Snatched (Coronado Series Book 2) (26 page)

They walked hand in hand to the water, and as their feet hit the surf, Rory let out a sigh. “I miss the feel of a warm ocean.”

“I sometimes forget that the ocean can feel warm. I’m so used to our cold temperatures in San Diego.” They walked out past the break, and he watched Rory lean back and lift her legs. He immediately put his arms around her and supported her. “Feels good, doesn’t it?”

“This is such a treat, it feels so relaxing. I could stay out here forever.”

“Sounds good to me.” He leaned down and kissed her and then ran his mouth down her neck and felt her shiver. ‘Thanks for today…. agreeing to marry me and for the babies.”

She opened her eyes and let her legs drift slowly to the sand beneath her feet, “Can we just say baby until we know for sure?”

“Sure. Is two too much to think about right now?”

She took a step forward and plastered herself against him and wrapped her arms around his neck, “I want to just think about one for a couple of weeks. If I think about two and then it’s only one, I don’t want to feel like we lost something.”

“Ok, I understand. We have one, and that’s a lot to be thankful for.” He looked down at her with tenderness and also a little worry.

“Come here, sailor.” She tightened her hands around his neck, savoring the feel of his big muscles, “Kiss me.”

She felt his arms tighten around her back, bringing her closer to his broad chest. He cupped her head and curled a big arm around her back, and she melted into him. Her body started signaling pleasure as he held her, and she gave herself up to him. The kiss was open and flowed over every single part of her body. Her hands trailed across his washboard abs to the top of his swim trunks, and she felt him harden against her stomach.
 

“We need to go up to our room right now, before I take you right here in front of everyone.”

“Let’s go then, I think the doctor may have been right about my hormones. Because what you just said - did not sound like a bad idea.”

He laughed as they walked to shore, “Just walk in front of me until we get to our chairs. I’m sporting the evidence of how much my very hot fiancée affects me.”

She did as he asked, as they walked back to their chairs. They sat down, and he draped a towel around her shoulders. “Give me a minute while I sit here and think of some very bad and sad thoughts. I need to get myself together and then we can go upstairs.” She smiled at him as she dried off and combed out her hair. “Please don’t look at me like that either, that’s not helping.”

She turned around and tried not to laugh as she put on her sunglasses and hat. She dug in her bag for her sour gummies and proceeded to eat them as she sipped on a bottle of water. “I need to go to the gift shop before we go upstairs, I’m almost out of gummies.”

“Is this a new obsession?”

“Yes, I found when I start to feel nauseous, I chew on a couple of these and feel better. I’m almost scared not to have them with me.”

“I will buy you a case when we get home. Remember, the doctor said, you have to eat five or six small meals, he said that would help.”

“I know, I think I need to work up to that. I will drink a lot of fluids and start with fruit.”

“I’m ready to go upstairs now… if you are.”

“She looked at him and smiled, “I’m definitely ready to go upstairs.”

“I like these pregnancy hormones, this is totally going to work out for me. You may start to want me half as much as I want you.”

“Remember what the doctor said, we should take advantage of it now, because after the baby comes it will definitely slow down.”

“Oh I plan on it…. as much as you will let me. Just think about how creative we get to be farther down the road. My mind is working on a lot of possibilities.”

“Well, I expect you to use that big creative mind of yours to think of how we are going to manage it, when I’m as big as a house.”

“SEALs are known for their ability to problem solve and think outside of the box. “I’m going to use all of my training and experience to come up with a lot of options.”

They got up and walked back to the hotel hand in hand, “I’m counting on it.”

***

Rory laid on top of Max, completely out of breath, “Holy smokes.”

He ran his hand over her behind and gave a little squeeze, “I second that.”

She rolled off of him and tried to get her heart to return to normal. She held up her hand and looked at her ring, “Why did you bring the ring to Florida?”

“Because I wanted to ask you to marry me, and I was worried that you were not going to give me another chance.”

“Why did you bring it with you to the mall?”

“It’s not a ring that I wanted to leave in the room.”

“That’s true. It worked out, but I wasn’t expecting a ring. I thought you were just going to ask me.”

“A SEAL is always prepared.”

“I guess so, I’m impressed.”

“Can we get married here, on the beach?”

“My family would kill us if they missed it and so would yours.”

“Can we have two weddings? I want our anniversary to be very close to the baby’s birthday. I know it’s old fashioned, but it’s important to me.”

“Are you asking me to marry you this week?”

“Yes.”

“What about our family?”

“We won’t tell them until after the baby is born. They will understand.”

“So you want to get married twice?”

“Yes, once this week and then again at home. We can plan something for the spring before the baby is due.”

“I don’t know, let me think about it.”

“Thanks, sweetheart.”

“I want one private wedding with just the two of us and one with our family and friends. Just think…. you can have two dresses.”

“The dresses are not important, but I could have two new pair of shoes.”

“There you go.”

“You realize this is crazy.”

“I do, but it’s important to me.”

“Let me think about it, and I will tell you in the morning.”

He rolled on top of her and framed her face, “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

CHAPTER TWENTY THREE

Max held her hair again as she lost everything in her stomach. This morning sickness was not a lot of fun. At least he knew what to expect and wasn’t as scared as she leaned over and heaved into the toilet. “Please let me throw up alone - I don’t want you to see this.”

