“You did this,” I said. “You made all of this possible.”
With the microphone still up to his mouth, he said, “We did it together. While working at the Grove, I learned so much about myself...about my life. But mostly about you. When I got back to Key West, I realized that there was no way I could live without you. I need you. So I sold my bungalow and put a contract on a little oceanfront property here on Eleuthera. It’s a simple little place. And last night, while you were running around putting this event together, I paid a visit to your father. Your brothers were there, too. I asked your father how he would feel about me marrying his little girl...”
I looked over at my father, who gave me a wink.
“He didn’t hesitate to give me his blessings. Now, your brothers, on the other hand, were a little harder to convince to give me a chance. Especially Nate, here.” Jackson gave Nate a pat on the shoulder, and everyone laughed. “He was a little harder to convince than Edward and Denny. He gave me the third degree...wanted to know why I wanted to marry you so suddenly, when we haven’t known each other that long.”
I laughed through my tears and knew that Jackson was telling the truth. Nate was definitely overprotective.
“I explained to him that sometimes you just know when something is right, and it doesn’t take very long to figure it out. I told Nate that you changed my life in such a short time and that I couldn’t bear spending another day without you. Eventually, I passed his test, and here we are.” He knelt on one knee.
I covered my mouth and the tears flowed harder.
“Jasmine Talbot, all of me loves all of you. Will you be my wife?”
“Yes!” I exclaimed.
Jackson stood and kissed me passionately. My mother and sisters rushed to my side, whisked me away from Jackson and showered me with hugs.
“Oh, Jazzy, how sweet was that?” asked Whitney. “I had no idea that you were over here falling in love. Where can I get one of those?”
“I’m happy for you, sweetheart,” my mother said as she handed me a glass of champagne.
“I guess we’ll be planning a wedding,” said Alyson. “Oh, the details! What colors will you choose? Where will you have it?”
“In the Bahamas, of course!” exclaimed Whitney. “At the Grove.”
“How fitting,” Alyson agreed. “You need a Vera Wang gown. I have some connections.”
“Maybe in the spring, or even the summer,” said Whitney.
“The fall!” exclaimed Alyson. “But sometime after hurricane season.”
Jackson interrupted my sisters, who just about had my wedding planned in record time. He grabbed my hand. “Can I steal my fiancée for a moment, ladies?”
They looked at him as though he was intruding, but he managed to pull me away nonetheless. I followed Jackson to the back patio of the Clydesdale, which had been transformed into a tropical courtyard with an outside bar.
“I needed a moment alone with you. What do you think of all of this?”
“You sold your home?” I asked. “You love your home.”
“I love you more.”
“I had already decided I was moving to Key West. Whitney will be here in the summer to take over operations at the Grove, and I would be free to go.”
“The Grove is too important for you to give up. I would never ask you to leave. Besides, Eleuthera is a much better place to raise a family.”
“What about your construction business?”
“I’ll run it from here. I have a great construction manager. Lance can handle the small day-to-day things. However, I might have to go away for weeks at a time when I have a job that requires me to be on-site. Can you handle that?”
“As long as I know that you’re coming home to me, I can handle most anything.”
“I promise not to work as hard. I won’t be a workaholic,” he said. “I promise you will be my priority.”
“And you, mine,” I swore. “My sisters already have our wedding just about planned. Do you want a big wedding or a small one? And do you want a spring or summer wedding?”
“Whatever you want, sweetheart. You just tell me where to show up, and I’ll be there.”
He leaned in for a kiss that rocked me to my core.
When we finally stepped back inside the Clydesdale, everyone was busy socializing and dancing to Caribbean music. My parents danced together and I watched them with admiration. I hoped Jackson and I would have a lasting love like theirs. My father gave my mother a kiss on the lips, and she smiled at him as if he was the only man in the room. I turned to my husband-to-be, gave him a kiss on the lips.
“I love you, Jackson Conner.” I said it with conviction.
No doubt, Jackson was the man of my dreams, and I wanted babies with him. As many as the grains of sand along the Caribbean Sea.
* * * * *
We hope you enjoyed this Harlequin Kimani Romance.
You dream in vibrant hues! Harlequin Kimani Romance stories feature sophisticated, soulful and sensual African-American and multicultural heroes and heroines who develop fulfilling relationships as they lead lives full of drama, glamour and passion.
Enjoy four new stories from Harlequin Kimani Romance every month!
Connect with us on Harlequin.com for info on our new releases, access to exclusive offers, free online reads and much more!
Other ways to keep in touch:
Harlequin.com/newsletters
Facebook.com/HarlequinBooks
Twitter.com/HarlequinBooks
HarlequinBlog.com
http://www.harlequin.com/harlequinexperience
ISBN-13: 9781460379608
An Island Affair
Copyright © 2015 by Monica Richardson
All rights reserved. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental. This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
® and ™ are trademarks of the publisher. Trademarks indicated with ® are registered are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the Canadian Intellectual Property Office and in other countries.
www.Harlequin.com
An Island Affair Page 19