Fighting for Love (35 page)

“I’m here for
you
, angel. I don’t think I can spend another moment away,” he murmured, cupping my left cheek in his large, warm hand. Something was different with him and I could see it in his gaze. There was no anger or resentment … only love.

Closing my eyes and leaning into his touch, I placed my hand over his and sighed. For the past two weeks all I wanted was to feel him hold me again and to hear his voice. My heart hurt being so far away from him, but yet, it felt like he was close by because he had always been a part of me.

My eyes started to burn, and when I opened them, Matt wiped away my tears before they could fall and leaned in to kiss me. It was soft at first, just a gentle pressing of his lips to mine, but I wanted more … a lot more. Locking my arms around his shoulders, I pulled him in harder against me and deepened the kiss, moaning lightly when his grip tightened around my waist and the taste of his lips consumed me.

“I can’t spend another minute away from you either,” I cried, leaning my forehead against his. “I’ve missed you so much.”

“I’ve missed you, too, angel.”

Our moment of reunion was interrupted by the sound of Jace’s roaring laughter. “Uh … I do believe that’s an understatement,” he teased. “I swear these past couple of weeks have been torture.”

“What are you talking about?” I asked while Matt and Jace both started to chuckle.

“He’s talking about me,” Matt confessed. “I might have been a little on the annoying side. I called him every day that first week just to see how you were doing.”

“And then he followed us here the day after we arrived,” Jace added with a smirk. “He was determined to get you back, but I told him to at least give you a week of rest once we arrived here.”

Wide-eyed, I gasped and glared at them both incredulously. “So you two have been conspiring this whole time?” To Jace I asked, “Is he the one you always had to leave the room for when you got a phone call?”

Sheepishly, he nodded and smiled. The whole time I’d been in North Carolina, Matt was there as well. No wonder it felt like he was close by. It was because he was.

“All right, so now that you know, I’m going to go and let you two catch up and do your thing,” Jace said. “Allie and I are going out tonight so I won’t be around.” Turning on his heel, he peered at me over his shoulder and winked before completely disappearing down the pier.

With my arms crossed at the chest, I playfully narrowed my gaze at Matt and pursed my lips. “So you’ve been here this whole week, huh? What all have you been doing?”

He shrugged and tilted those lips up into a devilish smirk. “Nothing much, really. Just making sure no guys laid a finger on this certain beach bunny who looked amazingly hot out on the sand every day in her sexy bikini.”

Smacking his arm, we both laughed together as he held me close to his body, his hands rubbing smooth circles into my back. His scent engulfed me and I breathed him in along with the salty sea air and sighed, fully content with the fact he was back and he was mine.

“Where do we go from here?” I asked softly.

The fingers he had caressing my back stopped and he stepped away, gazing down at me with unabashed longing and a heated desire so strong I could feel the tremble all the way down to my core.
I missed him so much.

Slowly, he bent down on his knees and took my hands in his, keeping his gaze on mine the entire time. Mouth gaping open, I stared at him in complete shock as he reached into his pocket and slid the small diamond ring onto my finger.

“I know it’s not much,” he added with a smile, “but there was a time ten years ago when I knew you were the one for me. I had planned to give you this ring the day after you left, but then …”

I gasped, looking down at the ring in amazement.
He kept it this whole time?

“Oh my God,” I breathed as tears sprang to my eyes. “I can’t believe you kept it for so long. It’s beautiful.”

It was a simple white gold band with a half carat, round diamond in the center. At that point in our lives, Matt didn’t make that much money. The ring probably cost him a fortune, and after I left he could’ve sold it, but he didn’t.

“I plan on getting you a nicer one when we get back home, but for now I thought this ring would get my point across. For years I kept it, not really knowing why until now.” He got to his feet and held my hands tight, bringing them up over his heart. “Deep down, I guess I always hoped that it wasn’t over. I kept thinking you would come back one day, but then the years passed and you never did. There was still that feeling inside of me that told me not to let it go … not to give up hope.”

“Matt,” I murmured, gazing down at the ring, “I don’t want another ring. This one is perfect just the way it is. The significance behind it means more to me than any four carat diamond ever would.”

“You mean that?”

Rising on my toes, I nodded and kissed his lips. “With all my heart,” I cried.

“Well, then I guess that leads me to my next question.” Taking a deep breath, he let one of my hands go so he could bring it to my cheek. “Shelby, I love you so much. I know we’ve been through a lot the past few weeks, but even so, my love for you has never wavered. When I first met you I swear I thought you really were an angel. You saved me so many times and you were always there when I needed you no matter the consequences. In one way or another, you helped me find my way and helped me become the man I am today. I have never doubted that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you, and I’m determined to see it through. So will you, Shelby Dawson, please find it within your heart to overlook my wrongs and spend the rest of your life with me?”

“I want you to be my wife so I can spend the rest of
my
life trying to make you happy. I can’t promise we won’t have our ups and downs, but I would risk everything just to have the privilege of your love every day. I want it all, Shelby. I want the chance to have my own family, to watch our kids grow, and to have the house you always wanted and dreamed about.”

Reaching into his back pocket, he pulled out a piece of paper that was folded over and handed it to me. “What’s this?” I asked, opening it up. When I got the paper opened, I saw that it was a picture of the one house I really wanted when Matt and I discussed moving in with each other.

Confused, I narrowed my gaze and looked up at him. “Why are you showing me this?”

Biting his lip, he smiled and tapped his finger on the paper. “This, angel, is our house. I already bought it. It’ll officially be ours next week.”