“Too late, I asked you to marry me and that includes me holding your hair as you throw up. We are in this together and that includes morning sickness.” He handed her the wet wash cloth, and she ran it over her face and handed it back to him, then he wiped her neck and handed her the bottle of water. When she was finally done, he helped her up and left her alone to wash her face and brush her teeth.
 

She walked back into the room and laid down and adjusted the pillows. “I’m going to go for my run and swim while you take a nap. Do you want me to bring breakfast back up, or do you want to wait and order room service?”

“I think I will just sleep for a while and wait for you to come back.”
 

He kissed her head and placed her phone next to her. “I will have my phone with me, so call me if you need me.”

She gave him a thumbs up, pulled the sheet up and closed her eyes. “Love you.”

He stopped at the door and looked at her, “Love you more.”

He made his way down to the beach and decided to only do a ten mile run. He wanted to get back before she woke up. As he made his way down the beach he started to work on a plan. He wanted to marry Rory before they left the state of Florida. He knew once they got home, she would find all sorts of reasons to put it off. He figured if they could have a private ceremony here then it would be easy to organize something at home. He hoped that she would agree to it, but he knew that he couldn’t push, because if he did then it would never happen. He never wanted to put himself in the same position he was in two weeks ago.
 

As he made his way down the beach, an idea started to form, maybe they could apply for a marriage license tomorrow and then get married at the end of the week. They could go down to the Keys and get married on the beach. Maybe he could suggest they take the week off and relax. They hadn’t been able to do that since they’d met. Between the stalker and Jackson, he never let his guard down. As he started to get into the rhythm of the run, he began to feel relaxed for the first time since he’d met her. His mind started to turn over the last couple of days; he was going to be a father and the woman who had stolen his heart had agreed to marry him. This was one of those days that he would remember for the rest of his life, all of the things that he hoped for had come true. He continued down the beach and felt lighter than he had in a very long time.
 

Rory started to wake up slowly, she smelled the salt air and felt the gentle breeze through the curtains. She stretched and relaxed and waited to see how her tummy was doing. She placed her hands over her stomach and said good morning to the baby. Somehow it seemed very unreal, but the doctor told her that was common. She figured when she heard the baby’s heartbeat for the first time then it would become very real. How in the world had Max put a baby in her?
I guess this baby wanted to come regardless of what our plans were.

Now she was engaged and pregnant, and he wanted to get married as soon as possible.
Was this something that she could consider?
If she agreed to marry him, then why shouldn’t she just marry him now… why wait?
Because it was crazy to marry him right away.
But she was pregnant, and they were going to be bound for the rest of their lives - anyway. This meant a lot to him, and she wanted him to be happy. What was holding her back?
My family would go crazy if they were not here for the wedding.
But it wasn’t their life, it was hers and Max’s and the baby. This was a new way of thinking about things. They were going to be a family, and she had to start putting them first. Ultimately her family would be happy for her, and they would forgive her after the baby was here. It might just work.
 

The idea of a ceremony with just the two of them appealed to her - it would mark the beginning of their family. She liked the idea of focusing on their commitment and not the ceremony and party. Maybe if they started out this way they could hold on to it… their family would be at the center. They could have a baby moon and take the week off and get married.
 

I guess I can officially say goodbye to my quiet life. “
Ok Baby Boo, let’s get up and take a shower. How about you give Mama a break today, and let me eat a little food.” She sat up and drank the juice that Max had left for her and ate several crackers. She got up and felt a little dizzy, so she took it slowly and made her way into the shower.

***

Max walked into the room and saw Rory sitting in the chaise lounge by the door. She was in a loose fitting dress and her hair was up, she smiled at him as she looked up. “How was it? Is it different running on the beach here?”

It took him a moment to swallow the lump in his throat, he had never seen a more beautiful woman in his life.
She is mine and she is going to give me a baby. “
It was a good run, and I definitely enjoy my swim a lot more in warm water.” He leaned over and gave her a salty kiss, “Do you want to go downstairs for breakfast, or do you want to have room service?”

“I would like to go downstairs, in fact I may go down now. I’m out of sour gummy bears.”

“Give me ten minutes, and we can go down together.”

“Ok.”

“What are you working on?”

“I downloaded ‘What to expect when you’re expecting.’ I’m making notes and I started a spread sheet. There are a lot of things to consider, and I don’t want to forget anything.”

“Can you put it on my iPad as well, I’d better start educating myself.”

“I think there is one for Dads, so I can download that one for you.”

“I want both, I want to know everything.”

“That’s what I’m afraid of, I think you’re going to become dangerous if you have too much information.”

“I have no idea what you are talking about.”

“Don’t play dumb with me, you know exactly what I’m talking about.”

“I’m going to take my shower, I need to feed my fiancée.”

“Run… run while you can.”

***

They sat on the patio and looked out at the ocean as they enjoyed their brunch. “It sure is a pretty view. It reminds me of the breakfast we had at the Hotel Valencia.”

“You were probably hours pregnant at the time, my super swimmers had made a successful trip and were settling in.”

“We don’t know that’s when it happened.”

“You’re right, but I like to think that’s when it happened.”

“All right, let’s go with that. I think that makes a good story.”

He squeezed her hand and smiled, he rubbed his finger over her ring and winked at her. “Do you want to go for a walk after breakfast?”

“Sure, I could use the exercise.”