Page 22 of The Last Bachelor Dragon

“Yeah, it probably is,” Max said, shrugging his shoulders. “Thanks for coming to get us. How did you know where to look? I was afraid that wind blew us way off course.”

“Wind?” Montgomery asked. “We haven’t had any wind.”

Max looked over at herand then back at Montgomery. “There was out here,” he said. But it really doesn’t matter; you’re here now, and we can go home.”

“Do you want me to call someone to tow this back to the marina?” Mongomery asked. “It would be a shame to just abandon it.”

“I think the boat will take care of itself,” Max said, grinning at her. “It’ll just be a waste of time to send someone out here.”

Montgomery just shook his head, “I’m not going to ask,” he said. “Let’s get loaded up and on the way then. I haven’t slept all night.”

As they sped away, she turned to take one more look at the boat, knowing that it would always be a special place to her. She looked over at Max, knowing that he was thinking the same thing, and then back at the boat, but it had already disappeared into the mist over the water. With a sigh of contentment, she settled back into Max’s arms, ready to face what awaited them back on the island, a little thrill shooting through her when she thought about marrying Max.

The ride was over before she would have liked, but seeing all the happy, smiling faces waiting for them on the dock, she realized how worried they must have all been. When the boat was secure, Max helped her out, then took her hand. They walked toward his friends, and she suddenly began to get nervous. Max wasn’t the only one she’d lied to. Stella and Juliet had every reason to be angry with her; she just hoped they understood why she’d lied.

Stella was the first one to get to her. “Well, we’re all dying to know,” she said, giving her a hug, then pulling back to look at her. “Did Max get it together and figure out what he wants?”

“Hey, it wasn’t just Max,” she defended him. “I was fighting it too.”

“I guess that answers my question,” Stella said, a big smile on her face. “When is the wedding?”

“Now, hold on a minute; no one said anything about a wedding,” Max interjected. “Where did you get that idea?”

“Oh, come on, Max, it’s a logical conclusion,” Juliet said. “It didn’t take a genius to figure out that the first thing you two would want to do is get married; after all, Nora’s dad won’t be able to touch her once she’s married to you.”

Max let out a long sigh. “Smart women are such a pain in the…” he said, then grinned at them. “But you’re right, I asked Nora to marry me, and she agreed.”

“Perfect, we’ve already started planning,” Stella said, beaming at them. “Marie wants to see you right away, Nora. She’s all in a dither about you finishing your dress.”

“Me finishing my dress,” she repeated, confused for a second, then realized the beautiful gown she’d been working on was a wedding dress. “Marie said it would be good practice, that she’d fix any mistake I made. I didn’t realize that it was my dress. How did she know?”

Max laughed. “Marie knows things before they happen,” he said. “I’m sure she forgot to mention that.”

“So, she knew about us before we did?” she asked, shaking her head, then looked up at him. “How many more surprises do you have? Maybe we should get them all over with now.”

Max pulled her into his arms. “I think I like it better when you’re on your toes,” he said, then gave her a big kiss before turning to the group. “I know we have a lot to deal with right now and a wedding is just more hassle, but if Nora agrees, I’d like to have the ceremony at the waterfall. I’ve always felt like it was the heart of the island, and I can’t think of a better place to officially join our lives together.”

“Oh, Max,” she said, looking up at him, her eyes filled with tears. “That sounds wonderful.”

“Then you’d better get busy on that dress,” he said, grinning down at her. “We’ll talk more about it later, but I don’t want to wait any longer than we have to.”

“Fine with me,” she said, grinning up at him. “Let’s not take any chances on something or someone coming between us.”

CHAPTER 15

***MAX***

Max watched the women walk away, chattering and laughing, knowing with certainty that Nora was in good hands, then turned back to his friends, who were all smiling at him. “Stop looking at me like that,” he said. “We have bigger things to worry about.”

“You’ve got to be kidding; after all the grief you put me through, there'sno way I’m letting this go,” Theo said. “What happened to the man who didn’t believe in true love? Remember how you warned me that it would wear off? I also seem to recall you telling me that what happened to us was just a weird coincidence or something.”

“I seem to recall hearing some of those same words,” Simon said, crossing his arms over his chest. “You’re sure singing a different tune now.”

“Oh, come on you guys,” Cameron interjected, “He came around eventually.”

Mateo is the one he should be apologizing to,” Archie said. “He warned him from the very beginning that there was something special about this island.”

“Hey, I didn’t believe it at first either, and I’d heard all thestories,” Harrison said. “Until it happened to me, I thought you all were…well…I don’t know.”

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