Page 22 of Taming the Wild Mountain Man

"What can I say? I'm a nice guy."

I smile. "Yeah. You are." I lean in closer and scrape my cheek against his beard. "But tonight, I don't feel like going out. I want to be with you."

He pulls back so he can see my eyes. His are darting about from left to right, and his face is more serious than I'd expect it to be, given what we're talking about. "And you're sure you're ready?"

"I am."

"Okay. In that case, stay here." He disappears inside the suite, and just as his silhouette comes into focus, he calls out, "Close your eyes."

"All right. They're closed."

The sound of the waves drowns out his footsteps until he's close again. "You can open them now."

I blink slowly as my eyes flutter open. Hume is standing in front of me, holding literally the last thing in the world I was expecting. "What on earth is that?"

"You don't recognize a lightsaber?"

"Of course I recognize it. I just don't understand why you have it."

"That's fair. Here." He drops to his knees, still smiling. "Does this make more sense?"

"It honestly doesn't because it looks like you're about to prop—nooo!"

His smile vanishes. "I hope I won't be hearingthatword again in the near future, because I do have a question for you." He carefully unscrews the pommel cap, and as he does, I notice a slight tremble in his fingers.

Oh my gosh.

He's nervous.

Which means…

This is not a drill.

He's really doing it.

He's about to propose!

A ring slides out into his palm. He turns it up so that I can see it, and…oh…my….gosh…

My eyes take in the sparkling diamond before shifting to the blue and silver band, which ever so subtly echoes the design of my favorite droid, R2-D2.

"I realize this may be a bit early in our relationship, but, let's face it, I'm not getting any younger. If I waited another few more months, I might not have been able to get down on my knees like this at all."

"That's not funny," I say, swatting his shoulder for his ridiculous joke.

He looks up at me with nothing but pure love and adoration in his eyes. "The truth is, Tenley, I've waited almost fifty-threeyears for you. I thought I'd left it too late. Missed my chance at love. Until one morning I got woken up by goats bleating in my neighbor's backyard."

"Oh, stop it." I cover my mouth as a tear slides down my cheek.

He takes hold of my hand, his eyes never leaving me. "I love you, Tenley."

"I love you, too," I whisper back, still in shock that this is all happening. The proposal. TheI love yous. It's so much, but it's…it's perfect.

"Will you marry me?"

"I will!" I squeal excitedly, not needing to think about it for even a minute. Trusting my gut brought Hume into my life, and my gut is telling me he's the one.

He slides the ring on my finger, and it fits perfectly.

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