“I think we are going to spend our lives apologizing to each other,” he laughed.
I sat up letting him sit next to me. He pulled me onto him so my head was resting in his lap. He gently stroked my hair as I fell asleep.
Chapter 42
We spent the next couple of days in bed catching up on sex. “Christmas is next week and I’m taking you to get a tree.”
I looked at him and pouted, “You mean we have to leave this bed?”
Connor smiled, “We do, but I promise we won’t leave it for too long.” He took my hand and led me into the shower.
We spent the day picking out the perfect Christmas tree. Connor made arrangements to have it delivered while we bought the lights and ornaments. We decorated the tree as we sipped wine and ate Chinese food. We made love by the tree with the lights brightly cascaded down around us and laid on the floor wrapped in a blanket.
“My mom wants you to come for Christmas,” he said as he ran his finger up and down my arm.
“I would love that; I miss your family.”
“I talked to Peyton and if it’s ok with you, we’re going to spend Christmas Eve with her and Henry and then Christmas day at my mom and dads, unless you have other plans?”
“That sounds perfect to me and I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.”
It was the day before Christmas Eve and we were heading back to New York first thing the next morning. I got out of bed and started a pot of coffee. Connor emerged from the bedroom with his hand behind his back.
“What are you hiding Mr. Black?”
He smiled and kissed me on the lips, “A present for you.” He handed me the beautiful white box with a pink satin bow. I opened it and pulled out a beautiful white, spaghetti strap sundress.
“Oh Connor, it’s beautiful,” I smiled as I held it up to me.
“You’re going to wear that tonight for dinner.”
I cocked my head to the side, “You’re taking me to dinner?”
“Don’t I always? But tonight will be our last dinner in California for a while so I wanted to make it special.”
I put the dress down and wrapped my arms around his neck, “Thank you, I love it.” It didn’t take long before he picked me up and carried back to the bedroom for our routine morning lovemaking.
We walked out the door and there was a Limo waiting for us.
“A Limo? How classy Mr. Black.”
He smiled and opened the door. I slid in and gasped when I looked at the driver, “Denny what are you doing here?”
He turned and looked at me with a smile. “It’s good to see you Ellery.”
Connor slid in next to me and shut the door. “Why is Denny driving us in California?” Connor just smiled.
“I need to blindfold you.”
I looked at him and smiled, “Don’t you think that’s a little kinky with Denny here?”
He lightly laughed and shook his head, “Trust me, we will be using this in the bedroom, but for now, where I’m taking you is a surprise and I don’t want you to know till we get there.” He took out a black cloth and put it over my eyes.
“Are you ok?”
“Except for being incredibly turned on, yes.”
The limo stopped and Connor took my hand and helped me out. He stopped and told me to take off my shoes. My heart was racing a mile a minute with excitement. As soon as my feet touched the sand, I stopped and listened as the waves crashed to the shore. Connor reached over and took off the blindfold.
“I’m guessing you know where we are.”
I stood there; my feet softened by the sand as I look out and see a white canopy sitting in the middle of the beach.
“Is it just us here tonight?” I asked.
Connor smiled as he kissed me softly on the cheek, “Yes baby, I rented out the entire beach for us.”
He took my hand and led me down the beach to the white canopy. Inside the canopy sat a round table draped in white linen, white roses and two chairs covered in white fabric. I was speechless at the beauty of it all. The best part was that the sun was going to set soon and we’d be here to watch it.
“Connor, how and when did you do all this?”
“Do you like it?”
“I love it, you are so amazing.”
“Dinner will be here soon, so I thought we could take a walk along the water.”
He took my hand as we walked along the edge of the shoreline; the water hitting our feet. He stopped and pointed to the sky, “Look the sun is starting to set.” I felt an overwhelming sense of peace and comfort at that moment. Connor took my hands and held them as he faced me taking in a deep breath.
“Ellery, from the moment I saw you I knew instantly I needed you in my life and I set out to make sure that happened. You kept calling me a stalker and you were right, I did stalk you, but for good reason.”
I smiled as he continued. “You are different from anyone I have ever met. You’re strong, kind, good-hearted, forgiving and loving. And you’re also stubborn, a smart ass and very independent and that’s everything I love about you. You have certainly given me a run for my money since I’ve met you. You’ve challenged me and brought out a man I thought I never could be. You’ve shown me things I never would have seen if you weren’t in my life. You have filled the void in my heart and soul that I never knew existed until you weren’t by my side.” Tears started to fall down my face.
“I was simply a man with no meaning until I met you and I’m proud of whom I’ve become because of you. We have been through a lot together and we will continue to go through a lot, but we’ll conquer whatever life throws our way. I want to thank you for being my best friend and my lover.”
Suddenly he got down on one knee and pulled a small velvet box from his pocket. The tears wouldn’t stop flowing down my face. “I want to be more than just your lover, I want to be your happily ever after, your best friend, your husband and I want you for my wife; will you marry me Ellery Lane?” He opened the box and took out the most beautiful ring I have ever seen.
I looked at him, crying as I shook my head, “Yes Connor, I will marry you.”
He put the ring on my finger and stood up, hugging me and twirling me around. We kissed passionately and then looked up at the sunset.
“I wanted to do this here because I figured you’d want your mom to be here with us.”
I was touched in so many ways by this man. We stood and watched the sunset over the ocean waters wrapped around each other and never wanting to let go.
He led me back to the table as we ate dinner and talked. “I saw the tape your mom made for you; last night when we got back from the club and I slept on the couch. I turned the TV on and it was playing. That had to be so hard for you watch.”
“It was at first, but then it was comforting at the same time. It was amazing to see her and I regret not getting the contents of that safe deposit box sooner.”
I kept looking at my ring that gracefully sat on my finger. It was a 4 carat platinum princess cut diamond with smaller diamonds going down the band.
“A beautiful ring for a beautiful woman,” he smiled.
He stood up and took my hand and led me a large white tent that was filled with fluffy pillows and blankets.
A huge grin crossed my face, “Sex on the beach?”
He shook his head, “Yes, sex on the beach.”
He walked over to me and slid the spaghetti straps off my shoulders allowing my entire dress to fall at my feet. I stood there in only my white lace panties as his tongue traveled across my neck and up my jaw line before meeting my mouth with his.
“I want to make love to you all night, first here and then at home in every room. When you walk tomorrow you’ll be reminded of our passionate night, one I never want you to forget.”