Saltwater Kisses (The Kisses 1)

“That doesn’t sound that crazy,” he scoffed gently.

“Well, it wasn’t... until he came out with a shotgun and threatened to shoot us all for scaring his fish,” I giggled. “I nearly ran the whole way home before I realized I was naked and had forgotten my clothes by the pond. To top it off, my parents had dinner guests that night. I had to sneak in, naked, past three different sets of dentists.”

“Did any of them see you?” he asked, his sides quivering as he tried not to laugh.

“I hid in the garage until I found a winter coat. One of the guests saw me and gave me this weird look as I dashed up the stairs with bare legs and a heavy overcoat, but I made it,” I said shaking my head and laughing at the memory. Jack let his laughter mix with mine as he teased me about forgetting my clothes as we walked hand in hand down the beach.

Up ahead, white gauze streamers caught my attention. Jack followed my gaze to the small arbor decorated with pretty white fabric and tropical flowers. A bored looking attendant in a white dress shirt and pants sat next to it playing on his phone.

“You ever think you’ll get married?” Jack asked nodding towards the awning.

“At the rate I’m going? No. You don’t even want to know the last time I went on a date. I want to, but, no one seems interested. I’ve kind of come to accept that I will be a crazy old cat lady someday.” The admission hurt, but it was freeing to say it out loud. Jack squeezed my hand. “What about you? You think you’ll ever marry?” I asked him as we approached the small wedding area. The attendant fanned himself with a brochure packet as he slid his phone into the pocket of his shirt and watched us disinterestedly.

“Honestly, I don’t know. I would love a family. I want a wife and kids with a dog in a white picket fenced yard, but I don’t think that will ever happen because of my work and the obligations that come with it. The fact that I have money complicates things. If I were to get married, it would have to be to someone who could see past my job and the income. Someone who wanted to be with me,” he said it like it didn’t bother him, but the edges of his voice held a deep pain. I wondered who had hurt him over money to make him so distrustful.

“I’d marry you. Even if you didn’t have any money,” I blurted out. He stopped and looked at me, his eyes dark. I bit my lip and looked up at him. “I mean, I don’t know how much money you have, but I know that I like being around you. I think I like you more than anyone I have ever met.”

Jack pulled me so I was facing him. I could feel the blush on my cheeks increasing as he searched my face.

“You’re serious,” he said slowly, a smile blossoming on his face. I nodded and blushed harder. “You want to get married?” he asked, tipping his head towards the white arbor.

“Sure, why not?” I answered with a smile. I wasn’t about to back out of this conversation now. I already said I would marry him and I wasn’t going to miss this opportunity to tease him later when he was the one who backed out.

“Let’s do it then,” he said with a wicked smile. I felt my mouth open and I couldn’t quite close it; he wasn’t supposed to take me seriously.

“Are you serious?”

“Sure, why not?” he mimicked me with a grin. He pulled me by the hand towards the awning like he was very serious.

“Wait a second,” I gasped.

“Oh, so you’re backing out?” Jack’s eyes twinkled with amusement.

“No, I am not backing out. I said I would marry you and I will,” I responded feeling full of sass. “I want to... ummm... clarify a couple of things.”

“Okay, Ms. Worrywart, go on — clarify,” he said with a laugh.

“It is soon to be Mrs. Worrywort. You realize that we are in a foreign country right?” I asked. He nodded and I felt a surge of relief that I hoped would be enough to satisfy the rational part of my brain. We were both foreign here and didn’t have the right paperwork, so this would never be considered legal. There would be no consequence for this. A giddy surge of excitement went through me. This was what an adventure was supposed to feel like. “Good. You realize that you never asked my dad’s permission?”

“You want me to call him right now?” Jack asked innocently as he began reaching for his phone. “Or are you just thinking up excuses not to marry me?”

I laughed and pushed his hand away from his pocket. There was no way I was going to let him win this game. “Oh, I’ll marry the hell out of you. Besides, then we can tell everyone we are on our honeymoon and get free drinks.”

“You are staying on an all-inclusive resort,” he snorted and I pushed him playfully.

“Before we do this though, you should at least propose properly,” I said trying to keep a straight face. Jack looked thoughtful for a moment before taking my hand and dropping to one knee.

“My dearest, loveliest Emma,” he began looking up at me with his hazel eyes full of laughter. I couldn’t have wiped the goofy smile off my face if he had paid me.

“Will you do me the biggest honor of this vacation, and marry me?”

“Yes,” I giggled. He stood up and kissed me. He kissed me back with a passion I wasn’t expecting. It was like the wind was sucked out of my lungs and replaced with desire. He pulled away slowly after a moment, our eyes connecting. My breath came in small gasps.

“Come on!” Jack recovered first and grabbed my hand with a smile, pulling me towards the pretty awning. I nearly tripped over my own feet, but I wasn’t about to be late for my own wedding.

***

“I now pronounce you husband and wife,” the man in the white shirt said in a thick accent. I barely understood any of the words he said during the ceremony, simply repeating “I do” whenever he paused. “You may now kiss the bride.”