The doorbell chimes startled Danica from her reverie. She assumed it was one of her other girlfriends dropping by for a visit.
“I’ll get that,” Danica said. “It’s probably Jessy or—”
But Ashlyn sprang up first, cutting her off. “I’ll get it. I told Hunter I was going to be over here. That’s probably him with some takeout food for us to stuff our faces silly.”
Danica smiled and stayed seated. She imagined that with the way those two were going, it was only a matter of time before they tied the knot officially. Something she would give anything to do with Boyd. She’d try her damnedest to be the best wife a man could ever have, and it went without saying that he would be the world’s greatest husband.
If only things worked out that way, her life would be utterly complete.
Danica had been so caught up in her latest thoughts that she hadn’t even realized Ashlyn had already opened the door. She could hear Hunter’s voice. Then there was another voice that sounded strangely familiar.
Danica looked up right into the handsome face of Boyd.
“Aloha,” he said warmly, realizing his appearance had given her quite a start. Maybe he should have called her, but he felt it was better if they didn’t have the barrier of long distance to hinder things between them. He leaned over and kissed her on the cheek, then handed her a single red rose. “For you, my darling.”
She beamed at him. “Thank you.”
He smiled. “You’re welcome.”
“What are you doing here?”
He laughed a little. “I came to see you.”
Danica realized how that must have sounded. “I understand that, but I wasn’t expecting you this soon.”
“I wanted it to be a surprise,” Boyd said candidly.
She looked at Ashlyn and then Hunter, who had obviously brought Boyd here, sensing some kind of conspiracy. Her eyes latched on to Ashlyn’s face. “You knew about this, didn’t you?” That must have been why she was so coolheaded whenever I ranted.
“I had no idea Boyd was coming today,” Ashlyn insisted as she innocently batted her eyes. “I swear.”
Danica had no choice other than to take her friend at her word. She got to her feet, feeling the need to give Boyd a hug. “It’s great to see you,” she whispered in his ear, feeling herself shaking.
“You, too,” he told her from the heart.
“Why don’t we leave these two alone?” Hunter suggested to Ashlyn, grabbing her by the hand. “I’m sure they’ll want to catch up.”
“All right,” she responded albeit reluctantly, and gave Danica a little hug. “I’ll call you later.”
Danica smiled at her, watching as they walked away hand-in-hand. She then turned her attention to Boyd, butterflies filling her stomach and her heart pounding, knowing she was much happier to see him than annoyed that he hadn’t given her advance warning.
There was so much she wanted to say, she wasn’t sure where to begin. She could tell by the look in Boyd’s eyes that he also had things on his mind.
* * *
“I have some things I need to say,” began Danica, gazing up at Boyd, happy to have his undivided attention even if uncertain how this would turn out.
“Actually there are a few things I need to get out, too.” Boyd checked her with his hand, eager to get to the important issues he’d come to discuss. Fortunately Hunter and Ashlyn were gone, as he preferred to do this in private.
“Me first,” she insisted, wanting him to at least hear her out before putting his cards on the table.
“Okay…” He watched her intently, very curious as to what she would tell him now that they had both had time to contemplate the past and future.
“Do you want to sit down?” Danica asked, feeling a little awkward standing there.
“Only if you do,” Boyd told her. “Otherwise, I’m good.”
Quit stalling and get on with it, she told herself. He has to know how you feel with no holding back. “All right,” she said, taking a breath and meeting his gaze. “I was wrong to get bent out of shape about what you did or didn’t want to do with the house you and Ashlyn own. You are perfectly entitled to sell it or whatever for any reason. It’s you that I want and am in love with, no matter where we live. I love your house and I’d be happy to live in it with you. I don’t need to share ownership. I just need you.”
“That it?” he asked to be sure.
“Yes, other than to say I’m sorry that I didn’t leave Hawaii on a higher note. I hope you’ll give me the chance to make it up to you.”
Boyd was genuinely touched by her words of sincerity. She was exactly the woman he knew she was, owning up to her mistakes, even if minor on the grand scale. Just as he was.
“Yes, I will,” he promised her, imagining how they might make it up to each other time and time again. “Except that if there’s any making up to do, it has to come from me. I appreciate your thoughts concerning both houses in Hawaii, but the more I thought about it, the more I came to realize that I want to live in whichever house you think will make you happiest. I love my house, but not nearly as much as I love you. I’m ready to put it on the market, if that’s what you want and we can co-own the other house and call it home. Or I’m even cool with selling my share to Ashlyn and Hunter, now that I see he’s a nice guy who really has her best interests at heart. Just as I have yours.”
Danica’s heart skipped a beat in hearing him say that he loved her. She was surprised at his change of heart about where to live together, appreciating him all the more as a result. But she too had put things in their proper perspective and wished only to be with him, regardless of the address.
