Page 94 of Summer Kisses

I couldn't be sure she wanted to be engaged so soon. We'd only just admitted we were in a relationship. But I enjoyed the fake engagement so much, I wanted the real deal.

I'd already asked Mabel for the ring, and she said it was mine as long as Hazel was happy. I was forever grateful for that woman seeing what we couldn't.

"What did you want to show me?" Hazel asked as I ushered her through the front door.

I paused before we got to the office door. My plan was to let her see the library first and then pop the question. But suddenly, words were stuck in my throat, and my heart was thumping hard. I took a deep breath and pushed the door open.

I kept my gaze on Hazel's face.

Hazel gasped. "What did you do?"

I smiled as she moved farther into the room. "You said your dream was to have a library in your home one day."

"I can't believe you did this." She walked around the perimeter, her hand moving over the smooth wood. "It's gorgeous."

"I ordered books you mentioned that you liked, but there’s plenty of room to get more.”

"I'll spend a lifetime filling it with my favorite books."

"This is my gift to you," I said, putting my arms around her from behind.

"It's perfect." Then she turned in my arms, spotting the set table. "Are we eating in here?"

"I thought we'd recreate our first date."

Hazel grinned, and I knew this was the right thing to do. "As much as I love this, you didn't have to do anything so elaborate. I'm already in love with you."

"Well, my dad always says you shouldn't stop dating your wife. And you should probably take advantage of me being handy."

She waggled her brows. "Oh, I intend to."

"There's just one problem." I stepped back, holding one of her hands and dropping to one knee. "You're not my wife yet."

Her eyes filled with tears.

"I know we haven't discussed what we want, or at least not since our circumstances changed from fake to real. But I couldn't go one more day without asking you to be my wife. I want you by my side, living in this house, forever."

Max nuzzled our joined hands, and I took that to mean that he approved. "So what do you say? Will you marry me?"

She nodded through the tears. "Yes. I will."

She already wore the ring, so I stood and pulled her into my arms.

"I can't believe you planned all of this while I was gone." Her voice was muffled by my chest.

"I had my brothers help. I can see us living here for the rest of our lives, raising our kids, reading books to them in these chairs, and exploring the island with them."

"It sounds perfect."

"There's one more thing I wanted to show you." I led her to the table where there was a document in front of her place setting.

"What's this?"

"It's your paycheck for the work you did on the show."

Her eyes widened when she saw the zeroes. "This is too much."

"There's something underneath."

---