Total pages in book: 160
Estimated words: 151097 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 755(@200wpm)___ 604(@250wpm)___ 504(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 151097 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 755(@200wpm)___ 604(@250wpm)___ 504(@300wpm)
It was breathtaking.
“I guess that look on your face means I chose correctly for our first date?”
I couldn’t take my eyes away from the view to see where Ocean was, but I could feel him, and that was all that mattered. This minuscule wonder so close to home looked untouched by human corruption. Somehow, it had escaped the plague we humans wrought.
I stumbled toward the edge, and I could feel Ocean keeping close, ready to catch me if I fell from the cliff or save me from an errant rock.
“It’s beautiful.” Like something straight out of a painting.
“Yes. It is.”
Something in his voice lured my focus away from the miraculous scenery to peer over my shoulder. While I’d been admiring the view, Ocean had been staring at me like he’d found heaven. My cheeks warmed, and I suddenly wished Hunter were here to tell me what to do. I’d never been good with boys.
But then, Ocean was all man, which was even more worrisome because I had no idea how old he was. He looked young, with no sign of aging, but his maturity gave him away.
“How old are you?” I blurted.
Ocean had fallen into a trance while staring at my lips, so it took him a second to realize I’d spoken. His gaze flew up to meet mine. “Huh?”
I giggled as the wind kicked up. “How old are you?”
“Thirty-five.”
“Oh.”
The corner of his lips tilted up as he raised a brow. “Is that a problem?”
“No,” I told him honestly, my gaze drifting to the ground. Ocean was ten years older than me. A little more shyly, I added with a shrug, “I like it.”
“You do?”
I nodded eagerly, feeling my nipples harden to painful points under my sweater. “Mhmm.” I met his gaze. “You’re like my dirty old man.”
Ocean barked out a harsh laugh, his dimples appearing and his eyes sparkling. “Hilarious.”
“Sugar daddy?”
His smile faded, the look in his eyes becoming less playful and more predatory as he cocked his head to the side. “Would you like that, sweet thing? You like the way I spoil you?”
I nodded and then rushed to clarify. “It’s not the gifts and material things.” I didn’t want him to think I was after his money. “I just love that you make me feel…”
“Yes?” he urged when I fell silent.
“Precious.”
The wind blew through the trees again before I could have the chance to feel embarrassed. The gust was strong enough to push me forward and right into Ocean’s arms. My teeth started to chatter from the onslaught, so he turned us around so that his back took the brunt of it, and he became my human shield.
“Ready to go?” he asked when my entire body began to quiver.
“Not yet, please. I l-l-like it h-h-here.” And I didn’t know when I’d get another chance like this.
Ocean didn’t seem to mind, but I still wanted to explain why I wasn’t ready to leave this place that most would take for granted. “A few years ago, Hunter and I started a list of places we hoped to visit one day. It’s pretty ordinary stuff, I know. Who doesn’t have a bucket list? But we’ve been adding to ours for years, and the thing is…it never got any shorter. It just kept getting longer and longer until it felt more like a running joke than an actual plan. Maybe we were just quietly telling each other that it was okay to keep dreaming,” I said after a while.
Hopeless optimism - 1
Reality - 0
The last strong gust blew by, so I reluctantly pulled away from Ocean with a grateful smile. Like a magnet, I was drawn to the landscape beyond, so I stepped around him to enjoy the view.
“Being here,” I said while staring at the waterfall peeking through the trees, “it makes me think we were right to keep dreaming.” I looked up at Ocean, who was still staring at me instead of the view. He looked at me like I was the escape he’d been dreaming about for years. “Thank you for bringing me here. I’ll never forget it.”
“Honestly, I don’t know if I’m happy or hating the fact that you love the view so much because now I don’t know if this can top it.”
I didn’t see the small box in his hand until he flipped it open, and I saw the diamond ring inside. It had a simple platinum band with two trillion-cut pink diamonds, their pointed ends facing each other and held together by a smaller band of pink diamonds in the middle, forming a bow.
I had never seen anything like it and doubted that another like it existed. God, it must have cost him a fortune.
“Ocean…”
“My mother is dying to meet you today. She’d kick my ass if she found out I’ve been letting her future daughter-in-law walk around without a ring on her finger for this long.”