Averting my gaze back to the picture, I swallowed hard and pressed my lips firmly together. It almost felt like I was in a dream and I would wake up at any moment. “Please tell me this is real,” I whispered.

He lifted my chin with his finger and smiled down at me. “Believe me, angel, it’s real. If you need time to think about all of this that’s fine, but if—”

Immediately, I stopped him with a finger to his lips. “Matt, I don’t need time to think. In my heart I never let you go and I don’t ever plan on it for as long as I live.”

“So is this a yes?” he asked, mumbling the words under my finger with a twinkle in his eyes.

Dropping my finger, I nodded quickly and wrapped my arms around his neck before pressing my lips firmly to his. “Yes,” I answered with all of my heart. “Yes, to all of it.”

Lifting me in his arms, we both laughed together and I squealed as he swung me around in a circle on the pier, probably drawing every bit of attention to us. When he set me back on my feet, I glanced down at the ring and the paper in my hands before lifting my gaze to his.

“All right, so I have the ring and we have the house. When exactly do you want to make this official?” I asked.

“You know, it’s funny you should mention that,” he pointed out slyly. “There was an idea brought to my attention the other day and I really think we should consider it. How about we add another first to our list? That is, if you’re up for an adventure.”

“It sounds intriguing,” I answered curiously. “What exactly would we be doing?”

A deep chuckle rumbled in his chest when he put his arm around my shoulder and pulled me in tight as we started down the pier. “I promise to tell you all about it,” he murmured huskily, “but right now I think there’s something else we need to be doing. I might have time to tell you tomorrow.”

“Might? What else do you have to do tomorrow?” I asked incredulously. Surely, he wasn’t going to be spending it away from me now that we were back together, was he?

Stopping us on the pier, he caged me against the rail and pressed his body so close to mine I could feel his cock getting harder with each word he spoke.

“Angel,” he whispered in my ear, “as soon as we get to the beach house I’m going to lay you out on the bed and kiss every single inch of your body … at least fourteen times to make up for the two weeks we spent apart. I’m going to make love to you over and over, all night long, and in every position imaginable. I have a lot of energy built up and I don’t anticipate being done anytime soon. So when I say I
might
have time tomorrow, I wouldn’t count on it. My tongue’s going to be too busy between your legs and sucking on those sweet nipples of yours to be able to speak. You can wait a few days, right?”

A few days?

Already my underwear was drenched and I had an insatiable throb between my legs. I could definitely wait a few days. With hooded eyes, I bit my bottom lip and gazed up at him, wanting so desperately to wrap my legs around his waist and have him take me on the damn pier.

“I think I can live with that,” I whispered seductively. “And who knows, maybe we can make it a week. We could always aim for another first to add to our list, you know.”

Leaning down, he kissed me on the soft, tender spot behind my ear, making shivers race across my skin even though the summer heat had me burning on the inside.

“Then let’s do it,” he murmured. He slid his hand down my cheek and grazed the side of my breast until he settled it on my hip. “I can’t wait any longer.”

Neither could I.

You are hereby cordially invited to witness the sharing of love and vows between two souls that have finally chosen to come together as one.

SHELBY PAIGE DAWSON

&

MATTHEW ETHAN REYNOLDS

Would love for you to join them as they take this first step together on the beach at sunset on Saturday evening, September the 3
^rd
at six o’clock.

Nags Head, North Carolina

Followed by a reception

The day I never thought would come, finally came, and it was with the man I had loved for most of my life. The end of summer breeze was still salty and warm as it blew across my skin, making my simple yet elegant white dress flow out behind me in soft waves. Knowing I was getting married barefoot on the beach, I chose a silky fabric dress with a square neckline and thin straps that hugged every part of my body except below my waist where the high slit made it billow out.

It was all magical, along with the colorful painted sky from the sunset.

As I waited for the music to start, I gazed down at the bouquet in my hands. Matt and I wanted the two flowers that symbolized our daughter to be the ones at our wedding today. I saw her as a white lily and that was why I always bought them to put at her gravesite, whereas Matt envisioned the pink sunflowers. Everywhere around me her flowers were there.

Once I heard the music play I knew it was my time to go. Taking a deep breath, I walked the rest of the way down the wooden walkway and took my first step onto the warm, thick sand below my feet. Even though the music played, I imagined I was walking down to the sound of the waves. The horizon was so beautiful with its many colors and I knew I couldn’t have gotten a more perfect wedding day.

Up ahead, Matt waited for me as I walked toward him down the aisle. He was dressed in a black tux and on his lapel was a little pink sunflower. My eyes burned with unshed tears, but I knew I had to hold out before I cried. Our family and friends had flown over from California to join us on our special day, but I couldn’t seem to focus on anyone other than Matt. He was all I saw; all I
wanted
to see. When I finally made it down to him, I passed my bouquet to Lexi, who was my maid of honor; glowing with her medium-sized pregnant belly and dressed in a red flowing gown.

I turned back to Matt, and he took my hands, smiling. “You look beautiful, angel,” he whispered as quietly as he could.

I squeezed his hands and mouthed the words, “Thank you.”

Our minister conducting the ceremony was an older gentleman who had lived in Nags Head all of his life, and when Matt and I went in search of someone to marry us he was the perfect candidate. He was sixty-two years old with a full head of gray hair and he reminded me so much of Clint Eastwood it was uncanny.

As the minister proceeded with the ceremony, Matt and I stood there, our eyes never wavering from each other’s. It all happened so fast that when it came time for the rings I couldn’t believe it was almost over. Instead of repeating the normal vows, Matt and I had written our own. My heart thudded anxiously in my chest because I couldn’t wait to hear what he was going to say.