I let her go after kissing her one last time; then, she turns back around to look out over the ocean that is lapping at the legs of the deck we are standing on. I am so nervous that I can not stand it; why in the hell is a man like me so worried about this? I am a ruthless person who can kill someone before they can blink their eyes, but this woman has me so tied up in knots that it scares me how badly she has me wrapped around that finger of hers. If she said jump for me, I would reply, how high. Looking around, the guys are standing in the doorway smiling at me, then they all nod their heads at the same time. Damn them; why do they have to be so nosy? I don't want to show any weakness to anyone, and this woman that has captured my heart and mind makes me do all kinds of things that I would have never done before in my life. Taking a deep breath, then turning back around to the woman I love with every fiber in my body, I take her hand in mine.

"Shay, maybe one day we can come back here if you want to," interlocking our fingers together.

She turns and looks at me with those eyes that have me falling in love with her all over again. "I would love to. This place is just so pretty, and it is one that you could come back to again and again, probably never get tired of seeing this place."

"I can tell you that it is not as pretty as the woman that is standing here with me right now. You know that you are my everything, right baby?"

Her brows furrow together as she looks down at the boards beneath our feet. As her head slowly comes back up, a smile comes across her face again. "You always say that to me, and I can never come up with a good enough response to counter that saying. I have tried and tried to come up with a good response besides yes, love, but I just never can."

Kissing her cheek, I whisper, "There is no need to come up with a good comeback for me, baby. We both know that we love each other so much, and I know that our child will also love both of us as much as we do" laying my hand on her stomach. 

Her eyes travel down to where my hand is lying on her stomach, and she puts her petite one over mine. Her touch still sends fire up my arm and all over my body like an internal inferno is burning me up from the inside out. "Our little one will be loved just as much as you have shown me, love, since the day you basically kidnapped me, taking me back to your house."

I bark out a laugh. "It was either take you with us or risk the possibility of them getting their hands on you, and there is no telling what would have happened if they did. At that time, I just had my eyes on you, and there were only two people who knew about that. We did rescue a few people from being taken out of the club that night, but in my mind, there was no way that you were going to be left there at all. When we talked, I was putting on my best, don't mess with me attitude, but deep down inside, there was this fire burning like an amber, then it just kept getting hotter and hotter the more we spent time together."

She laughs as she turns back to look out over the ocean where the moon reflects off the waves. "I knew there was something different about you when I saw you in that alley. The way the shadows casting over your face then when I walked into work that night made something come alive inside me. Your repetition scared me to death, then when I found out I was the one chosen to serve you those drinks, I tried to get out of it. I had avoided you the entire time that I worked there and had succeed somehow, but that one night, when you looked into my eyes, I knew that my luck had just run out. I had never seen you before that night; something inside me knew it was you. I will never regret that night, but it was just funny how fate brought us together as it did. A shy, wealthy girl that always kept her head down winds up with one of the most powerful men that is in existence."

Stepping back from her, I fumble around in my coat pocket for a few seconds, then look back at her watching that hair blowing in the ocean breeze. Taking a deep breath, I look down at the floor then close my eyes for just a few seconds to stop my nerves all over the place. Come on now, idiot, you know she loves you as much as you love her. Conner has stepped up behind me, laying his hand on my shoulder to whisper in my ear where she can not hear.

"Do it, boss, stop acting like a teenage boy that is scared to death about asking a girl to a dance. You know she will love it and will spend the rest of her life with you. Our food should be here shortly, and you don't want her to have cold food tonight, do you?" He takes a few steps backward, and the others have come out to stand beside him.

Shaking my head slowly, I open my eyes then slowly get down on one knee. Grabbing her left hand with mine, she looks at me, then the box that I have open in my right hand. Her eyes are flicking back and forth between my eyes and the box. "Shay, you know that I have told you a thousand times that you are the love of my life, and we were meant to be together. I am telling you that I love you with everything that I have, so now it is time to show you that I want to put that love into action. Shay, I have gone over this about this entire trip in my mind exactly what to say when this time came, but right now, all I want is to spend the rest of our lives together. Making each other happy, raising a family together, then growing old with grandkids running around our feet, begging us to pick them up to hold them close to our hearts. Shay, will you marry me?"

Her eyes are leaking all kinds of tears as her right hand has flown up to her mouth to cover it while I went through my speech. Her eyes land on the four-carat ring that is sitting in a red velvet box. It is a twisted band with two rows of diamonds that wrap around the band halfway around it. The main diamond is four carats with the others being half a carat, each with seven in each twist that makes the ring have twenty-eight little ones in the twisted band with the big one sitting in the center; then she locks eyes with me "Yes, of course, I will. I love you so much, Zane!"

I take the ring out of the box, slipping it on her left hand, then standing up, pulling her in for a passionate kiss. Our tongues dance with each other for what seems like forever. Then the guys behind us are hollering and cheering for us. Forest comes over after we finally part, grabbing her in a huge hug.

"I am so happy for you; this man has proven himself multiple times over and over again that he loves you so much. I hope you have everything you want in your life with him."

She hugs him then kisses him on the cheek. "I think he has shown both of us that he will do that. We will be very happy together, and I hope that you will continue to hang around with us for a very long time."

He chuckles as he hugs her again. "I am not going anywhere; you are stuck with me for the rest of our lives."

All the guys have come over to shake my hand and giving her hugs as we make our way back into the restaurant and then slowly sit back down at our table again. Max stayed at the table to watch our drinks for us so no one would try to slip anything in them but smiles as his eyes land on her hand. He nods at me as I help her back into her seat.

"Nice rock, man. You did good with that one" his smile almost lights up the whole place.

"Only the best for the love of my life, man," smirking towards him.

Not long after we all get settled back down, our food comes out for us to enjoy. 

THIS BOOK CAN BE READ IN FULL ON GALATEA.