“Bryce.” Tears started in Lucy’s eyes, and she reached up, placed one finger against his lips to still his babble. “I love you.”
Chapter Twenty
“I love you.” Lucy said it again when Bryce said nothing in response, just stared at her, a frown furrowing his brow. “Today’s been like a crazy wonderful dream for me, too. That, plus everyone’s been telling me I gotta hang onto you, that now we’re together we should stay in it for the long haul, that we should ask Luke to file that marriage certificate before the thirty-day deadline.”
“I’ve been hearing that too,” Bryce said finally. “It’s almost like we’ve got our own little fandom frantically shipping us together.” The corner of his mouth quirked up, a glint of amusement entering his eyes. “I’m pretty sure there was a betting pool on when we’d first sleep together. From her smirk the day after, I think Nessa won it.”
Lucy bit back a laugh. “Yeah, she confessed as much to me yesterday. I asked how they all knew. Apparently, uh, sound carries quite well at night and Rosie heard us that night when she was walking back to her cabin. Plus, I had shocking stubble rash the following day and you were, to quote Cory, ‘strutting around smirking like that cat who got the cream’.”
“Sounds legit,” Bryce admitted sheepishly. “Look, Lucy… there are a lot of different ways we could take this from here. We could take it back a step once your mother leaves, I could move back to my cabin and we can ‘date’ for a while, take things slower.”
Lucy was already shaking her head. “What would be the point? I already know I like living with you, like waking up next to you. We’ve spent the last two weeks as much in each other’s pockets as we’re ever going to get, considering the amount of time we’ve both had off work, in a pretty stressful situation given Mum’s presence and the whole wedding thing. I say we go forward from here.” Chewing on her lip, she awaited his answer anxiously.
“That’d be my vote as well,” Bryce agreed, and Lucy let out an audible sigh of relief. “I doubt I’d end up sleeping in my own bed more than once in a blue moon anyway. If we make this official, we can apply for one of the ‘couples’ cabins, too, which are bigger.”
Lucy hadn’t even thought of that, but he was quite correct. Justine didn’t know about the policy, so they hadn’t bothered, but once two staff members completed paperwork to declare they were in an official relationship they were able to put themselves on the list to get one of the bigger cabins, when one became available. Though she didn’t mind sharing her space with Bryce, she couldn’t deny it was decidedly cosy for two people to live there full-time.
“Good idea,” she agreed. “And, uh… the other thing?”
“The other thing?”
She chewed on her lip again before mumbling “The paperwork thing,” while avoiding his eyes.
“Lucy.” Bryce touched her cheek gently. “Look at me.”
Taking a deep breath, she looked up into his blue eyes, once again marvelling at how handsome he was.
“I just told you that today was a dream come true for me. Being married to you would be living in that dreamland, full-time, every day. I can’t imagine ever not wanting to be married to you. So as far as I’m concerned, let’s take a walk up to Luke’s office and ask him to file those papers, first thing tomorrow. I’m all in with you, Lucy. All the way.”
“Oh,” she gulped, tears welling again. “Oh damn, I’m gonna cry.”
“Please don’t!” He leaned down to kiss her trembling lips, pulling her close against him and stroking her back until she stopped trembling, made a protesting little noise against his mouth. “Sorry.” He pulled back and smiled down at her ruefully. “Seeing you cry just breaks me. Can’t deal, I’m afraid.”
“Your fault.” She sniffed back more impending tears valiantly. “You’re making me too happy.”
“Is that a yes?” Cautious delight dawned.
“Was there a question?” she teased.
“Do I need to go down on one knee? Okay then,” when she shook her head. “Will you, ah, make our marriage official, my darling, beautiful, brilliant almost-wife?”
She didn’t hesitate a moment before saying “Yes!”
~ The End ~
If you enjoyed reading Bryce and Lucy’s story, please consider leaving a review on Amazon or Goo dreads!
Author Notes
I hope you enjoyed reading this book as much as I enjoyed writing it! Stay tuned for more fantastic romantic action coming your way soon!
You can find my web page here, or you can also find me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Goodreads and Tumblr!
Sign up to my mailing list to be notified of my next publication and get two FREE books! I also share regular giveaways, tell you about super freebies and new releases from author friends of mine.
Her Fake Island Wedding Page 12