrapped my arms around her. “Nah. Murph’s an arse, but he’s got my back, and I love him even when he is a shit. Just as I know he’s always there for me. I’m right thrilled for Mil and him—he’s going to be an awesome father because he cares so much about his family. He’ll do right by them, raise strong, smart, good people.”
“So will you, Jake. You’re the best man I know.”
“What I’m trying to tell you is my fears were just that: fears developed in a young kid’s head.” I pulled back and cupped Ryn’s cheeks and stared into her eyes. “I want to have a baby with you, Lauryn. More than one. Heaps. A footy team at least.”
“How many is that?” she asked, suspicion and joy building in her eyes.
“Fifteen.”
“Jake!”
I chortled as I pulled her farther into the room. “So, it’s all set. We’ll have a baby or ten.” I eased her back down onto the sumptuous silky coverlet. “Let’s start now.”
She wound her arms around my neck, snuggling her hips closer to mine. She reached up and bit my earlobe, just the way that made me crazy, before pressing her lips to my ear.
“I’m not getting pregnant today.” Ryn smiled. “Or this week, month—probably not this year.”
I stared down at her, mouth hanging open, looking like a lunatic. “Why in bloody hell not? From our first meeting, I knew how much kids meant to you.”
She smiled as she brushed my hair off my forehead. “Two reasons. The first i
s I want to enjoy time with you—just us. Because, you, Jake, make me crave things. Like spontaneous sex in the kitchen and lots of snuggle time. I want to take trips with you—surf with you. All the things you’ve talked about. Because I realized what I really wanted was to be loved. And you love me.”
“I do love you. Plan to prove it, but I’m a bit guffed at you going off my scripted plan.” Still, what man doesn’t like hearing his woman wants more sex?
“If we have a baby, I can’t jump you in the living room when you wear those glasses.” She shivered. “I can’t wait to slide those off while I kiss my way from your jaw down your chest.”
“I thought you didn’t like me to wear my specs.”
Ryn giggled. “I don’t like other women to see you in your glasses. Kind of like you don’t want men to see me in my fancy new string bikini you urged me to return.” She raised her brows, and I dropped my head, thinking of my ballistic response to the tiny strips of fabric she’d planned to wear down to the beach when we’d arrived at our suite after a light lunch in the resort’s café.
She sobered and cupped my cheeks in her hands. “I had to let Dez’s family off because I didn’t want them to come back later to haunt my relationship with you. I needed to move past them—past my past. Because what I feel for you, I’ve never felt before. And while it scares me, I know what we’re building is right.”
“I get it.” And I did. Because I’d let go of Ryn’s past with Dez. Sure, it might bother me from time to time, but Ryn was mine now—and forever.
“And, Jake, I’m not afraid to live your sexy rocker lifestyle. If you change your mind, and that’s what you want. But I do plan to keep singing to my babies.”
I leaned in and kissed her, loving the feel of her lips against mine, loving the feel of her ardent belief that she shared in the raising and loving of the children in her program. “We’ll figure that part out as we go. Murphy, Hayden, and Flip are all on hiatus. If anything musical comes up, you and I will talk before the band does something new. Plus, I’m a grad student now—gotta make time for that.”
She leaned her cheek against my chest, snuggling closer. “You’re not mad at me anymore? I hated that you left like that after we talked to Detective Davenport. The whole flight here, I worried you’d break up with me.”
“Blimey,” I exclaimed, tugging her shoulders back to peruse her eyes. The truth and the fear lay bare there, easy to access.
“I was jealous. Heaps jealous, really. And I worried you didn’t want me as I did you. So, in part, this trip is a bribe.”
She frowned. “For?”
“To prove I’m good enough to be your bloke.”
She laid her palm against my cheek, her thumb rubbing over the days’ old scruff there.
“Ah, Jake. I never once doubted you being good enough for me. I worried I wasn’t enough for you.”
She leaned up and kissed me, but I kept it short because I had more questions.
“Right-o. Much as I want to keep kissing you, you’ve a second reason for waiting on the nippers. Besides lots of shagging and holidays?”
She nodded, but this time her eyes looked a little more hesitant. She cleared her throat but met my gaze.
“I know it’s old-fashioned and maybe even silly.” She gathered up all her hair and pulled it into a knot, her way of keeping her hands busy when she was nervous. “I-I want to be married first.”
I slid off the bed and stood. Ryn’s eyes widened in panic when I took her hand and tugged her back toward the sliding door that led to our private beach. Likely, a journo would catch this, but no way I was letting Ryn hold on to any unnecessary worry or fear.
I opened the door and positioned her outside with a view of the soft, white sand and smooth, aquamarine water. “Stay right there.”
I turned back into the room, grabbed one of the frangipani and the small black box from my luggage—just where I left it when I walked down to the beach earlier. I raced back to Ryn, whose face was caught between fear and desolation. Tears built in the corners of her eyes.
“Isaac told me you cursed.”
She nodded, her face still etched with worry. “I was upset you left.”
“That’s when I knew,” I said.
She raised her gaze to mine, asking me to elaborate without words.
“Knew you loved me as I love you. Whatever you were feeling was strong, see. And that my trip here needed to include one more important detail. Took me a while to find the right one.” My cheeks heated. “That’s why I wasn’t at the police station like you asked.”
