A Lot Like Perfect

But it created a pause that swelled with things his heart couldn’t contain. Surely the poor organ would burst if he didn’t spill out some of the love in there.

“I have something for you,” he told her.

“You do?” She sat up, taking her warmth and delicious scent with her. He’d looped several strands of outdoor lighting through the loveseat’s legs and along the perimeter of the patio and some of them reflected in her shiny eyes.

“Yeah. But you weren’t supposed to move,” he chastised her lightly and pulled her back into place against his chest. “I bought this thing with room for two on purpose.”

Immediately, her weight settled against his torso easily and the best part was how much easier it was to breathe when she was with him like this. He draped one arm along her shoulders and fished out his surprise from the recesses of the cushion on his end of the loveseat.

“Fine. What is it?” she mumbled into his chest and he laughed as he handed her the long flat box. “I can’t open that when I’m busy listening to your heart. You open it.”

Because he liked the metaphor of flipping open the lid himself with her ear pressed up to the place where all of his vital organs functioned, he did it, revealing the plane tickets inside. “First class to Hawaii. I hope you can fit that into your busy schedule.”

“Oh, Isaiah,” she breathed and her hand came up to rest on his chest as she stared at the contents of the box. “I...that’s—well, it’s I don’t know what. My brain just fizzled.”

“It’s perfect,” he told her. “Or rather what’s going to make it perfect is if you’d do me the honor of marrying me on the beach while we’re there.”

That was enough to tangle up the air in his lungs. His first proposal. And definitely the last. He’d found everything he wasn’t looking for and then some. The future Mrs. West. How about that?

Her palm dug into his chest as she levered off to meet his gaze, with wonder and about a thousand other things flooding her face. “That is a lot of perfect. I would love to marry you on the beach or anywhere else you pick. Tomorrow. Next week. Tell me where to be.”

The impatience in her voice matched the urgency he’d been feeling to get to the next level. Nice to know they were on the same page. “After the party, we’ll go. It’ll be tough to wait. In the meantime, I got you this too as a reminder that soon, we won’t have to say goodnight on the roof any longer.”

He took her hand and held up the ring that he’d moved heaven and earth to find, then slid it onto her third finger. She admired it for the longest while, tears running down her cheeks. “Even more perfect. I don’t know how I got so lucky.”

“It’s not luck. Providence,” he reminded her. “The universe had this in mind all along and it’s only because we had the wisdom to listen to Serenity that we were able to come together.”

They’d shared their predictions with each on this very roof, laughing over the irony. Of course, that had begged the question of who else Aria’s aunt had tagged with a love prediction. Marchande, maybe. That would explain his bad attitude lately, especially if Serenity had told him he was fated to be with only one woman.

“Really?” She shot him a look that was half-smirk, half-disbelief. “That’s what you’re going with? It’s only by the grace of God that we figured out how to stop being stupid long enough to fall in love.”

“Well. There’s that too,” he said with a laugh and then told her the final bit of his three-pronged approach to getting his life in order. “I’m looking into buying some property from Farmer Moon so I can build us a house. I hope that’s okay. If you don’t want to stay here, now would be the time to say so.”

“I want to stay,” she said firmly, her smile wide. “This is where I belong. Where we both belong.”

Isaiah couldn’t argue with that. The magic of Superstition Springs had created the perfect place for them to stick to each other.

How long will it take for Tristan and Cassidy to realize they’re meant for each other?

Find out in A Lot Like Fate.