Page 106 of Heart Breaker

Her eyes go impossibly wide when she sees me on one knee. When I reach into my pocket, the first tear slips free. She doesn’t brush it away. She lets it fall, then another, and another, never once looking away from me.

Every tear feels like its own answer. Like she’s letting me see every ounce of what she’s feeling instead of trying to hold it together. It’s beautiful, raw, and honest and somehow, I fall even harder for the woman sitting in front of me.

Lottie’s smile falters. “Wes, what are you doing?”

“The first time I asked you to marry me, it was an agreement.” I pull the diamond eternity band from my pocket. “This time, I’m choosing you. I’m choosing a life with you.” I swallow hard, glancing down at the ring before meeting her gaze. “You are my favorite person in the world. My favourite person to come home to. I’ve never had someone who is mine to love, someone I get to take care of, someone I can’t wait to wake up beside every morning. And even though you’re probably going to spend the rest of our lives reminding me to talk about my feelings.” She laughs through her tears. “I can’t wait to spend all of that time with you. Lottie, I know I can be quiet and closed-off, and I can disappear into my own head more than I should. But one thing you’ll never have to question is how completely I love you. It’s you Lottie Winters. It’s aways been you.”

I rise on my knees so that I can look into her eyes. She grips my face in both hands, her palms warm against my jaw as she presses her forehead to mine. She tips her chin just enough for our eyes to meet, tears glistening in hers.

“I want to give you everything, Lottie,” I tell her. “I want a real wedding. I want to watch you walk toward me in a white dress. I want your mom and dad there. I want my family there. I want flowers, music, vows we actually chose, every person who loves us watching us promise forever.”

I smile through the emotion threatening to undo me. “I want you to have the wedding you deserved from the very beginning. I love you. I love you more than I ever thought it was possible to love another person.”

Before I can say another word, Lottie’s lips find mine and she kisses me fiercely. I hold her face in my hands and kiss her back. This woman owns every beat of my heart, now and forever.

When I break the kiss, our foreheads stay pressed together as we smile through the tears.

“You’re mine, Peach. You’re my person, my home. Every ordinary day, every impossible one… I want them all with you.” Her lips are on mine again, slow and reverent. I could spend a lifetime collecting kisses like these ones.

“This time no contracts, no pretending, no conditions. Just me and the biggest promise I’ll ever make.” I smile through the tears. “Lottie Winters, will you marry me again?”

A sob escapes her, the sound echoing through the cabin. “Yes.” A kiss lands softly on my lips. “Yes.” Another kiss. “Yes, baby.” She laughs through her tears. “I’ll marry you a thousand times.”

My heart swells impossibly big in my chest. This is the beginning of a beautiful life together. Hand in hand with the woman I love. Whatever waits for us beyond today, we will face it together.

That’s the promise we’re making to each other.

I slip the ring onto her finger, beside the engagement ring and wedding band she’s worn from the beginning.

“Wes Winters,” she whispers. “I can’t wait to marry you for the second time.”

I pull her into my arms as the waves crash outside and the fire crackles behind us.

There’s nothing more I could ever want.

THIRTY-EIGHT

EIGHT MONTHS LATER

Wes

“Still breathing?” Ford’s voice cuts through the noise in my head as he gives my shoulder a firm squeeze. Jesse and Noah stand with us. They all look far calmer than I feel.

I nod at Ford, who looks every bit the part of best man in his tailored tuxedo. I smooth an imaginary wrinkle from the front of my suit jacket, my heart pounding. The swimmy feeling in my chest isn’t nerves, it’s anticipation. I can’t wait to watch my wife walk toward me. I can’t wait to marry her all over again.

Today’s ceremony will be nothing like our first one. I look over the space in front of us. Rows of ivory chairs overlook the water, all of them filled with family and friends. White roses and soft greenery line the aisle, swaying gently in the early-summer breeze. Beyond them, the Pacific Ocean stretches to the horizon, sunlight dancing across the waves.

It’s breathtaking.

So is the woman who planned every last detail of today. Lottie has orchestrated hundreds of weddings and now she finally gets one of her own.

The irony isn’t lost on me. The first time we stood together in front of an officiant, there were no flowers, no music, no family or friends. Not even a photo to remember the day. It was just the two of us making a promise we didn’t think would really be forever.

Today is different. My Peach gets her white dress, the flowers, our families. I hired three photographers to capture every moment of our day knowing Lottie still kicks herself for not having at least one from the first time we said I do. She gets everything, because that’s exactly what she deserves.

I draw in a slow breath.

I’ve landed airplanes in sideways winds, navigated storms that turned the sky black, but nothing has ever made my heart pound like this, waiting to see my wife walk toward me.