Page 189 of The Nanny and the Beefcake
He smiled a sweet, boyish grin. “I told Briggs about the show and that we needed to get to the island of Moloka’i and find the tree with a swing. His team scoured the internet and made the arrangements.”
She studied his face—a face she once couldn’t stand, but now she couldn’t imagine life without him. “I can’t believe you remembered.”
“I remember everything when it comes to you, plum.” He released a shaky breath. “After you left with Doug, I didn’t know what to do with myself. I wanted to crawl out of my skin. I was asking Landon for advice.”
“Landon?”
He shrugged, his cheeks growing pink. “He writes love songs. I figured he’d know more than a knuckle-headed boxer when it came to getting the girl.”
Getting the girl.
She loved the sound of that, but it still didn’t make sense as to how Raz had made this happen.
“Landon couldn’t have suggested coming here. How would he know about this place?” she pressed.
Raz’s blush deepened. “He didn’t. He suggested the flowers, but the idea of whisking you away to Moloka’i came together when I saw Sebastian on a swing with Phoebe and Oscar. The first thing that came to mind was you telling me about Shandra and the beach with a swing and how it brought you comfort. Then I remembered you saying that your mum used to know when you needed a hot fudge sundae. I put it together, and everything inside of me told me I needed to take you here, so I could tell you…” he trailed off.
“What did you want to tell me?” she whispered.
His gray gaze intensified like nothing else existed but her. “I want you to know that you’re not Libby Lamb, the little girl sitting in the dark watching a woman do yoga on television—a worried little girl caring for her brothers and waiting for her father to come home. You’re Libby Lamb, the creator of Pun-chi yoga, the woman my son adores, and the vibrator-throwing crazy lady who’s stolen my heart.”
She blinked back tears. “I have?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” He cupped her face in his hand. “I love you, plum, and this is where I needed to tell you that. You’re not alone in the dark. You are the light, Libby. You’re my light and Sebastian’s light. You make everything better. You make me better. When I’m with you, my pain disappears. The chains that weigh me down crumble to dust when I see you smile.”
She swallowed past the lump in her throat. “Remember when I told you I felt bad for calling you a beefcake?”
“Yeah.”
“Now I really feel awful,” she said, laughing through tears. “No one has ever done anything like this for me, Raz.”
His misty gaze gave way to a cocky glint. “Good.”
“Good?” she repeated.
“Good, because I want to be the one who takes care of you. I want to eat ice cream sundaes with you. I don’t want to be without you. I need you. I don’t want to lose this feeling. And…” his heartfelt expression changed to one awe. “I don’t believe it! Libby, look,” he said, gesturing toward Shandra.
The woman stood on one leg with the bottom of her other foot pressed against her inner thigh in the tree pose, with one exception. Instead of extending her arms into the air, Shandra knocked out a series of punches.
“She’s doing a set of the jab-cross tree combo,” Libby said, wide-eyed.
“She’s doing your Pun-chi yoga, plum,” Raz corrected.
Shandra completed the punches, lowered her leg, then turned and pegged them with her gaze. “Namaste,” the woman said, her hands in a prayer position as she bowed.
“Namaste,” Libby repeated, frozen in place. “We didn’t mean to intrude,” she blathered, utterly starstruck. She couldn’t count how many times she’d seen the woman look at the camera and speak the word. Still, never in a million years did she think she’d hear the woman say it in real life.
“It’s no intrusion. You must be Libby and Erasmus. I’m Shandra.”
It really was her!
The woman’s rich flowing voice washed over her like a fragrant breeze. Like on television, the yogi wore a flower in her hair, tucked behind her ear. And today, the color of the plumeria adorning her wavy hair was a brilliant blue-violet.
Blue-violet.
“I know who you are. I watched your sunrise yoga program every morning when I was a girl. It changed everything for me. You changed everything for me. I’m a yoga instructor now. I don’t know what else to say other than thank you.”
“I should thank you,” Shandra said, waving them over. “You’ve made me the coolest grandmother on the island. At least that’s what Milo said when Briggs Keaton called the farm. Milo is quite a fan of boxing—a sport I never approved of until he showed me a video of you, Libby.”