“I’m happy to hear that,” she said softly. “But I’m perfectly fine living with you in your current house. And I’m sure Ashlyn would be interested in buying you out, while maintaining the family roots.”
“Those could be maintained even if neither of us sold to the other,” Boyd pointed out. “We’ll talk about it later. Right now there is one other thing I wanted to bring to the table.”
“Okay…” Danica looked at him with anticipation.
Having thought about this moment during the entire journey from the Big Island, Boyd wasted no further time. He took the ring out of his pocket and gazed at Danica. “I want you to be my wife and a mother to our children someday.” He slipped the 14k white gold 4 1/2 carat diamond engagement ring on her finger for a perfect fit. “Will you marry me, Danica Austin?”
Danica studied the glittering oval diamonds on the ring, taking her breath away. But not as much as the man who had just proposed to her, giving her the gift of a lifetime—his commitment of love and devotion in marriage.
“Yes, I definitely will marry you, Boyd Reed,” she said gleefully.
Boyd’s eyes crinkled at the corners when he smiled. “Yeah?”
“Yes, yes and yes again and again!” Danica gave him a big kiss, which he returned in full. “Why don’t we finish our celebrating in the bedroom?”
He grinned, eager to take his bride-to-be to bed. “Why don’t we?”
* * *
They probed each other’s mouths desperately, tongues whipping in and out, soaking up the goodness of their passionate kiss. Danica hugged Boyd’s hips with her legs raised off the bed as, atop her, he went deeper inside her in even and full strokes. She cried out with pleasure each and every time she met his powerful thrusts.
Boyd broke away from Danica’s mouth only long enough to kiss her chin, cheeks, neck, ears—any part of her gorgeous face before once again devouring her sweet lips on a mission of love and lust with no holding back. He cupped her buttocks as they went at it like two intense lovers who were determined to make up for lost time and fulfill each other with every breath in them.
He marveled at the
untold joy he felt from pleasuring her. Their bodies were hot and slick with perspiration as the temperature rose precipitously during their climb toward the top of the mountain that their fervent lovemaking was taking them to. He squeezed his eyes shut as the surge was building within him, bringing him to the brink of total ecstasy.
Danica clung to Boyd, sensing he was nearly ready to explode and take her with him. She felt herself bite down on his lower lip, causing him to wince but not miss a beat. The scent of joyous intimacy came across her nose, making Danica even hotter with desire for the man she never wanted to be without again.
She caught fire just as Boyd’s climax emptied out of him, sending them both into a wonderland of sexual fulfillment. Their kiss intensified and they continued making love right through the waning moments of their mind-blowing orgasms.
When it was over, they lay still, basking in the tender aftereffects of being together.
“Guess you really did miss me,” Boyd remarked after rolling off Danica and trying to catch his breath.
“You think?” She hit him playfully, unashamed of the power he had over her in bed and elsewhere.
“I know, because the feeling is very mutual.”
“It had better be,” she told him, one leg draped over his hard body.
He grinned serenely, touching one of her breasts. “So much so that I’ll never let you get away again.”
She batted her eyes. “Oh, no?”
“Never,” he promised. “Not until I have you as my wife.”
“You will,” Danica declared. “There’s no other man I would ever want as my husband.”
Boyd favored her with a broad smile. “Music to these ears.”
She began to sing a sweet song before it was drowned out by a stirring kiss that brought them together once again.
* * *
Six months later on a beautiful day on the Big Island, Danica and Boyd exchanged wedding vows on the beach at Kikaua Point Park in Kona with their family and friends in attendance.
For Danica this was undeniably the happiest day of her life. She was about to become the wife of the most handsome groom in the world in the most perfect setting, surrounded by palm trees, lava and the lagoon—all parts of the land she would become a part of. Dressed in an ivory strapless satin and tulle figure-hugging gown with a jewel-accented chest, she felt like Cinderella ready to wed her Prince Charming, who cut a dashing figure in his black tux.
Boyd could barely contain his elation that Danica, looking as gorgeous as ever, was moments away from being Mrs. Boyd Reed. He would love her more and more with each passing day and be a husband she could always count on through thick and thin. Just as he knew she would give him back as much in return and more. They would move into a fabulous new home in the Kohala District as a married couple under joint ownership, where they could carve out a new legacy of love and family while always having a place to relive the past when visiting Ashlyn and Hunter’s vacation home in Hilo.
Boyd and Danica placed leis around each other’s heads and said their wedding vows deep from the heart and soul.
“I’ll spend the rest of my life loving you,” Boyd promised as a final sentence to live by.
“I promise to love you every bit as much,” Danica murmured tearfully.
When it came time to kiss, they didn’t need to be told. They melted into each other’s arms and brought their lips together to seal their matrimony in paradise.
* * * * *
ISBN: 9781459227460
Copyright © 2012 by R. Barri Flowers
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Aloha Fantasy Page 17