Flash Burned (Burned 2)

He carefully folded back the lid and I gasped. Nestled in black satin was a wide diamond chevron tennis bracelet in white gold. As he lifted the sensational piece of jewelry from its perch, candlelight caught the angled diamonds and they sparkled brilliantly. Like nothing I’d ever seen before.

“It’s thirty carats,” he told me. “Flown in from Beverly Hills with two guards this afternoon.”

My heart nearly stopped. “Dane,” I repeated. Breathless. A feather could have knocked me over, and I was sure my eyes bulged. “Good grief.”

He slipped the flexible bangle on my left wrist while staring into my eyes. “I will always love you, Aria Lynne DeMille. My heart has never belonged to anyone else—and it never will.”

Tears pooled in my eyes, crested the rims. The fat drops rolled down my cheeks. I was still breathless. Speechless.

The bracelet was mind-boggling. But Dane’s vow to me was all that registered at the moment.

I was vaguely aware of our guests, of Tamera. However, I couldn’t get my brain to shift from stalled out to proper functioning.

Eventually, Tamera prompted me again. “Ari, do you have something for Dane?”

“Oh. Um…”

“She does,” he hastily said. Amano handed over another box. Inside was a platinum ID bracelet with thick links. I encircled Dane’s wrist with it, my fingers trembling as I tried to work the clasp. He had to help me.

Then I gazed up at him and asked, “How’d I get so lucky?”

Tamera sighed dreamily, as though she were deliriously happy I’d fallen apart for this man. Kyle snickered his displeasure.

“It’s actually the other way around,” Dane said. “I’m the lucky one.”

I got a little caught up in his intense expression but eventually said, “I will always love you, Dane Bradley Bax. My heart has never belonged to anyone else—and never will.”

His mouth sealed mine in an impassioned kiss that left my knees weak and my pulse racing.

> “We’re a wee bit out of order here,” Tamera quietly said. “There is the matter of I do and I now pronounce you…”

Ethan and Amano chuckled. I imagined my father rolled his eyes.

Dragging my mouth from Dane’s, I said, “I do. How about you?”

“Ari!” Tamera scolded me. “Behave.”

“Fine,” I grumbled. “But please try to quickly get us to the you can now kiss the bride part.”

Dane grinned. My heart beat a bit faster.

Tamera efficiently wrapped up the ceremony, and then I was in Dane’s arms again, swept away by a searing, soul-stealing kiss that, in my mind, went on and on. Forever.

When we finally came up for air, Tamera said to our guests—who’d waited patiently—“Gentlemen, may I present Mr. and Mrs. Dane Bax.”

There it was. I was married.

The hottest man on the planet was officially mine.

The smile on my face had to shine brighter than the diamonds on my wrist. Dane appeared equally pleased. Handshakes and hugs ensued. We signed the marriage license—clumsily on my part because my fingers still shook.

Rosa directed our small party to the terrace for champagne and hors d’oeuvres that she served. Dane’s lawyer lingered behind with the two of us. On the makeshift altar he placed a portfolio he’d been holding on to and flipped it open.

“I’ve made this as simple as possible for the moment,” Jackson Conaway said. He was in his mid-sixties, with a headful of white hair, and he wore studious-looking specs. Like Amano, Mr. Conaway had been in the senior Bax’s employ, and had remained with the family to oversee all of Dane’s legal affairs, of which there were many, I was sure, given the size of his estate. Mr. Conaway had moved from Philadelphia to Sedona in order to be on-hand at all times.

“Essentially, Aria,” he said, “I’ve consolidated the signing pages for you. I’ll explain everything in full detail at a convenient time, but for all intents and purposes this evening, half of Dane’s accounts, assets, and investments—10,000 Lux included—are yours, and you’re now the sole beneficiary of his insurance and retirement policies, his IRAs, et cetera. I’ll need your signature on several documents.”

I stared blankly at him. “Oh. Um … h-h-uh,” I stammered. “I wasn’t expecting…” My gaze shifted to Dane. “I figured there’d be exclusionary clauses, waivers, and such to sign. A pre-nup, even though we’ve already … nupped … but you know, like—” I shook my head. My mind reeled.