“Your apartment,” I remind him.
“Our apartment.” He sips his drink as he watches me. “So, I’ve been thinking.”
“Did it hurt?” I ask as I tilt my face to the sun and close my eyes.
“What if I…?”
I open one eye to look at him. “What if you what?”
“What if I moved in with you… permanently?”
I sit up, suddenly interested in this conversation. “You mean, like a boyfriend in a real relationship?”
“Yes.” A trace of a smile crosses his face, and then he chuckles. “Real relationship.” He mouths as he repeats the words.
I bite my bottom lip to hide my smile. “Nathan Mercer, are you asking me if I’ll be your girlfriend?”
“No.” He sips his drink casually. “You’re already my girlfriend. I’m merely stating the facts. When I told you I loved you and you said it back, so then….” He shrugs, as if I should already know what he’s talking about.
“You didn’t ask me yet.” I smirk.
He puts his drink on the table in between our deckchairs, and he turns his attention to me. “Eliza, do you want to be my girlfriend?”
“I’ll think about it,” I reply casually as I lie back down.
“Right, that’s it.” He jumps up and he sweeps me up into his arms like a bride. “You asked for it.” He strides toward the water.
“Asked for what?” I laugh. “Put me down, people are watching.”
“They’re going to see a lot more in a minute.”
“Like what?” I laugh.
“I’m going to hold you under water until you agree.”
I burst out laughing as I feel the water meet my stomach as he walks further into the Mediterranean Sea.
We fall into the ocean, laughing, and he takes me into his arms. My legs instinctively wrap around his waist. Skin to skin, we fall silent. He wraps my ponytail around his hand and pulls my head back so that my eyes meet his. “Be my girlfriend.”
“What do I get for it?”
“Me.”
The most wonderful reward of all time.
My heart swells, and I smile and kiss him softly. “It’s a good thing I love you.”
“It’s the best thing.”
His lips take mine.
And just like that, I have a boyfriend who lives with me.
Look at me being all grown up.
* * *
It’s day eight of our holiday. and I close my eyes as the masseuse’s hands roam up and down my back. Nathan has gone off on his own, and I have spent the afternoon at the spa. I’ve had a manicure and pedicure, and now she’s just finishing a two hour massage. I really am living this up.