I dropped to both my knees in front of her and handed her the delicate pink flower. She took it with trembling hands.
“Lauryn Jade Hudson, I love you, and I want to have babies with you—when you’re ready. I love you because you sing lullabies like an angel and make sure those children will always love music, too. You work harder than anyone I know, and you draw me like no one else ever will.”
I brought up my hand and opened the ring box. I’d never seen her engagement ring from Dez, and I knew Ryn would never compare the two. Still, I wanted this moment, our lifetime together, to be just that: ours. The ring I found for her was a square cut, three-carat diamond with half-carat sapphires on either side of the platinum setting. Fine smaller baguette diamonds slid down the sides of the delicate, rounded band.
“Malted Milk Duds,” she whispered, her breath catching as she took in the ring. “It’s…It’s beautiful.”
I smirked at the Laurynism. No matter what Murphy said, Lauryn would tame his foul mouth long before he was able to corrupt her. Because my woman’s gentleness cloaked a will of steel tempered by past betrayals. She rose from the travesty of her childhood, from a messy first love, and came out both vulnerable and strong enough to love wholly—the way I loved her.
“I keep telling you you’re beautiful to me, Lauryn. I love you. I can’t imagine a day without speaking to you, hearing your voice raised in song. I want that for me and for our kids. Will you marry me? Here? On this island on Valentine’s Day?”
“What?” Her eyes widened as she whispered the word.
My hands shook and the ring box grew slippery in my hand. “I-I w-want to m-m-marry you.”
She dropped the flower I’d handed her, her eyes still wide, her mouth gaping slightly.
Not quite the reaction I expected. I took a deep breath and relaxed my throat, then my jaw. My heart rammed against my chest, but I managed to get the next words out with the clarity I usually took for granted. “You’re my everything, Ryn. I don’t want, will never want, anyone else to kiss, hold, laugh, and cry with. There’s not another woman in the world I’d ever want to create a family with. Please. Marry me.”
She sank to her knees in front of me and touched my cheek, her eyes skimming over my skin as lightly as her finger tips. “Oh, my…Jake.” Her voice was a mere breath, not more than a whisper. “Yes. I’ll marry you here. Now. Always.”
I slid the ring on her finger and pressed a kiss there before I caught her by the back of the neck and brought her lips to mine.
First touch, I had the same thought as I did every time she kissed me: heaven.
Epilogue
Ryn
Cautious, plod-along Jake managed to surprise all of us. One of the calls he made after sending me to the beach was to the resort’s concierge. Jake admitted, rubbing the back of his neck, that he asked the resort to provide an assortment of wedding gowns and flower options so I could pick out my favorite.
The simple spaghetti-strap sheath dress with a short train, all in a soft, ivory silk made me smile, as did the hair and makeup specialists who’d knocked on the door two days after he proposed.
He scrubbed his hands over his clean-shaven cheeks as he eyed the stylists parading into our room. “If you want a big wedding, we can wait.”
I stepped into his arms and kissed him with the soft promise of more later. “I want this, here, between us. It’s perfect.”
He pull
ed me tighter to him, ignoring the women who were now blushing and smiling as they bustled around us. “I’ll never, ever leave you.”
Those words clinched my decision. Jake understood my need for certainty—not from the world but from him. And he offered it to me if I was brave enough to take it.
I was.
As twilight slid into moonrise, Jake led me down a tiki-torch lined path to the edge of the ocean. My bare feet sank into the soft, warm, white sand. A small arbor twined with native flowers and greenery stood at the end, two feet from the water. A smiling officiant stood there, along with two other hotel staff.
The moonlight on the water proved a magical backdrop to the warm setting, softer, dreamier than I imagined. The perfect setting to marry the man who helped me find not just my way but my heart.
I turned to face him, my bouquet of frangipani fragrant, the lap of water a soft symphony, as the officiant began.
“Dearly beloved, we’re gathered here to witness the joining of Jacob Etsam and Lauryn Hudson.”
A thought, one I should have had sooner, burst from my lips: “Your mom! Is she going to be upset?”
Jake turned to grin at me. “Mum!”
One of the people I’d assumed was hotel staff stepped forward. She had tight gray curls and rosy cheeks. Her eyes twinkled with mischief and maybe—I hoped—pleasure as she hugged me tight. “Oh, my dear girl, I’m heaps thrilled to welcome you to the family. Murphy and Mila have told me so much about you—and how good you are for my Jakey.”
I hugged her back tighter. “Thank you,” I whispered. “Thank you for your son. I adore him.”
She stepped back and wiped her eyes with an embroidered handkerchief. “I know. Just as he does you.”
She turned to Jake. “You surprised us all with this, Jake, but I couldn’t be prouder.” She pulled him in for a hug and whispered something in his ear.
Jake grinned as he stepped back. He threaded his fingers through mine. During our exchange, a narrow slice of new moon rose from the ocean, the soft light draping us in its majesty.
We said our vows as a small group of singers sang an island song. I later learned it was a love song they sang at many local weddings. While I didn’t understand the words, the emotions it evoked settled around my shoulders, enveloping me further in this moment Jake created.
A Moonlit Serenade Page 18