“I don’t know what the future holds,” she said. “I don’t know if I’m supposed to be this much in love with anyone, or give up this much control. I don’t know if something will happen to you on a boat one day, if you’ll sail away and another storm will take you away from me. But I’m not going to let that stop me from asking you to marry me. Be my husband. Be Mason’s father. And let us give you all of our love. Forever.”
She’d expected him to look at least as surprised by her marriage proposal as he had when she’d told him she loved him, but there wasn’t room on his face for anything but pure joy.
“There’s nothing I want more than to marry you and be Mason’s dad.” He drew her against him, and his mouth was nearly on hers when he amended that to, “Actually, there is one more thing I want.”
But she already knew what it was, could read his mind now that the storm had passed just as well as she’d been able to read it when the waves had been crashing over them. “Let’s start today, Dylan. Let’s grow our family right here. Let’s give Mason a brother or sister right now.”
As quickly as they could, they steered the boat into the lee of an island, tossed the anchor, then stripped each other’s wet clothes off. Gently, he laid her down on the wooden decking, warm and drying now from the sunshine that had emerged as soon as the storm had blown away.
“You’re so beautiful,” he said as he stared down at her. “I’ve fantasized about making love with you on my boat a million times.”
The air was cool, but Dylan’s warm hands and lips against her skin heated her up all over. “Even making love with you a million times,” she whispered against his lips as he came into her and she wrapped herself all around him, “wouldn’t be enough for me.”
“I’ll never get enough of loving you, Grace.”
And…oh my…did she ever love how he loved her.
* * *
The next afternoon, Grace was so immersed in her writing that she didn’t realize Dylan had walked into her living room carrying Mason until they were right beside her.
“Hi!” She lifted her lips to Mason’s for a smooch and was very pleased to end up with one from Dylan, too. “How was the park?”
“We had an awesome time.” Dylan looked down at Mason. “Didn’t we?”
Mason answered in the affirmative with a cute little high five, then squirmed to get down to play with his toy cars.
“Looks like you’re on a roll with your writing.” He moved behind her to massage her shoulders, and it felt amazing.
“I am,” she confirmed. “Finally.”
“Do you need me to take Mason back out so that you can have more quiet?”
“No.” It was the last thing she wanted. “I want you to stay.”
They smiled at each other, both of them knowing just how much the word stay really meant. His request for her to stay for Mia and Ford’s wedding at his parents’ house and then her request for him to stay that night with her for the first time a week later had been their first important steps toward forever.
All along, as she’d worked on this cover story, she’d thought she needed to hide her feelings for Dylan. She hadn’t been ready for anyone to see how much she loved him, because she hadn’t been ready to admit it to herself yet, either.
But the truth was that everything she knew about the heart of a sailor had come from being loved by—and loving—him. So this cover story wasn’t only about Dylan. It was about her, too.
Which meant that to create the most honest, most powerful piece of writing possible, she had to strip away all of the layers and lay her own heart bare.
She’d been utterly vulnerable on the sailboat during the storm and had come away feeling stronger and more hopeful than ever. And when she’d been vulnerable with Dylan, she’d come away with more love than she’d ever dreamed of. Now, she was just as vulnerable on the page while she wrote her love story for the man, the ocean, and the sailboats that had done so much to shape him—and she was finally loving every single word she wrote.
And every single moment with her beautiful sailor, too.
EPILOGUE
Two weeks later...
Adam Sullivan raised his glass of champagne for a toast to celebrate the marriage vows Dylan and Grace had just shared. They were in Dylan’s boathouse—empty now as he got ready to begin his new commission for a custom thirty-eight-foot sailboat—and the sun was shining down on them all through the open panels on the roof. When Adam had designed the boathouse for his brother, he’d never envisioned a wedding taking place in the space, but it had worked out great, with more than enough room for family and close friends to witness their vows and have a little party afterward.
Dylan and Grace held Mason together as the three of them smiled for Mia, who was taking pictures as their unofficial wedding photographer. A short while later, when it was time for everyone to wave the three of them off on their sailing honeymoon to Cabo San Lucas in Mexico, Adam—and everyone else—was surprised to see the brand-new sailboat tied up to the dock just outside the boathouse.
Adam knew something was up even before his brother said, “It was a perfect day to marry the love of my life in front of the people who mean the most to us.” Dylan paused to kiss both Grace and Mason, both of whom he was holding close. “And it’s also the perfect day for us to give you all this boat.”