by Marika Ray
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.
"It never even occurred to me to propose to her with my mom's ring, and even if it had, she wouldn't have accepted it." He propped himself up on one elbow. "I just can't even begin to tell you how perfect you are for me. I love you. I’ve been wrapped up in you since you fell on the dock in those ridiculous heels that first day. Made me feel like a hero to catch you. And then you put me right back in my place by insulting my chi."
He threw back his head and laughed, remembering my insult. I slapped his arm but chuckled as well.
"Your chi was stagnant, ya' big oaf! You needed a little green juice in your life." I smiled big, both of us knowing what he needed was in fact me.
Then an idea hit me suddenly and my head popped up. I would have jumped up off the bed entirely if Jax hadn't held me back.
"What?" he asked.
My eyes were round with excitement. This was brilliant. "We gotta go meet your mom! She gave me this ring. Well, she gave you the ring to give to me, but I haven't even met her! What if she doesn't like me?"
Jax sat up, a smile on his face, not seeming concerned at all that here we were engaged and I hadn't met his family.
"She's going to love you, same as I do. How could she not? Hell, she already does just from hearing me talk about you, otherwise she wouldn't have given me the ring. Besides, I haven't met your mom either. Don't worry. We'll do all those things. Whatever you want, baby." He smoothed my hair back from my face and placed a kiss on the tip of my nose.
My whole body relaxed again, as it seemed to do whenever Jax was around and especially when he was touching me. Then another idea popped in my head. One I'd pushed aside in the past whenever it reared its head, knowing he'd say no.
"Anything?" I asked him, a sly smile creeping onto my face.
He exhaled loudly, like I truly vexed him. Esa said Ivan did the same thing. And look how happy they were!
"Okay, Ms. Business Shark in your cute designer suit, let me be clear. Anything...within reason."
I tilted my head, considering. "Okay, well I totally think this is within reason so here it goes." I crouched on the bed, nearly bouncing with excitement I couldn't contain. "Like you said, since we need to meet parents and tell them of our engagement anyway, I propose a trip. We start by traveling to see your mom, then over to see my parents. From there, let's fly to Europe and go backpacking. It won't be expensive because we'll stay in hostels and we'll see everything on foot. And I did just happen to come into a few million dollars, I'm just sayin'. And since we'll be married soon, what's mine is yours, right? Think about it, just you and me, exploring, seeing the world together. Isn't that what you told me you wanted that day in your shop when I offered to buy The Shack? Let me give that to you. Please, please, please say yes."
I shut my mouth, realizing I needed to give him time to consider it. I wanted to take him to see the world. I knew he'd always dreamed of traveling and I wanted to be the one to give it to him. His face was blank, his eyes looking at the quilt on the bed, like the answer to his dilemma could be found there. I wanted him to say yes so badly I couldn't contain myself. I couldn't take the silence.
With hands clasped under my chin I kept going. "Think about it, honey. You don't have to give me an answer right away, but this money doesn't mean anything to me if I can't use it to do things with the one I love. Please consider it."
His head came up and he locked eyes with me. I froze, waiting for him to say something, anything.
"What country do you want to visit first?"
"Eeek!" I squealed and tackled him for the second time that day, this time with a soft bed behind us. I kissed him with all the love and excitement I had running through my body, which meant I kissed him for a very long time.
Thankfully, we were already naked.
Well, except for the gold engagement ring on my finger.
And that, my dear friends, is how you win at life. You fight for what you want and you partner with someone who believes in you, loves you, and supports you, no matter what. Even if you start out on opposite sides of the negotiating table.
The End
About the Author
Thank you so much for reading Beach Bum Billion-Heiress! If you loved it, please support the series by leaving a review on Amazon or Goodreads so other readers can find it and enjoy it too. Reviews help other readers determine if a series is to their liking and they help indie authors sell more books so we can keep writing. If you hated it, please disregard this entire paragraph. : )
If you'd like to know more about me or the other novels that I'm writing, please come stalk find me on Facebook or join my reader group on Facebook called Marika Ray’s of Sunshine for all the best stuff first. You can also find me in-person, on the beach in Southern California, scoping out the hottie lifeguards. For research purposes only, I assure you.
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Also by Marika Ray
The Beach Squad Series:
1) Sweet Dreams
2) Beach B!tch
3) Barefoot Chaos
4) Beach Bum Billion-Heiress
5) Handcuffed Hussy - Novella - Releases July 26th
6) Book #5 - Releases September 2018