“Who knows? A plus one who was willing and able to enjoy a free trip to Thailand and a short ride with him.”
I looked up at Ryan. “How come he’s so relationship-adverse? Your parents were happy together. Or is it like you were? Afraid to love and lose?”
Ryan shrugged. “I’m not sure. He had relationships before, but now he just seems to want to fuck ‘em and leave ‘em.” He leaned down and kissed my temple. “How’s Nat doing? Is she enjoying herself?”
“Oh yeah. Nat knows how to enjoy herself anywhere. I’m sure she’s made a million sketches of all the beauty around here too.” The only sadness I had regarding Nat was that she couldn’t possibly be as happy as I was. I wasn’t the type of person to believe a woman needed a man to be happy, but I couldn’t deny wishing she could find love with someone like I had with Ryan.
“How about a walk on the beach?” Ryan asked.
“I’d love it.”
He took my hand and we made our way out to the beach. We reached the water, which was amazingly warm. I loved sunny San Diego and the beaches, but this tropical atmosphere was truly magical.
We reached the limit of the beach at the large limestone cliffs.
We turned back, but then Ryan stopped. “Let’s sit and enjoy this.” He sat in the sand and then helped me sit between his legs. I leaned back against him and he kissed my neck. “Are you happy, Mrs. Strong?”
I tilted my head back to look at him. “Happier than I could ever imagine.”
He smiled. He was so very handsome when he smiled. “Good.”
We sat in silence listening to the waves in front of us, while behind us, our friends and family enjoyed themselves.
“We should take a selfie and send it to Christian. It will prove to him that I’m prioritizing my wife,” Ryan said.
“Okay.”
Ryan pulled out his phone, and holding it out at an angle, focused us both in the picture. I put my hand on my belly. It wasn’t showing much but I thought it might be a signal to Christian that Ryan and I were expanding our family.
Just as he was about to take the picture, he kissed my cheek. Then he took a second one with us both smiling. He pulled the pictures up on his phone.
“We’re saccharinely sweet, aren’t we?” I said. I loved how happy we both looked.
“You say that like it’s a bad thing.”
“It’s not bad, but I bet it annoys others.”
Ryan laughed. “I think it’s jealousy.” He kissed me again. “I have something for you.”
“Oh?” I loved his little gifts. Not that I needed presents. What I liked was knowing that he’d been thinking about me.
He held out a little box similar to the ones on the boat. I opened it and found an elephant charm.
“Elephant. To represent Thailand?” I asked.
“Yep.” He took my bracelet that I wore always, no matter what, and put the charm on, then relapsed it on my wrist.
“Thank you. It’s wonderful. You’re wonderful. I feel like the luckiest woman in the world.”
“Good. I want to always make you happy.”
We settled into quiet contentment again; me sitting back against Ryan with my hands on my belly. He was resting his chin on my shoulder. A few months ago, I couldn’t have ever imagined being here like this; so totally and completely in love with my boss.
Absently I rubbed my belly even though there wasn’t much to it at this point. Inside I felt little flutters, although I suspected it was my digestion. Under my hand, I felt a small motion. I stilled, thinking I must have imagined it. But then it happened again.
I let out a small, “Oh.”
“Are you alright?” Ryan asked.